A multi-faceted winter storm event through the middle of January ushered in an arctic airmass with bitter cold wind chills into Martin Luther King Junior Day. A 20 to 30 degree drop in minimum temperatures from January 13th through January 14th brought minimum temperatures of 5 to 15 degrees below zero during the early morning hours of January 14th across western and central Wisconsin.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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.
A multi-faceted winter storm event through the middle of January ushered in an arctic airmass with bitter cold wind chills into Martin Luther King Junior Day. A 20 to 30 degree drop in minimum temperatures from January 13th through January 14th brought minimum temperatures of 5 to 15 degrees below zero during the early morning hours of January 14th across western and central Wisconsin. Combined with winds gusting 20 to 30 mph, wind chill temperatures reached 25 to 35 degrees below zero. Minimum wind chill reports during this time were -39 degrees in Steuben (Crawford County) and -37 degrees in Platteville (Grant County).
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 13, 11:21 PM CST, 39 minutes earlier.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 cold/wind chill, 2 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
An automated weather observation station reported a wind chill of 39 degrees below zero in Steuben.
An automated weather observation station reported a wind chill of 37 degrees below zero in Platteville.
An automated weather observation station reported a wind chill of 25 degrees below zero in Black River Falls.
An automated weather observation station reported a wind chill of 27 degrees below zero in Camp Douglas.
An automated weather observation station reported a wind chill of 29 degrees below zero in Onalaska.
An automated weather observation station reported a wind chill of 25 degrees below zero in Sparta.
An automated weather observation station reported a wind chill of 30 degrees below zero in Soldiers Grove.
An automated weather observation station reported a wind chill of 30 degrees below zero near Marshland.
An automated weather observation station reported a wind chill of 31 degrees below zero in Viroqua.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, January 2024
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: 1158153, 1158154, 1158156, 1158158, 1158159, 1158160, 1158161, 1158162, 1158163.