Heavy snow fell across parts of Vilas County from snow showers that developed as cold air moved across the relatively warm waters of Lake Superior. 0 inches of snow fell at Lac du Flambeau, and there were unofficial reports of 10 to 11 inches farther to the north, around Manitowish Waters and Winchester.
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.
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 GRB wrote it up.
Heavy snow fell across parts of Vilas County from snow showers that developed as cold air moved across the relatively warm waters of Lake Superior. A storm total of 8.0 inches of snow fell at Lac du Flambeau, and there were unofficial reports of 10 to 11 inches farther to the north, around Manitowish Waters and Winchester.
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 Green Bay, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 8, 3:31 AM CST, 2 hours 29 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Green Bay WI 331 AM CST Thu Dec 8 2016 Forecast discussion for routine morning forecast issuance .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 327 AM CST Thu Dec 8 2016 Significant snow in the Lake Superior snowbelt today into Friday, with scattered snow showers and flurries elsewhere. Snow still possible this weekend, though perhaps not as much as earlier anticipated. High upper heights/blocky flow over the northeast Pacific was allowing cold air to build up over eastern Alaska and Canada. Downstream over North America, a strong band of westerlies with modest amplitude was across the CONUS, with a longwave trough over the central part of the country. The trough will progress into the Atlantic the next few days, allowing the flow in its wake to flatten back to a nearly zonal regime by the weekend. Some reamplification will occur late in the weekend and next week as a deep upper low digs southeast toward western Hudson Bay. The medium range models are struggling greatly handing systems in the fast relatively low amplitude flow developing across the CONUS. Substantial jumps in the timing and track of systems have been occurring and will probably continue given the large scale pattern. This is affecting the specifics of daily temperatures and precipitation timing and amounts, though the big picture remains unchanged. For most of the period, temperatures will vary from day to day due to the passage of individual systems, likely shifting from slightly above to modestly below normal. A cold snap with well below normal temperatures still appears likely late in the period. The large scale pattern favors active weather, with several opportunities for snow. && .SHORT TERM...Today...Tonight...and Friday Issued at 327 AM CST Thu Dec 8 2016 No changes to headlines this morning as previous forecast reasoning remains largely intact. Expect a significant snow event in the Lake Superior snowbelt the next 30 hours. Sharp surface trough was shifting south, now approaching ASX in northwest Wisconsin. Winds aloft were veering NNW over Lake Superior. KDLH and KMQT WSR-88Ds have indicated an increase in convective-looking returns over the lake the past couple hours. This is the beginning of the evolution of the lake snow bands. Still expect an organized snow band to affect western Vilas and possibly western Oneida counties today. Snow showers will continue in the snowbelt tonight into Friday, though lowering inversion heights and slowly backing flow aloft suggest precipitation will become more scattered and gradually decrease in intensity. Lake-effect off eastern Lake Superior could affect the northern Door at times as well. Flurries were common across the rest of the area early this morning. Expect scattered snow showers and flurries today into this evening as the weakening surface trough shifts through. Clouds may begin to break some tonight into Friday, especially in the northwest-flow downslope area of northeast Wisconsin. Tweaked temperatures a little away from the statistical guidance and more toward the model surface temperatures. Those normally verify better when clouds and precipitation are present. .LONG TERM...Friday Night Through Wednesday Issued at 327 AM CST Thu Dec 8 2016 The main point of contention in the long-term centers around trying to get a handle on a system that is expected to affect northeast WI at some point later this weekend. The latest trend among some of the models is to have in effect two separate snow events. The first one would be Saturday afternoon through Saturday night in association with WAA/frontogenetical forcing. The second one would be Sunday night into Monday morning in associated with the main mid-level trough/associated surface low. Once this system clears, the floodgates to arctic air is still set to arrive toward the middle of next week with sub-zero min temperatures and bitterly cold wind chills. Quiet and cold conditions will exist over the region Friday night as a weak surface ridge builds into western WI by daybreak. Depending on how extensive any breaks in the clouds can develop, there is potential for temperatures to drop farther than anticipated, especially over north-central WI where a fresh snow pack resides. May need to make adjustments to the north with min temperatures in the zero to 5 above range north-central, 6 to 12 above elsewhere except middle teens near Lake MI. Models continue to struggle with the timing/strength of a mid-level trough as it moves across the Rockies on Saturday. The CMC and GFS actually look similar with respect to increasing isentropic lift and mid- level frontogenetical forcing into WI by Saturday afternoon with a band of light snow mainly over the southern half of the state. If timing holds, parts of central WI could see around one-half inch of accumulation by 00z Sunday. Max temperatures to be in the middle teens north-central, 15-20 degrees elsewhere except lower 20s near Lake MI. While snow will continue over the forecast area Saturday night, there are doubts as to the amount of QPF that will fall as the stronger mid-level forcing appears to now stay to our south. The primary mid-level trough to only be entering the Plains later Saturday night, so this feature will not be a factor in our weather yet. Have decided to lower QPF values a little and this translates to snow accumulations to range from a couple of inches north, to 3-5 inches south which would be advisory criteria should these values hold in later updates. Min temperatures Saturday night to range from 10 to 15 above north, 15 to 20 degrees south. The bulk of the 00z models essentially hold the mid-level trough over the central Plains on Sunday as additional jet energy helps to sharpen the trough. Anticipate seeing some kind of cyclogenesis develop ahead of the trough and both the CMC and ECMWF do show