Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, February 14, 2008

A band of moderate to heavy snow parked itself across the area stretching from around Reedsburg in Sauk County to Portage to Montello and Green Lake over to Fond du Lac and north of Sheboygan. Specific snow totals include 13 in Montello, 12 in Green Lake, 11.3 northeast of Ripon, 10 in Fond du Lac, 9 in Portage and Wisconsin Dells, and 8.5 in Howards Grove. Dozens of vehicle accidents were noted by the media. Snow amounts tapered off to 2 to 4 over the southern parts of the counties of Sauk, Columbia, Fond du Lac, and Sheboygan. Just prior to this heavy snow event, during the evening of February 13th, a small section of a roof of a manufacturing plant in Sheboygan Falls sagged a few feet due to the weight of accumulated snow. A small hole was cut in the roof to allow pushing of snow down into the plant to lessen the roof load. Synoptically, the heavy snow was associated with mid-level warm air advection of moisture north into Wisconsin where the jet stream pattern favored mid-level convergence. The resultant snow flakes were reported to be fairly large.