Winter Weather in Wisconsin, December 10, 2003

Name: Winter Weather in Wisconsin, December 10, 2003
Start: 2003-12-10T06:00
End: 2003-12-10T19:00
Location: Wisconsin

December 10, 2003 · NWS MKX · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

Parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin experienced the fringe effects of a heavy snow event that affected primarily central and northern Wisconsin. ) line, after several hours of rain.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS MKX wrote it up.

Parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin experienced the fringe effects of a heavy snow event that affected primarily central and northern Wisconsin. Two to four inches fell west of a Portage (Columbia Co.) to Madison (Dane Co.) to Brodhead (Green Co.) line, after several hours of rain. Lesser amounts fell east of this line. The precipitation change-over resulted in icy road conditions that led to dozens of vehicle accidents. The driver of a pickup truck was killed (indirect-related death) when their vehicle slid into another truck near Janesville (Rock Co.) at about 1830 CST. Several other drivers of vehicles involved in accidents needed medical treatment at local hospitals. This event was the first widespread, accumulating snow of the 2003-04 winter season, consequently drivers were traveling too fast for the conditions.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Milwaukee, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 10, 2:57 AM CST, 3 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 10, 2:57 AM CST, 3 hours 3 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 10, 5:00 AM CST, 1 hour before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
500 AM CST WED DEC 10 2003

WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-111030-
COLUMBIA WI-DANE WI-DODGE WI-FOND DU LAC WI-GREEN WI-GREEN LAKE WI-
IOWA WI-JEFFERSON WI-KENOSHA WI-LAFAYETTE WI-MARQUETTE WI-
MILWAUKEE WI-OZAUKEE WI-RACINE WI-ROCK WI-SAUK WI-SHEBOYGAN WI-
WALWORTH WI-WASHINGTON WI-WAUKESHA WI-
500 AM CST WED DEC 10 2003

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN UNTIL MID
AFTERNOON...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHERN WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL
WISCONSIN THROUGH MID AFTERNOON...AS A STRONG STORM SYSTEM MOVES FROM
CENTRAL ILLINOIS TO LOWER MICHIGAN BY THIS EVENING. THE SNOW WILL
TAPER OFF LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND END BY EVENING. PERSONS IN THE
ADVISORY AREA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS TO
DEVELOP BY MID MORNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THE NEXT CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW WILL BE MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS WILL BE NEEDED TODAY AND THIS EVENING FOR SNOWFALL
MEASUREMENTS.

XX

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Green Lake

When: December 10, 6:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Green Lake forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.800, -89.045 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Columbia

When: December 10, 6:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Columbia forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.467, -89.334 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Dodge

When: December 10, 6:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Dodge forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.416, -88.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Iowa

When: December 10, 6:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Iowa forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.001, -90.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Dane

When: December 10, 6:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Dane forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.067, -89.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Lafayette

When: December 10, 6:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Lafayette forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.661, -90.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Green

When: December 10, 6:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Green forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.680, -89.602 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Fond du Lac

When: December 10, 6:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Fond du Lac forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.754, -88.488 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Jefferson

When: December 10, 6:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.021, -88.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, December 2003

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5327754, 5327755, 5327756, 5327757, 5327758, 5327759, 5327760, 5327761, 5327762.