Wind chills of 35 below or colder occurred across portions of central Wisconsin on the morning of January 7th. The dangerous wind chills occurred behind an area of low pressure that moved across the central Mississippi River Valley on January 6th and as a strong area of high pressure dropped south out of Canada onto the High Plains.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS ARX wrote it up.
Wind chills of 35 below or colder occurred across portions of central Wisconsin on the morning of January 7th. The dangerous wind chills occurred behind an area of low pressure that moved across the central Mississippi River Valley on January 6th and as a strong area of high pressure dropped south out of Canada onto the High Plains. These two features combined to push air temperatures down into the single digits and teens below zero with strong northwest winds. The lowest recorded wind chill was 38 below from the automated weather observing equipment at the Medford (Taylor County) airport.
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 La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 7, 5:29 AM CST, 1 hour 46 minutes earlier.
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</html>HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 558 AM CST WED JAN 7 2015 IAZ008-009-018-019-MNZ086-087-094-095-081200- MITCHELL-HOWARD-FLOYD-CHICKASAW-DODGE-OLMSTED-MOWER-FILLMORE- 558 AM CST WED JAN 7 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST IOWA AND SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WIND CHILL WARNING IS IN EFFECT THIS MORNING. DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS OF 30 TO 40 BELOW ZERO WILL OCCUR THIS MORNING. WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 30 BELOW ZERO ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY BITTER TO DANGEROUS COLD WILL CONTINUE FROM THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. MORNING AND NIGHT-TIME WIND CHILLS WILL RANGE FROM 15 TO 35 BELOW ZERO. SLIPPERY TRAVEL CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT DUE TO UP TO 1 INCH OF SNOW...WINDS GUSTING AS HIGH AS 40 MPH...AND BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... NO ACTION IS NEEDED AT THIS TIME. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED. WIZ017-029-081200- TAYLOR-CLARK- 558 AM CST WED JAN 7 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WIND CHILL WARNING IS IN EFFECT THIS MORNING. DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS OF 30 TO 40 BELOW ZERO WILL OCCUR THIS MORNING. WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 30 BELOW ZERO ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY BITTER TO DANGEROUS COLD WILL CONTINUE FROM THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. MORNING AND NIGHT-TIME WIND CHILLS WILL RANGE FROM 15 TO 35 BELOW ZERO. SLIPPERY TRAVEL CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT DUE TO 2 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW...GUSTY WINDS...AND SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... NO ACTION IS NEEDED AT THIS TIME. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED. IAZ010-011-029-030-MNZ079-088-096-WIZ032>034-041>044-053>055-061- 081200- WINNESHIEK-ALLAMAKEE-FAYETTE-CLAYTON-WABASHA-WINONA-HOUSTON- BUFFALO-TREMPEALEAU-JACKSON-LA CROSSE-MONROE-JUNEAU-ADAMS-VERNON- CRAWFORD-RICHLAND-GRANT- 558 AM CST WED JAN 7 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST IOWA...SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...AND SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WIND CHILL WARNING IS IN EFFECT THIS MORNING. DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS OF 30 TO 40 BELOW ZERO WILL OCCUR THIS MORNING. WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 30 BELOW ZERO ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY BITTER TO DANGEROUS COLD WILL CONTINUE FROM THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. MORNING AND NIGHT-TIME WIND CHILLS WILL RANGE FROM 15 TO 35 BELOW ZERO. SLIPPERY TRAVEL CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT DUE TO UP TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW...GUSTY WINDS...AND SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... NO ACTION IS NEEDED AT THIS TIME. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED. AJ
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind chills of 35 below or colder occurred across Clark County on the morning of January 7th. The lowest recorded wind chill was 37 below from a mesonet reporting station near Loyal.
Wind chills of 35 below or colder occurred across Taylor County on the morning of January 7th. The lowest recorded wind chill was 38 below from the automated weather observing equipment at the Medford airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, January 2015
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: 550265, 550266.