Cold/Wind Chill, Washington
- When
- March 3, 3:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
- Where
- Washington forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- County Official
- Coordinates
- 43.369, -88.231 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Cold in Wisconsin, March 3, 2010
Colder than normal early March weather in southeastern Wisconsin played a role in a hypothermia death of a man in the West Bend area of Washington County. The man was found frozen on the ground outside his residence during the early morning hours of March 3rd with air temperatures in the teens and a light northwest wind of 3 to 5 knots (3 to 6 mph).
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.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- 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 MKX wrote it up.
Colder than normal early March weather in southeastern Wisconsin played a role in a hypothermia death of a man in the West Bend area of Washington County. The man was found frozen on the ground outside his residence during the early morning hours of March 3rd with air temperatures in the teens and a light northwest wind of 3 to 5 knots (3 to 6 mph). Normal lows at this time of the year are around 22. The previous day's maximum temperatures were around 32, which was about 5 degrees below normal. The medical examiner indicated that although hypothermia was the direct cause of death, this individual also had a heart valve problem and a fatty liver.
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 Mar 2, 3:12 PM CST, 11 hours 48 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 2, 3:12 PM CST, 11 hours 48 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 312 PM CST TUE MAR 2 2010 .SHORT TERM... .TONIGHT- CONFIDENCE...HIGH LOW LEVEL WINDS ARE NORTHEAST BUT LOW LEVEL INVERSION WEAKER AND DRIER. STILL SOME LEFT OVER STRATUS/STRATOCUMULUS. CLOUD DEPTH IS SHALLOW...AND EXPECT SOME DECREASE IN CLOUDS WITH LOSS OF HEATING. HOWEVER STILL SOME POTENTIAL FOR CLOUDS OFF LAKE MICHIGAN. FORECAST SOUNDING SHOW BEST POTENTIAL FOR RADIATION FOG WILL BE INLAND. FOR NOW WILL ADD PATCHY FOG FOR THE INLAND AREAS AFTER MIDNIGHT. STRONG UPPER RIDGE OVER THE ROCKIES AND HIGH PLAINS THIS EVENING WITH WEAK SHORTWAVE DROPPING DOWN ACROSS MINNESOTA/WESTERN WISCONSIN AREA LATE TONIGHT REACHING EASTERN MISSOURI/WESTERN ILLINOIS ON WEDNESDAY. MID LEVELS ARE DRY...SO DO NOT EXPECT THIS TO HAVE MUCH EFFECT. .WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...CONFIDENCE HIGH UPPER RIDGE MOVES INTO THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS WEDNESDAY... EVENTUALLY REACHING THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES FRIDAY. ECMWF AND GFS CONTINUES TO EJECT A SHORTWAVE FROM WEST COAST TROUGH INTO THE NEBRASKA/SOUTH DAKOTA AREA BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON. BY THEN...SURFACE HIGH WILL BE CENTERED FROM THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY INTO WISCONSIN. .LONG TERM... .SATURDAY AND SUNDAY...CONFIDENCE MEDIUM ECMWF AND GFS TAKES LEAD UPPER SHORTWAVE FROM THE NORTHERN PLAINS PLAINS ACROSS THE UPPER GREAT LAKES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. ECMWF IS A LITTLE FARTHER NORTH. BOTH MODELS BRING IN SOME LIGHT QPF FROM THIS SHORTWAVE SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. BY SUNDAY GFS BRINGS ANOTHER SHORTWAVE INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS. PREFER THE ECMWF WITH A BROAD TROUGH OVER THE SOUTHWEST U.S. WITH UPPER RIDGE OVER WISCONSIN. .MONDAY AND TUESDAY...CONFIDENCE LOW BOTH ECMWF AND GFS BEGIN TO EJECT THE SOUTHWEST U.S. TROUGH. OVER WISCONSIN ECMWF IS MUCH SLOWER WITH UPPER RIDGE OVER THE GREAT LAKES INTO TUESDAY. WILL LEAN A BIT MORE TOWARDS THE ECMWF. && .AVIATION... INLAND EROSION OF STRATUS UNDERWAY. SATELLITE ANIMATION SUGGESTS CORRIDOR FROM KMKE TO KENW WILL BE LAST TO SEE ANY CLEARING. LOW LEVEL RH PROGS BRING SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR IN TONIGHT...HOWEVER OVERALL RADIATIONAL CONDITIONS WILL STILL BE CONDUCIVE FOR AT LEAST SOME MVFR VISIBILITIES. MOS NOT POINTING TO ANYTHING WORSE THAN MVFR THOUGH SREF SUGGESTING AT LEAST PATCHY IFR VSBYS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION FOR SC WI. && .MKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. LM...NONE. && SHORT/LONG TERM...06/HENTZ AVIATION/MARINE...10/COLLAR
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 2, 5:23 PM CST, 9 hours 37 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 523 PM CST TUE MAR 2 2010 WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-030945- MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC-SHEBOYGAN-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE- WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON-WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE- LAFAYETTE-GREEN-ROCK-WALWORTH-RACINE-KENOSHA- 523 PM CST TUE MAR 2 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN...SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. LMZ643>646-030945- 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- 523 PM CST TUE MAR 2 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MADISON GEHRING
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
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, Washington | 2010-03-03 | 58 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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
More
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, March 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: 221865.