Milwaukee Area Lake-Effect Snow Warning: More Expected In Record-Setting Snow

MILWAUKEE, WI — Lake-effect snow is expected to continue overnight and perhaps into Tuesday morning, putting some parts of Wisconsin on track to receive about a foot and a half of snow, already a record breaker for March 13. Four deaths have been linked to the snowstorm, according to media reports.

In a lake-effect snow warning, the National Weather Service said Ozaukee, Washington,Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Kenosha counties could receive an additional 2 to 5 inches of snow overnight. The weather service said 7.5 inches of snow had been recorded at Mitchell International Airport by Monday evening. The previous record for March 13 was 6.7 inches set in 1972.

In its warning, the weather service said gusting winds as high as 25 mph at times will cause areas of drifting and patchy blowing snow, particularly in areas close to Lake Michigan and likely creating slick spots on roadways that have been plowed and cleaned. Visibility can drop to zero within minutes. Motorists should “plan on difficult driving conditions tonight into Tuesday morning,” the weather service said, adding that “travel is strongly discouraged.”

Some areas of southeast Wisconsin had received a foot of snow by Monday evening.

There have been four snow-related deaths, WISN-TV reported. All men, they were all removing snow. Three were shoveling and the other was using a snow blower. The men were ages 78, 76, 68 and 64.

Throughout the day, police and rescue crews were busy responding to accidents and multi-car pileups. In Milwaukee County alone, there were 135 traffic accidents, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. There were two pileups on Interstate 41 in Washington County, one involving 46 vehicles and the other involving 22. In Sheboygan County, Interstate 43 was shut down for a few hours for a 17-vehicle pileup that included five semitrailers.

In a statement Monday, Milwaukee County Executive Chis Abele's office said road crews had been "out at full capacity salting and plowing the freeway and county roads since the inclement weather conditions began (Sunday) night. They will continue to keep our roads in the safest possible conditions, but we still urge people to stay off the roads if at all possible."

The storm caused travel delays at Mitchell International Airport, with several arrivals and departures canceled for areas of the country that are expected to get heavy snow Tuesday. U.S. airlines have canceled more than 1,000 flights ahead of the snow storm.

Photo by jason gessner via Flickr Commons