Dense Fog in Wisconsin, February 12, 2018

Name: Dense Fog in Wisconsin, February 12, 2018
Start: 2018-02-12T07:45
End: 2018-02-12T08:15
Location: Wisconsin

February 12, 2018 · NWS MKX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A crash involving 29 vehicles occurred in and near a patch of dense fog in the northbound lane of Highway 18/151 just south of Verona, WI. One death occurred.

Where it happened

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.

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: 1
Injuries: 6
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 MKX wrote it up.

A crash involving 29 vehicles occurred in and near a patch of dense fog in the northbound lane of Highway 18/151 just south of Verona, WI. One death occurred.

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 Milwaukee, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 12, 5:24 AM CST, 2 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 12, 5:24 AM CST, 2 hours 21 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 12, 3:18 AM CST, 4 hours 27 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, Dane

When: February 12, 7:45 AM CST to 8:15 AM CST
Where: Dane forecast zone
Deaths: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Injuries: 0 direct, 6 indirect
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 43.067, -89.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A crash involving 29 vehicles occurred in and near a patch of dense fog in the northbound lane of Highway 18/151 just south of Verona, WI. One death occurred and six people were taken to hospitals. The Dane County Sheriff's Office cited poor visibility and high speed as factors in the crash. The small patch of dense fog formed over Badger Mill Creek. The northbound lanes of Highway 18/151 were closed for much of the day due to the investigation.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Dense Fog, Dane	2018-02-12	53	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Indirect

What these are

Dense Fog: Fog reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less, filed where it caused accidents or disruption.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2018 Every state in 2018 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, February 2018

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: 731690.