Wisconsin, 2011

Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, April 27, 2011

April 27, 2011 · NWS DLH · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Low pressure over Iowa early April 26th moved into the Ohio Valley that night. High pressure over James Bay supplied dry and cold air, causing a weak secondary low to develop along a cold front over the Ironwood MI area before dawn on the 27th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
3

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 DLH wrote it up.

Low pressure over Iowa early April 26th moved into the Ohio Valley that night. High pressure over James Bay supplied dry and cold air, causing a weak secondary low to develop along a cold front over the Ironwood MI area before dawn on the 27th. Falling temperatures caused rain to mix with and then change to snow over higher elevations overnight. Heavy wet snow was reported along and north of the first ridge south of the Wisconsin south shore of Lake Superior early on the 27th.

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 Duluth, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 26, 5:58 PM CST, 6 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 26, 5:58 PM CST, 6 hours 2 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 26, 3:11 PM CST, 8 hours 49 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

3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Douglas

When
April 27, 12:00 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
Where
Douglas forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
46.464, -91.899 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Bayfield

When
April 27, 12:00 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
Where
Bayfield forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
46.635, -91.181 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ashland

When
April 27, 12:00 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
Where
Ashland forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
46.510, -90.720 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, April 2011

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: 303007, 303008, 303009.