» Storm deaths:
At least three deaths are linked to a winter storm that dropped more than 8 inches of snow on Milwaukee over the weekend, and plunged actual air temperatures below zero.
At least three deaths have been linked to a winter storm that dropped more than 8 inches of snow on Milwaukee over the weekend, and plunged actual air temperatures below zero.
Two men died in front of their homes while shoveling snow, and the frozen body of a woman was found Monday on steps leading to her apartment, according to the Milwaukee County medical examiner’s office.
In addition, a motorist was killed during Monday morning’s icy commute when his or her pickup truck crashed through a guardrail on the Hoan Bridge and landed on its roof, according to the medical examiner’s office.
The 64-year-old woman was found about 9:30 a.m. on the back stairs leading to her apartment in the 2000 block of S. 15th St. An autopsy is planned for Tuesday, but the subzero cold is believed to have been a factor in her death.
The overnight low temperature Sunday night was minus 7 degrees and wind chill values dropped down to 23 degrees below zero, according to the National Weather Service in Sullivan.
The temperature was 2 degrees above zero, with a wind chill of 14 degrees below zero at when the woman was found.
The temperature was about 17 degrees above zero when Michael Kressin, 44, collapsed about 8 a.m. Saturday on the partially shoveled sidewalk outside his home in the 1900 block of N. Oakland Ave., according to the weather service and a medical examiner’s report.
Kressin appears to have died of natural causes, according to a medical examiner’s report.
Arnold Handel, 74, died about 9:45 a.m. Sunday outside his home in the 5800 block of N. 63rd St. after going outside to shovel snow, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Handel died of heart disease, according to a medical examiner’s report.
The temperature was 4 degrees above zero at the time, with a wind chill of 14 degrees below zero, according to the weather service.
The fatal crash on the Hoan Bridge Monday was reported shortly before 8:30 a.m., when a northbound pickup truck veered off the right side of the bridge just north of Carferry Drive, according to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver was the truck’s sole occupant and no other vehicles were involved, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
While the crash remained under investigation Monday, black ice was blamed for more than a dozen morning crashes on Milwaukee-area interstates.
In addition, after a snowfall the previous weekend, Rickey Ronnia Richardson, 55, was found Monday, Dec. 12, with a core temperature of 60 degrees after shoveling snow from a neighbor’s driveway in the 3700 block of N. 24th St.
He was pronounced dead a short time later.
Authorities suspect that Richardson, who had a history of alcoholism and tobacco use, collapsed onto the concrete the night before, and his death is believed to have been caused by hypertensive cardiovascular disease, according to a medical examiner’s report.
Between 8 and 11 inches of snow fell across southern Wisconsin this past weekend, including 8.6 inches of snow recorded in Milwaukee, according to the weather service.
Temperatures reached the upper teens in Milwaukee on Monday, with the highest wind chill value recorded at minus 6 degrees Monday afternoon.
The normal high temperature in Milwaukee on Dec. 19 is 32 degrees, and temperatures are expected to start making their way up toward more seasonal levels Tuesday, when a high temperature around 30 is expected.
Brisk, westerly winds are also expected, with sustained speeds of 15 to 20 mph and gusts as high as 35 mph, according to the weather service.
High temperatures in the low-to-mid 30s are expected Wednesday through Christmas Day Saturday, and a high temperature near 39 degrees is expected Sunday, according to the weather service forecast.