Winter Storm in Wisconsin, January 29 to 30, 2008

Name: Winter Storm in Wisconsin, January 29 to 30, 2008
Start: 2008-01-29T12:00
End: 2008-01-30T02:00
Location: Wisconsin

January 29 to 30, 2008 · NWS MKX · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: 7

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.

A powerful winter storm raked south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the afternoon hours of January 29th into the pre-dawn hours of January 30th. The precipitation started off as rain and thunderstorms then changed to sleet and freezing rain which then changed to snow and blowing snow with plunging temperatures. Peak sustained northwest winds were on the order of 22 to 28 knots (25 to 32 mph) with peak gusts of 34 to 43 knots (39 to 49 mph). Visibilities were occasionally reduced to 1/4 to 1/2 mile in open areas. Dozens of vehicle accidents and slide-offs were noted by the media due to very slippery roads. Afternoon temperatures in the mid 30s to lower 40s quickly dropped through the 20s into the teens and then into the single digits by the evening hours, and eventually down to the -4F to -11F by the pre-dawn hours of the 30th. Although new snow amounts were only 1 to 3 inches, County Emergency Management Directors noted that this event was perceived as a winter storm due to the combination of thunderstorms, freezing rain, sleet, snow, blowing snow, strong winds, poor visibilities, and fast-falling temperatures. Synoptically, a strong low pressure moved northeast through Minnesota while a strong cold front swept southeast through Wisconsin. Another low pressure developed along the cold front while it was over northern Illinois, which led to a tightening pressure gradient and stronger winds over southern Wisconsin.

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 29, 11:59 AM CST, 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 11:59 AM CST, 1 minute 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 29, 4:41 AM CST, 7 hours 19 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
441 AM CST TUE JAN 29 2008

WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-301045-
MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC-SHEBOYGAN-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE-
WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON-WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE-
LAFAYETTE-GREEN-ROCK-WALWORTH-RACINE-KENOSHA-
441 AM CST TUE JAN 29 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL
WISCONSIN...SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM PUSHES NORTHEAST FROM THE LAKE SUPERIOR
REGION...A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL PUSH ACROSS WISCONSIN TODAY.

THE FRONT WILL BRING STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS AND MUCH COLDER
TEMPERATURES. THIS WILL CHANGE ANY RAIN TO A BRIEF MIX OF FREEZING
RAIN AND SLEET...THEN CHANGING TO SNOW ALONG WITH A RETURN TO
BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHERN WISCONSIN LATER
THIS AFTERNOON TO AROUND MIDNIGHT. WHILE SNOW AMOUNTS WILL NOT BE
SIGNIFICANT...THE COMBINATION OF MIXED PRECIPITATION...
SNOW...BLOWING SNOW...HIGH WINDS AND FALLING TEMPERATURES WILL
CAUSE DANGEROUS WEATHER CONDITIONS. A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS THEN
IN EFFECT TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON WEDNESDAY.

ANOTHER STRONG WINTER STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE OHIO RIVER
VALLEY REGION. SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE IF THE
LOW TRACKS MORE TO THE NORTHWEST.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED...ALTHOUGH WIND GUST AND
SNOWFALL REPORTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

LMZ643>646-301045-
SHEBOYGAN TO PORT WASHINGTON WI-
PORT WASHINGTON TO NORTH POINT LIGHT WI-
NORTH POINT LIGHT TO WIND POINT WI-
WIND POINT WI TO WINTHROP HARBOR IL-
441 AM CST TUE JAN 29 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF LAKE MICHIGAN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A GALE WARNING WILL CONTINUE FOR NORTHWEST GALES TO 45 KNOTS LATE
THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A FEW STORM FORCE WIND GUSTS TO 50
KNOTS ARE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING.

A HEAVY FREEZING SPRAY WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES AND FREEZING SPRAY ADVISORIES WILL BE
NEEDED WEDNESDAY.

HENTZ

WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MKX

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Sauk

When: January 29, 12:00 PM CST to January 30, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Sauk forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.427, -89.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Columbia

When: January 29, 12:00 PM CST to January 30, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Columbia forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.467, -89.334 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Iowa

When: January 29, 12:00 PM CST to January 30, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Iowa forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.001, -90.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dane

When: January 29, 12:00 PM CST to January 30, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Dane forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.067, -89.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lafayette

When: January 29, 12:00 PM CST to January 30, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Lafayette forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.661, -90.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Green

When: January 29, 12:00 PM CST to January 30, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Green forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.680, -89.602 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Rock

When: January 29, 12:00 PM CST to January 30, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Rock forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.671, -89.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 78479, 78480, 78481, 78482, 78483, 78484, 78485.