Winter Storm — Southern Oconto, Wisconsin

2018-04-13 to 2018-04-15 · Southern Oconto, Wisconsin

Event narrative

The highest reported snowfall totals in southern Oconto County were 30.5 inches near Stiles, 29.0 inches near Oconto, and 28.0 near Pulaski.

Wider weather episode

A low pressure system that moved from the Plains, across Illinois, to the Ohio Valley brought two periods of heavy precipitation and strong northeast winds to the area. The historic late season winter storm pummeled northeast and north-central Wisconsin from the evening of April 13th through the afternoon of April 15th. The storm brought blizzard or near-blizzard conditions to much of the area and made roads impassable from time-to-time. Winds of 35 to 50 mph caused sporadic power outages and created waves of 10 to 16 feet on Lake Michigan. The persistent northeast wind caused shoreline erosion along the western shores of the lake.

New snowfall records were set at many locations as a large area of 15 to 30 inches of snow fell and winds gusted over 45 mph. Some of the highest recorded snowfall totals included, 31.6 inches near Carlsville (Door Co.), 30.6 inches in Tigerton (Shawano Co.), 30.5 inches near Stiles (Oconto Co.), 28.4 inches in Waupaca (Waupaca Co.), 27.5 inches in Peshtigo (Marinette Co.), and 25.5 inches in Suamico (Brown Co.). The strongest recorded wind speeds included 52 mph near Plover (Portage Co.), 51 mph at Marshfield (Wood Co.) and Green Bay (Brown Co.), and 50 mph near Marinette (Marinette Co.) and near Rose Lawn (Shawano Co.).

The heavy weight of the snow caused several structures to collapse or partially collapse, mainly across east-central Wisconsin. Several barn roofs collapsed in Kewaunee County, killing at least 17 cows, and parts of several barn roofs collapsed in Shawano County, resulting in the death of at least 2 cows. A barn roof collapsed near Oconto Falls (Oconto Co.) and another collapsed near New London (Waupaca Co.) killing at least 4 cows. Roofs collapsed, or partially collapsed, on at least 5 buildings in Outagamie County, including a barn in the town of Freedom where 30 cows were injured or killed. The roof of the main arena at a horse therapy center near Neenah (Wnnnebago Co.) partially collapsed. In Brown County, at least 15 businesses, including a motel and a barn, had some sort of roof collapse. Four people were trapped when a barn roof collapsed in Denmark (Brown Co.).

Snowfall totals were the highest ever recorded for an April storm in Green Bay, Appleton, Wausau and Rhinelander. This was the largest snowstorm on record in Appleton (21.2 inches), the second largest snowstorm on record in Green Bay (24.2 inches) and Wausau (20.7 inches), and the third largest snowstorm on record in Rhinelander (18.2 inches).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 750188. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.