Winter Storm — Southern Oconto, Wisconsin

2024-04-02 to 2024-04-03 · Southern Oconto, Wisconsin

Event narrative

The highest snowfall totals across southern Oconto County included 7 inches in Oconto and 6.1 inches in Pulaski. Winds gusted to 30 to 40 mph at times Tuesday afternoon (4/2) into Wednesday morning (4/3). The winds caused tree damage and power outages throughout the county, with over 17,400 without power.

Wider weather episode

A rapidly intensifying area of low pressure moving across Illinois to southern Lake Michigan on the afternoon of April 2 brought copious amounts of rain and heavy wet snow, damaging winds, and thunderstorms. The storm left over 100,000 people across the state without power during the height of the storm.

Rain and snow developed during the morning of April 2, mainly south of Highway 29, which continued into the early afternoon. The rain was mainly confined to the Fox Valley and lake shore. With air and road temperatures above freezing, little snow accumulation was noted through the mid-afternoon hours. As the low pressure system moved northeast and strengthened, a band of heavier precipitation moved into the Fox Valley and lake shore by the late afternoon, resulting in a changeover to heavy wet snow with rapidly increasing snowfall rates. As a result, travel conditions deteriorated quickly around sunset due to the cooling temperatures, high snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour, and very low visibilities down to 1/4 mile at times. Thunderstorms were also reported across northeast Wisconsin, especially in the Green Bay metro area, where vivid cloud to ground lightning strikes were observed during the evening.

Strong north-northeast winds developed during the late afternoon on April 2 and continued through the evening, with most locations recording wind gusts of 30 to 50 mph. The highest peak gust of 56 mph was recorded at the Green Bay Airport. The combination of the strong winds and concrete-type snow led to numerous reports of trees and power lines down across northeast Wisconsin. At the height of the storm, over 100,000 people across the state (mostly in northeast Wisconsin) were without power. The strong northeast winds created just over a 2-foot rise in water levels at the mouth of the Bay of Green Bay.

The storm brought liquid precipitation (rain & snow water equivalent) totals of 1 to 2.50 inches across northeast Wisconsin, including the Fox Valley and lakeshore, with lower totals to the north and west. Snowfall totals over 6 inches were noted across portions of north-central and far northeast Wisconsin, southward into the Fox Valley, and as far west as Wautoma and Plover.

Some of the highest snowfall totals included 11 inches in Phelps (Vilas Co.), 9.5 inches in Pulcifer (Shawano Co.), 8 inches in Greenville (Outagamie Co.), near Rhinelander (Oneida Co.), as well as near McNaughton (Oneida Co.), 7.4 inches in Omro (Winnebago Co.), and 7 inches in Oconto (southern Oconto Co.), High Cliff State Park (Calumet Co.), near Merrill (Lincoln Co.), as well as near Hamburg (Lincoln Co.).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1161624. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.