Winter Weather in Wisconsin, February 8 to 10, 2010

Name: Winter Weather in Wisconsin, February 8 to 10, 2010
Start: 2010-02-08T18:00
End: 2010-02-10T00:00
Location: Wisconsin

February 8 to 10, 2010 · NWS MKX · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 11 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: 11

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 clipper-type low pressure system passing to the southwest and south of Wisconsin resulted in widespread snow across southern Wisconsin. A second low that had moved northeastward from Texas merged with the clipper system over western Ohio and deepened. This resulted in increasing northeast winds...and with a favorable fetch down Lake Michigan...produced lake enhanced snow that boosted snow totals over eastern Wisconsin.

South Central Wisconsin and a portion of Southeast Wisconsin received widespread 4 to 7 inches of snow...with 8 to 14 inches in southeast Wisconsin. Snow totals of 5 to 9 inches fell west of a line from western Fond Du Lac County near Ripon...through Hartford in Washington County...the city of Waukesha in Waukesha County...Union Grove in western Racine County to Silver Lake in western Kenosha County. The highest snow total from the advisory area was 7.3 inches from an observer 1 mile south of Mt. Horeb in Dane County...with 7 inches reported from observers in Sauk...Lafayette...Jefferson and Rock Counties...and 6.6 inches in East Troy in Walworth County.

Over 250 traffic crashes, spin-outs and collisions were reported. A tanker truck that rolled over in the westbound lanes of Interstate 39/90 near Edgerton in Rock County blocked the interstate with traffic detoured onto U.S. Highway 14.

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 Feb 8, 4:19 PM CST, 1 hour 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 8, 4:19 PM CST, 1 hour 41 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 8, 3:56 PM CST, 2 hours 4 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
356 PM CST MON FEB 8 2010

WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-091115-
MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC-SHEBOYGAN-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE-
WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON-WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE-
LAFAYETTE-GREEN-ROCK-WALWORTH-RACINE-KENOSHA-
356 PM CST MON FEB 8 2010

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

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY GOES INTO EFFECT FOR SOUTH CENTRAL
WISCONSIN AT 6 PM THIS EVENING. A WINTER STORM WARNING GOES INTO
EFFECT FOR DODGE...JEFFERSON...WALWORTH AND ROCK COUNTIES AT 9 PM
THIS EVENING. A WINTER STORM WARNING GOES INTO EFFECT ACROSS THE
REST OF SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT.

WHAT WILL BE A LONG DURATION SNOWFALL WILL BEGIN BY EARLY THIS
EVENING MAINLY SOUTHWEST OF MADISON...WITH SNOW EXPECTED TO
OVERSPREAD ALL OF SOUTHERN WISCONSIN BY MID EVENING...AS STRONG LOW
PRESSURE AND A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVE THROUGH THE
REGION.

SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES IN SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN...AND
2 TO 3 INCHES OVER SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN...ARE EXPECTED BY MORNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

STEADY SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...WITH TOTAL SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 5 TO 9 INCHES ACROSS SOUTH
CENTRAL WISCONSIN...TO 10 TO 14 INCHES ACROSS SOUTHEAST
WISCONSIN...WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS NEAR LAKE MICHIGAN. IN
ADDITION...STRENGTHENING WINDS WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW
TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT.

SEE THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE PRODUCT FOR MORE INFORMATION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED...BUT SNOWFALL REPORTS WILL BE
APPRECIATED.

LMZ643>646-091115-
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-
356 PM CST MON FEB 8 2010

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF LAKE MICHIGAN.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY GOES INTO EFFECT AFTER MIDNIGHT...FOR
INCREASING EAST WINDS BUILDING HIGH WAVES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FROM TUESDAY INTO
THURSDAY...AS BRISK WINDS AND HIGH WAVES RESULT FROM STRONG LOW
PRESSURE MOVING SOUTH OF THE REGION. FREEZING SPRAY IS ALSO EXPECTED
AT TIMES DURING THIS PERIOD. FREQUENT WIND GUSTS TO GALE WARNING
CRITERIA ARE POSSIBLE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. A GALE WATCH IS
IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

WOOD
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MKX

In the hours before

Local storm report, Feb 8, 1:05 PM CST, 4 hours 55 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Marquette

When: February 8, 6:00 PM CST to February 10, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Marquette forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.820, -89.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Green Lake

When: February 8, 6:00 PM CST to February 10, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Green Lake forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.800, -89.045 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Sauk

When: February 8, 6:00 PM CST to February 10, 12:00 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 Weather, Columbia

When: February 8, 6:00 PM CST to February 10, 12:00 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 Weather, Iowa

When: February 8, 6:00 PM CST to February 10, 12:00 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 Weather, Dane

When: February 8, 6:00 PM CST to February 10, 12:00 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 Weather, Jefferson

When: February 8, 6:00 PM CST to February 10, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.021, -88.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Lafayette

When: February 8, 6:00 PM CST to February 10, 12:00 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 Weather, Green

When: February 8, 6:00 PM CST to February 10, 12:00 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 Weather, Rock

When: February 8, 6:00 PM CST to February 10, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Rock forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.671, -89.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Walworth

When: February 8, 6:00 PM CST to February 10, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Walworth forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.669, -88.542 (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 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, February 2010

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: 217652, 217653, 217654, 217655, 217657, 217658, 217659, 217661, 217662, 217663, 217664.