an area of low pressure moving toward the Mid-MS Valley. For northeast WI, we will be on the northern fringes of modest isentropic lift/mid-level forcing as weak shortwaves lift northeast into southern sections of the Great Lakes. Look for additional accumulation that will range from very little north, to less than an inch south. Max temperatures on Sunday will be around 20 degrees north-central, lower to middle 20s south except upper 20s along Lake MI. Model differences with the handling of this system persist into the start of the work week with the primary discrepancies being the strength of the surface low and the strength of the mid-level trough. Models continue to have run-to-run inconsistencies which make for low confidence on how this will play out. Latest thinking would be to have the system lift northeast toward the Great Lakes Sunday night into Monday with the potential for headline snow amounts IF the surface low track is favorable (passes by to our south and east). Just too much uncertainty here to make massive changes to the forecast, thus have just raised pops for Sunday night and Monday morning (east) for now and hope later model runs can get on the same page. Max temperatures on Monday to be from 10 to 15 above central, 15 to 20 east except lower 20 near Lake MI. After a brief break in the snow chances late Monday into Monday night, precipitation chances re-appear late Monday night into Tuesday as a strong cold front sweeps through the region. Behind this front, temperatures will plummet well below normal through mid-week. If you add in west winds of 10 to 15 mph, we could be looking at wind chills by Tuesday morning as cold as 15 below zero over parts of north-central WI. It appears that Tuesday night will be the coldest night as the crux of the arctic air moves over the Great Lakes. Min temperatures could reach double digits below zero if enough clouds can stay away. Some moderation in temperatures is forecast for later next week as the mean flow flattens out and the arctic air retreats back into Canada. && .AVIATION...for 12Z TAF Issuance Issued at 327 AM CST Thu Dec 8 2016 Primarily MVFR conditions were present early this morning, though some locations in east-central Wisconsin have edged up into the VFR category. Little change in ceilings is expected. On the other hand, visibilities will probably vary considerably in the snow showers expected today, possibly dropping to IFR for brief periods. More persistent IFR/LIFR conditions are expected in the snowbelt. && .GRB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning until noon CST Friday for WIZ005. Winter Weather Advisory until 6 AM CST Friday for WIZ010. && SYNOPSIS.......Skowronski SHORT TERM.....Skowronski LONG TERM......Kallas AVIATION.......Skowronski
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI 353 AM CST THU DEC 8 2016 WIZ005-010>013-018>022-030-031-035>040-045-048>050-073-074-091200- VILAS-ONEIDA-FOREST-FLORENCE-NORTHERN MARINETTE COUNTY-LINCOLN- LANGLADE-MENOMINEE-NORTHERN OCONTO COUNTY-DOOR-MARATHON-SHAWANO- WOOD-PORTAGE-WAUPACA-OUTAGAMIE-BROWN-KEWAUNEE-WAUSHARA-WINNEBAGO- CALUMET-MANITOWOC-SOUTHERN MARINETTE COUNTY- SOUTHERN OCONTO COUNTY- 353 AM CST THU DEC 8 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH-CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT POOR TRAVEL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED IN THE LAKE SUPERIOR SNOWBELT DUE TO HEAVY LAKE-EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS TODAY AND TONIGHT. A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR VILAS COUNTY...AND A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR ONEIDA COUNTY. SURROUNDING AREAS ARE ALSO LIKELY TO RECEIVE SOME SNOW...SO HAZARDOUS TRAVEL IS POSSIBLE ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN. ALTHOUGH WIDESPREAD TRAVEL IMPACTS ARE NOT ANTICIPATED...ROADS ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA COULD BE SLIPPERY AT TIMES TODAY DUE TO SNOW SHOWERS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE LAKE-EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY DIMINISH ON FRIDAY. HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE AT TIMES THIS WEEKEND. A COMPLEX WEATHER SCENARIO IS TAKING SHAPE STARTING THIS WEEKEND AND CONTINUING INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...WHERE A ONE-TWO PUNCH OF SNOW IS SHAPING UP. THE FIRST ACCUMULATING SNOW EVENT IS FORECAST TO ARRIVE LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. THE SECOND SNOW EVENT IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING. WHILE THERE REMAINS SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTY IN THE TIMING AND TRACK OF EACH EVENT...IT STILL APPEARS THAT ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL OCCUR AND IMPACT TRAVEL. STAY TUNED FOR ADDITIONAL FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS CONCERNING THESE POTENTIAL SNOW EVENTS. ARCTIC AIR WILL SURGE INTO NORTHEAST WISCONSIN TOWARD THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THIS ARCTIC SURGE IS EXPECTED TO BRING BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES AND THE POTENTIAL FOR DOUBLE DIGIT BELOW ZERO WIND CHILLS TO THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SNOWFALL REPORTS FROM VILAS AND ONEIDA COUNTIES ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. LMZ521-522-541>543-091200- THE BAY OF GREEN BAY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM CEDAR RIVER MI TO ROCK ISLAND PASSAGE-LAKE MICHIGAN FROM WASHINGTON ISLAND TO SHEBOYGAN- 353 AM CST THU DEC 8 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST LAKE MICHIGAN AND THE WATERS OF GREEN BAY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. SKOWRONSKI/KALLAS
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Green Bay WI 509 AM CST Thu Dec 8 2016 WIZ005-010-081430- Vilas-Oneida- 509 AM CST Thu Dec 8 2016 ...TRAVEL CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO DETERIORATE THIS MORNING... Scattered snow showers and flurries occurred overnight, likely resulting in slippery roadways. At 500 am, radar indicated lake- effect snow bands organizing over western Lake Superior. The bands are likely to strengthen this morning as conditions become more favorable for lake snow. The bands of snow showers will affect Vilas and Oneida Counties at times. As the snow showers increase, travel conditions will begin to deteriorate. Morning commuters should allow extra time to reach their destination. The latest Wisconsin road conditions can be obtained by calling 511. Skowronski
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Lake effect snow showers dropped 8.0 inches of snow at Lac du Flambeau.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, December 2016
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: 664887.