Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, January 28 to 29, 2011

Name: Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, January 28 to 29, 2011
Start: 2011-01-28T14:00
End: 2011-01-29T22:00
Location: Wisconsin

January 28 to 29, 2011 · NWS DLH · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: 2

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.

A negatively tilted inverted trough developed along an International Falls-Hibbing-Duluth-Hayward-Wausau line on January 29th. Lake moisture enhanced snowfall in the onshore flow east of the trough axis. An area of enhanced snowfall of 6 to a little over 8 inches was along the shore from Cornucopia to Gile.

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 Jan 28, 12:20 PM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 28, 12:20 PM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 28, 4:08 AM CST, 9 hours 52 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
408 AM CST FRI JAN 28 2011

MNZ010>012-018>021-025-026-033>038-WIZ001>004-006>009-291130-
KOOCHICHING-NORTHERN ST. LOUIS-NORTHERN COOK/NORTHERN LAKE-
NORTHERN ITASCA-CENTRAL ST. LOUIS-SOUTHERN LAKE/LAKESHORE-
SOUTHERN COOK/LAKESHORE-NORTHERN CASS-SOUTHERN ITASCA-
SOUTHERN CASS-CROW WING-NORTHERN AITKIN-SOUTHERN AITKIN-
CARLTON/SOUTHERN ST. LOUIS-PINE-DOUGLAS-BAYFIELD-ASHLAND-IRON-
BURNETT-WASHBURN-SAWYER-PRICE-
408 AM CST FRI JAN 28 2011

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST MINNESOTA AND
NORTHWEST WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD THE NORTHLAND TODAY. THE SNOW WILL BE HEAVY
IN SPOTS...MAINLY THIS AFTERNOON AND ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 2.
THE SNOW WILL DIMINISH OVERNIGHT...EXCEPT NEAR LAKE SUPERIOR. ACCUMULATIONS
WILL VARY FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES AROUND THE BRAINERD LAKES...TO 6 TO
12 ALONG PORTIONS OF THE NORTH SHORE. MUCH OF THE NORTHLAND IS
UNDER A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY OR WARNING. SEE THE LATEST WINTER
WEATHER MESSAGE AND FORECAST FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

SNOW WILL CONTINUE ON SATURDAY...MAINLY WITHIN ABOUT 20 MILES OF
LAKE SUPERIOR. ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL WILL RANGE FROM 1 TO 4
INCHES...WITH THE NORTH SHORE SEEING THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

MELDE

MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESS:
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/DULUTH (ALL LOWER CASE)

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 28, 11:11 AM CST, 2 hours 49 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jan 28, 1:58 PM CST, 2 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

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Bayfield

When: January 28, 2:00 PM CST to January 29, 10:00 PM 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, Iron

When: January 28, 4:30 PM CST to January 29, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Iron forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 46.317, -90.264 (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

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 276470, 276471.