Winter Weather — Washington, Wisconsin

2012-02-23 to 2012-02-24 · Washington, Wisconsin

Event narrative

A co-operative observer in Germantown reported 7.8 inches of new snowfall. A 47-year-old male from Hartford was killed when his vehicle was struck by a train. Police say slippery roads and limited visibility due to snow and ice covering the windshield contributed to the fatal accident.

Wider weather episode

Heavy, wet snow accumulated to 3 to 6 inches over much of southern Wisconsin as surface low pressure tracked across Illinois. Strong warm-air advection led to strong frontogenetic forcing over the region, with lift enhanced by differential positive vorticity advection associated with a 500-mb short-wave trough that crossed the region. These features produced a steady, long-term snowfall that began in the early evening of the 23rd and lasted until the early morning hours of the 24th. A few locations (West Bend to Mt. Mary College in Milwaukee and from Burlington to the city of Racine) received between 7 to 8 inches of accumulation, but these higher amounts were isolated and had a low impact on travel. Therefore, this event was not documented as a winter storm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 367516. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.