Blizzard — Rock, Wisconsin

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

Event narrative

Gusty winds to 50 mph combined with heavy snow to produce visibilities of 1/4 mile or less, as well as blowing and drifting snow. Snowfall totals only ranged between 2 and 5 inches, but the blowing and drifting snow caused State Highway 14, between State Highway 140 in Rock County to State Highway 89 in Walworth County, to be closed during the afternoon of December 12th. A 21-year-old woman was killed around 1:45 pm CST Sunday the 12th when the SUV she was riding in lost control on the ice-covered southbound lanes of Interstate 39-90 about 1/2 mile south of Manogue Road and slid off the road into the median, hitting two trees. The driver of the car and another passenger received non-life-threatening injuries.

Wider weather episode

An upper-level trough deepened over the central Plains, developing a deep area of surface low pressure that tracked from Iowa across Illinois. The system produced heavy snow across all of Wisconsin, with portions of the south initially seeing rain, limiting snow amounts there. Gusty winds of 40 to 60 mph accompanied the heavy snow, producing blizzard conditions over most of southern Wisconsin from the afternoon of December 11th into the afternoon of December 12th. Snowfall totals ranged from 6 inches to 12 inches along and north of a Mineral Point to Port Washington line. A state of emergency was declared for all 72 counties by Governor James Doyle. The driving conditions were dire enough for the state Department of Transportation and the State patrol to issue a travel advisory recommending no travel on any Wisconsin highways from the evening of the 11th through the day on the 12th. Interestate-43 was reduced to one lane in each direction at times, with Interstate-94 closed for 3 1/2 hours due to a multi-car accident. The blinding wind-driven snow caused many authorities to pull their snowplows from the roads until conditions improved. The near-whiteout conditions on Sunday caused many churches to cancel services. Many tree limbs and power lines were brought down by the combination of strong winds and heavy snow. WE Energies reported as many as 20,000 customers were without power during the time period from Saturday night the 11th through Sunday evening the 12th, including 6,000 in Dodge,Washington and Ozaukee counties with more than 100 crews out in the field. Alliant Energy reported 5,800 customers without power in Fond Du Lac and Sheboygan counties early Sunday the 12th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 275515. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.