Cold in Wisconsin, January 19 to 20, 2008

Name: Cold in Wisconsin, January 19 to 20, 2008
Start: 2008-01-19T00:00
End: 2008-01-20T12:00
Location: Wisconsin

January 19 to 20, 2008 · NWS MKX · 20 events in 20 counties and zones

Very cold air with temperatures of -5F to +5F combined with northwest winds of 15 to 25 mph generated low wind chill values of -20F to -30 F across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. ).

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 20 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: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 20

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.

Very cold air with temperatures of -5F to +5F combined with northwest winds of 15 to 25 mph generated low wind chill values of -20F to -30 F across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. The cold and low wind chills were a contributing factor in the indirect death of a person in Cudahy (Milwaukee Co.).

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 Jan 18, 9:25 PM CST, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 18, 9:25 PM CST, 2 hours 35 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 18, 3:39 PM CST, 8 hours 21 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

20 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Cold/Wind Chill, Marquette

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Marquette forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.820, -89.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Green Lake

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Green Lake forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.800, -89.045 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Fond du Lac

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Fond du Lac forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.754, -88.488 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Sheboygan

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Sheboygan forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.756, -87.800 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Sauk

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Sauk forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.427, -89.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Columbia

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Columbia forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.467, -89.334 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Dodge

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Dodge forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.416, -88.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Washington

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.369, -88.231 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Ozaukee

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Ozaukee forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.403, -87.891 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Iowa

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Iowa forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.001, -90.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Dane

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Dane forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.067, -89.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Jefferson

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.021, -88.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Waukesha

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Waukesha forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.018, -88.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Milwaukee

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Milwaukee forecast zone
Deaths: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Lafayette

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Lafayette forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 42.661, -90.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Green

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Green forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 42.680, -89.602 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Rock

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Rock forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 42.671, -89.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Walworth

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Walworth forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 42.669, -88.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Racine

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Racine forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Cold/Wind Chill, Kenosha

When: January 19, 12:00 AM CST to January 20, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Kenosha forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 42.573, -87.840 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Cold/Wind Chill, Milwaukee	2008-01-19			Outside/Open Areas	Indirect

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill: Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, January 2008

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 78419, 78420, 78421, 78422, 78423, 78424, 78425, 78426, 78427, 78428, 78429, 78430, 78431, 78432, 78433, 78434, 78435, 78436, 78437, 78438.