Crazy winter is expected to stay cold and snowy into March
City already past average February snow totals
Raise your hand if you thought — as Christmas and New Year’s rolled past — hey, this winter hasn’t been bad.
All through November and December, followed by early January, it was relatively balmy. Streets and sidewalks were dry, work commute times were normal, snow blowers and shovels grew cobwebs, folks left their coats in cars to dash into shopping malls.
Sure there was snow, but it was nothing brooms couldn’t handle. And gradually we became lulled into thinking we might escape this winter without griping about snowstorms or frigid temperatures
Then Pow! Things sure turned in a hurry.
In December, Milwaukee got only 11⁄2inches of snow, well below the average monthly snowfall of 10.6 inches, according to the Wisconsin State Climatologist’s Office. Madison’s 5.9 inches was also less than half — 13.5 inches — what it normally gets in December.
But then the snow started falling. And falling. Thermometers followed suit, dropping into subzero territory. Schools canceled classes, businesses closed, theatrical performances were postponed. Heck, even the huge ice castle in Lake Geneva shut for a day because it was too cold to enjoy schussing down ice block slides.
Milwaukee got dumped with 20.2 inches in January while Madison coped with 19.7, well above the average monthly totals of 14.7 inches and 12.9, respectively. As of Monday, Milwaukee had gotten 14.7 inches this month while 17.4 inches have fallen in Madison.
Milwaukee and Madison zoomed past the February average of around 10 inches of snow. And there are 10 days still to go in the month.
The reason for the topsy-turvy winter is related to much of Wisconsin dodging snowstorms and blizzards that plagued other locations in the U.S. in December and early January.
“We sort of missed a lot of the storms
that hit the region during that period,” said Aidan Kuroski, a National Weather Service meteorologist based in Sullivan.
But then the jet stream shifted toward the south, which allowed cold air from Canada to swoosh into Wisconsin, and that’s when, in part, things turned for the worse.
The bad news?
Much of the state is in an active pattern of low-pressure systems moving through in a short period of time, ushering in precipitation generally in the form of snow, though sometimes sleet and freezing rain. Because low-pressure systems are known for clouds and precipitation, they’re usually associated with stormy weather.
Kuroski said Wisconsin will stay in an active weather pattern “for the foreseeable future. It will last until March. It’s tough to tell after then because it’s too far out to get a true reflection of changes in the pattern.”
The next round of snow is forecast to begin falling in the metro Milwaukee area early Wednesday with accumulations of possibly 2 to 5 inches. Sleet and freezing rain could be part of that storm. There’s also a chance for snow and freezing rain Friday night and throughout the weekend.
This winter, it seemed like when the snow wasn’t falling, temperatures plunged as shovelers worked up a sweat to clear door stoops and driveways. That’s actually common. Storm systems often usher in cold air right behind them with temperatures falling a day or so after a snowstorm.
That’s what’s happening now. Following a storm that dropped almost 10 inches in some parts of southeastern Wisconsin on Sunday, single-digit temperatures are forecast Monday night and early Tuesday.
The National Weather Service is predicting low temperatures around 10 near Lake Michigan and in the 5- to 8-degree range elsewhere.
Last month it got so cold records fell in Madison and Milwaukee.
On Jan. 30, Milwaukee set a new record for the coldest high temperature when it warmed up to only minus 10. The next day it set a record for the coldest Jan. 31 temperature at minus 23, flirting with the record low temperatures recorded in Milwaukee of minus 26 on Jan. 17, 1982, and Feb. 3, 1996.
Madison also set records for lowest daily temperatures of minus 23 on Jan. 26 and minus 26 on Jan. 31, also breaking a record for the coldest high temperature for Jan. 30 at minus 10.
The peaks and valleys of this winter have been difficult for snow-removal operators. Matt McDonell’s six full-time employees kept busy with fall cleanups until just before Christmas but then were idle for a couple of weeks.
In early January, the owner of Fox Point-based Tactical Lawn & Snow Solutions began contacting clients who pay a set fee for a season of snow removal to tell them they would probably get some money back if there was no snow.
“Probably the beginning of January I starting getting a little nervous,” said McDonell, whose company handles snow removal for 63 properties in the North Shore. “Now it’s turning out to be a good year.”
Some folks who need snow plowing and didn’t plan ahead or decided to roll the dice when the winter started out mild are now in a pickle.
“My phone has not stopped ringing in the past four weeks; they’re trying to find providers taking them on this late in the year. I feel bad turning them down. At this point, they’re calling (snow removal companies) and not getting calls back,” McDonell said. “You live in Wisconsin, you should be used to it.”