Winter Storm — Menominee, Wisconsin

2010-12-11 to 2010-12-12 · Menominee, Wisconsin

Wider weather episode

A strong winter storm produced heavy snow and blizzard conditions across parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota on December 11-12, 2010. A widespread snowfall of 8 to 14 inches along with frequent wind gusts over 40 mph affected much of northeast and central Wisconsin. Thundersnow was even reported at several locations in east-central Wisconsin at the height of the storm.

The snow developed as low pressure moved from Wyoming to southern Lake Michigan. Strong winds, in response to the pressure difference between Arctic high pressure over southern Canada and the low pressure system, created severe blowing snow and blizzard conditions across Green Bay, the Fox Valley and the lake shore counties. The strong winds blew down trees and limbs, resulting in power outages to thousands of homes. Fire departments in Two Rivers and Manitowoc opened their buildings as warming stations until power was restored. A large stretch of U.S. Highway 10 in Manitowoc County had to be closed for 9 hours due to white-out conditions. Stranded vehicles kept plow operators from effectively clearing some roads. Winds gusted well over 60 mph in northern Door County.

At least one death was attributed to the storm in the area. A male died of caridac arrest due to hypothermia near Marshfield early on December 12, after leaving his stranded truck to get help.

Some of the highest snowfall totals from the storm included 18.0 inches at Marshfield (Wood Co.), 16.2 inches at Plover (Portage Co.), 15.5 inches near Forestville (Door Co.), 14.7 inches 8 miles west of Merrill (Lincoln Co.), 14.6 inches at King (Waupaca Co.), 14.4 inches near Dancy (Marathon Co.), 13.5 inches at Lac Vieux Desert (Vilas CO.) and Pulcifer (Shawano Co.), 13.1 inches at Denmark (Brown Co.) and 12.5 inches at New Holstein (Calumet Co.). The 13.5 inches of snow measured in Wausau makes this storm the biggest December snowstorm ever in that city.

The highest winds with the storm were in Door County where peak gusts included 70 mph in Sister Bay, 68 mph on Washington Island, 66 mph at Northport Pier, 57 mph on Chambers Island and 50 mph in Sturgeon Bay. The high winds tore siding and part of a roof from a building in Fish Creek.

Significant peak wind gusts across the rest of the area included 53 mph in Green Bay, 50 mph at Manitowoc (Manitowoc Co.) and Oshkosh (Winnebago Co.), 48 mph in Appleton (Outagamie Co.), 46 mph in Antigo (Langlade Co.) and 45 mph in Algoma (Kewaunee Co.).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 266880. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.