Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, February 27, 2005

Name: Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, February 27, 2005
Start: 2005-02-27T06:00
End: 2005-02-27T21:00
Location: Wisconsin

February 27, 2005 · NWS GRB · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy snow fell in north-central Wisconsin as a low pressure system moved from Minnesota, across northern Illinois. Lac Vieux Desert, in northeast Vilas county, received 9 inches of snow.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 GRB wrote it up.

Heavy snow fell in north-central Wisconsin as a low pressure system moved from Minnesota, across northern Illinois. Lac Vieux Desert, in northeast Vilas county, received 9 inches of snow.

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 Green Bay, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 27, 4:15 AM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 27, 4:15 AM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
415 AM CST SUN FEB 27 2005

.SHORT TERM...TDA/TNGT/MON. GIST OF PREV FCST REMAINS INTACT. GFS/NAM
STILL BATTLING IT OUT WITH RESPECT TO HOW MUCH OF A DRY SLOT COMES ACRS
THE FCST AREA TNGT. PCPN DEVELOPMENT THIS MORNING WAS MUCH BETTER
DEPICTED BY YDA/S GFS THAN THE NAM. LEANED TOWARD THE GFS...THOUGH DID
TREND IT A BIT TOWARD THE NAM. THAT IDEA WAS ACTUALLY VERY SIMILAR TO
WHAT THE CANDIAN MODEL WAS SHOWING.

WL ADJUST HEADLINE START AND END TIMES A BIT...AND ALSO ADJUST THE AMNT
OF SNOW FALLING IN EACH PERIOD.

THE 00Z GFS RUN INDICATED SIG SNOWS CONTINUING IN E-C WI INTO TUE...WITH
THE RAW GFS QPF INDICATING UP TO A FOOT POSSIBLE FM GRB S AND E TO THE
LAKESHORE BY THAT TIME. ALTHOUGH FAVORED THE GFS SOLN THROUGH 12Z MON...
IT WAS PROBABLY HOLDING THE SYSTEM BACK OVER THE AREA TOO LONG. THE 06Z
GFS TRENDED A BIT FASTER. ACCUMULATING SNOWS MAY CONT IN E-C WI EARLY
TUE...BUT AMNTS SHOULD BE FAIRLY LGT.

.LONG TERM...MONDAY NIGHT THRU SATURDAY. FORECAST FOCUS ON CONTINUED
PRECIPITATION CHANCES TUESDAY AS ANOTHER SYSTEM HEADS FOR THE AREA LATE
IN THE WEEK AND WEEKEND.

ALL MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT EARLY ON IN THE FORECAST AS ALL HAVE
CONTINUED WRAP AROUND PRECIPITATION MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY WITH
ONGOING LES UNTIL WEDNESDAY. THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR ACCUMULATING SNOW
WILL BE OVER NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN WHERE LAKE SUPERIOR LES WILL DROP A
FEW INCHES OVER PORTIONS THE AREA. THE BIGGEST DETRIMENT TO THE LES WILL
BE NORTH NORTHEAST WINDS WHICH ARE NOT OPTIMAL FOR A LOT OF SNOW OVER
NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN. BY THE TIME THE WINDS TURN TO THE NORTH
NORTHWEST LATE TUESDAY NIGHT DRY AIR WILL INVADE THE MID LEVELS LIMITING
THE SNOW TO LIGHT SNOW OR FLURRIES. THE DRYING WILL CONTINUE ON
WEDNESDAY AS WINDS TURN WEST TO NORTHWEST AND END THE LES BY WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON.

FROM THIS POINT ON THE MODELS DIVERGE QUITE A BIT. THE PREVIOUS GFS
MODELS WHICH HAD A FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT LOW MOVING THRU THURSDAY AND
FRIDAY HAS CHANGED TO A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WITH A SIGNIFICANT LOW
MOVING THRU DURING THE DAY ON SATURDAY. THE CANADIAN AND ECMWF ON THE
OTHER HAND BOTH AGREE ON A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE KEEPING THURSDAY DRY WITH
A COLD FRONT BRINGING LIGHT SNOW AS IT PASSES THRU THURSDAY NIGHT THRU
FRIDAY NIGHT WITH FROPA SOMETIME DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY. SINCE THESE
MODELS ARE IN SUCH GOOD AGREEMENT WILL SIDE WITH THEIR SOLUTIONS AND
TAKE OUT SNOW FOR THURSDAY. ALSO THE WARMER MEX NUMBERS APPEAR TOO HIGH
ON FRIDAY WITH A FRONT MOVING THRU...WHICH IS NOT SUPRISING GIVEN THE
FLAWED GFS SOLUTION DURING THAT TIME PERIOD.

HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN ON SATURDAY WITH SOME LES POSSIBLE OVER NORTH
CENTRAL WITH A NORTHERLY WIND AND GOOD FETCH ACROSS SUPERIOR. AGAIN THE
WINDS DO NOT LOOK FAVORABLE FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW AS THEY APPEAR TO BE
NORTH NORTHEAST AGAIN.

&&

.GRB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...

WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT
WIZ005-010-011-018-019-

WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 AM MONDAY
WIZ012-013-021-073-

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM THIS EVENING
WIZ030-035-036-

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO MIDNIGHT
WIZ020-031-037-045-

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 AM MONDAY
WIZ038-039-048-049-074-

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 6 AM MONDAY
WIZ022-040-050-

&&

SKOWRONSKI/KURIMSKI
WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/GRB

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Vilas

When: February 27, 6:00 AM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Vilas forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 46.053, -89.515 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, February 2005

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: 5440830.