Warm air moving into the area ahead of a low pressure system brought near freezing temperatures that resulted in a wintry mix of precipitation across central Wisconsin. 40 inch of ice accretion was reported along with a light accumulation of sleet and snow.
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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.
Warm air moving into the area ahead of a low pressure system brought near freezing temperatures that resulted in a wintry mix of precipitation across central Wisconsin. Between 0.25 and 0.40 inch of ice accretion was reported along with a light accumulation of sleet and snow. The freezing rain and sleet caused roads across central Wisconsin to become ice-covered, resulting in numerous vehicle accidents.
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 Jan 16, 2:39 PM CST, 3 hours 21 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Green Bay WI 239 PM CST Mon Jan 16 2017 Forecast discussion for routine afternoon forecast issuance .SHORT TERM...Tonight and Tuesday Issued at 238 PM CST Mon Jan 16 2017 A messy forecast to say the least with a variety of precipitation types to discern with temperatures a couple of degrees either side of freezing across central and east-central WI. Road temperatures are also a couple of degrees either side of freezing, so this could also play a large role in precipitation type. The 20z MSAS surface analysis showed a weakening area of high pressure that extended from central MN east-southeast through the Great Lakes to the New England states. Low pressure was situated over northeast KS with an arc of mixed precipitation extended from eastern Nebraska to southern WI to western Indiana. Models agree in taking the surface low from northeast KS to southern Lake MI tonight and bring a wintry mix of precipitation to most of northeast WI. Model forecast soundings indicate that temperatures will hover around the freezing mark from 7K ft to the surface across central/east-central WI, thus a continued threat for a variety of precipitation types through the night. For northern WI where temperatures will be colder, expect to see mainly a snow/freezing rain mix. For central/east-central WI, expect a full complement of freezing rain, sleet and a little snow with ice accumulations in the 1/10 to 2/10 range. Locations closer to Lake MI may see more of a rain/freezing rain combination as east-northeast winds pull slightly warmer air inland. Snow accumulations of an inch or two are possible between highways 64 and 54. Do not plan on making any changes to current headlines based on projected QPF amounts. Look for min temperatures to range from the middle to upper teens over north-central WI near the Upper MI border, to the lower and middle 30s across east-central WI. The surface low will continue to track northeast across Lower MI into extreme southeast Ontario on Tuesday. Mixed precipitation is forecast to carry over into Tuesday morning central/east-central WI, while northern WI should see a chance for light snow. All of the precipitation should gradually come to an end Tuesday afternoon with even some peeks of sunshine possible over north- central WI later in the day. Since stronger forcing/lift to be to our east by daybreak, do not anticipate much in the way of additional icing (< 0.05"), but still enough to make for hazardous travel conditions for the morning commute (especially secondary roads, bridges, overpasses, driveways and sidewalks). Max temperatures for Tuesday will mainly be in the middle 30s across the entire forecast area. .LONG TERM...Tuesday Night Through Monday Issued at 238 PM CST Mon Jan 16 2017 Ridging will bring a period of quiet weather to northeast Wisconsin during the middle to late part of the work week. Temperatures during this period will slowly warm from the middle 30s, to around 40 degrees by the end of the week. There will be a slight chance for rain to sneak into the far southern cwa on Friday, however the best chance for rain will not arrive until the weekend when a weak upper level system lifts north through the western Great Lakes region. Even then the weak system will only warrant chancy pops as moisture and dynamics are fairly limited. A fairly strong low pressure system developing out over the southern Plains and tracking through the Ohio Valley early next week could make things interesting in the far portion of the extended. The ECMWF pushes this system through the Ohio Valley with minimal impact to the western Great Lakes, while the GFS curves the system back north towards Chicago by next Monday. It is difficult at best to determine how this system will track through the CONUS, however given the different solutions it certain bears watching as it draws closer. && .AVIATION...for 18Z TAF Issuance Issued at 1122 AM CST Mon Jan 16 2017 Flying conditions are expected to deteriorate from south to north this afternoon as an area of low pressure approaches from the central Plains. Surface temperatures around freezing, combined with road/runway temperatures below freezing, will lead to mix of precipitation types this afternoon through tonight. Icing of 1/10 to 2/10 of an inch is anticipated for all TAF sites, except RHI where the precipitation type would be mainly snow with a light accumulation. Cigs/vsbys are forecast to start at VFR, but quickly drop into the IFR category by early evening and IFR conditions for the overnight hours. As the surface low continues to track northeast across Lower Michigan on Tuesday, the precipitation will gradually dissipate with improving conditions later in the day. && .GRB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until noon CST Tuesday for WIZ035>040- 045-048>050. Winter Weather Advisory until noon CST Tuesday for WIZ020-022- 030-031-074. Winter Weather Advisory from 7 PM this evening to noon CST Tuesday for WIZ013-018-019-021-073. && SHORT TERM.....Kallas LONG TERM......Kurimski AVIATION.......Kallas
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI 251 PM CST MON JAN 16 2017 WIZ005-010>013-018>022-030-031-035>040-045-048>050-073-074-172100- 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- 251 PM CST MON JAN 16 2017 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH-CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AS A LARGE BAND OF PRECIPITATION LIFTS NORTH ACROSS THE AREA FROM SOUTH TO NORTH THIS EVENING...THEN CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT. A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION. FREEZING RAIN IS MOST LIKELY ACROSS CENTRAL AND EAST-CENTRAL WISCONSIN...WHILE A MIX OF FREEZING RAIN AND SNOW IS EXPECTED ACROSS NORTHERN WISCONSIN. TRAVEL COULD BECOME EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST INTO TUESDAY MORNING UNTIL THE MIXED PRECIPITATION DIMINISHES TUESDAY AFTERNOON. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO REPORT SNOW AND ICE AMOUNTS TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING. LMZ521-522-541>543-172100- THE BAY OF GREEN BAY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM CEDAR RIVER MI TO ROCK ISLAND PASSAGE-LAKE MICHIGAN FROM WASHINGTON ISLAND TO SHEBOYGAN- 251 PM CST MON JAN 16 2017 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST LAKE MICHIGAN AND THE WATERS OF GREEN BAY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. KALLAS/KURIMSKI
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
538 PM CST MON JAN 16 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0534 PM FREEZING RAIN 4 NE IOLA 44.54N 89.05W
01/16/2017 M0.10 INCH WAUPACA WI TRAINED SPOTTER
CURRENT TEMP 29 DEGREES. MANY REPORTS OF ACCIDENTS ON HWY
10 JUST WEST OF WAUPACA.
&&
SACThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Freezing rain caused icy roads across Marathon County, and up to a quarter of an inch of ice was measured on tree limbs in Rothschild.
Freezing rain caused an accumulation of ice across Shawano County.
Freezing rain caused many side streets in Wood County to become ice-covered and dangerous. There were numerous reports of vehicles sliding off the road on Highway 10 and Highway 73 in eastern Wood County.
Freezing rain caused icy roads across Portage County, and as much as 0.3 inch of ice accumulation was measured in Plover.
Freezing rain caused icy roads across Waupaca County, and a spotter near Iola measured a tenth of an inch of ice accumulation. There were numerous reports of accidents on Highway 10 just west of Waupaca.
Freezing rain caused an accumulation of ice across Waushara County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, January 2017
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: 674559, 674560, 674561, 674562, 674563, 674564.