Winter Storm — Northern Oconto, Wisconsin

2019-12-01 · Northern Oconto, Wisconsin

Event narrative

Over six inches of snow fell across northern Oconto County. Freezing drizzle and sleet with icing amounts less than two tenths of an inch fell before the snow arrived.

Wider weather episode

The second winter storm in a week struck during the Thanksgiving weekend, impacting Wisconsin from late Saturday evening November 30th through Sunday December 1st. The storm developed over the Central Plains early Saturday, then quickly moved east to the Wisconsin/Illinois border on Sunday. Warm air aloft brought a mix of rain, sleet, freezing rain, and snow to the area Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening, transitioning to all snow by Saturday night and continuing into Sunday. A band of 8 to 12 inches fell across northern Wisconsin, with some areas receiving as much as 14 inches of snow. Farther south, snowfall totals were lower, in the 4 to 8 inch range; however, gusty winds caused some downed trees and power outages across the region. The combination of high bay and lake water levels and strong northeast winds also caused considerable flooding along the bay and lake.

Some of the higher snowfall totals included 14.0 inches in Wausaukee (Marinette Co.), 13.5 inches near Mountain (Oconto Co.), 13.4 inches in Florence (Florence Co.), 12.2 inches in Washington Island (Door Co.), 12.1 inches in Crivitz High Falls (Oconto Co.), 11.6 inches in White Lake (Langlade Co.), and 11.3 inches near Argonne (Forest Co.) as well as Rice Reservoir (Lincoln Co.).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 860615. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.