Dropped Several Inches In Parts Of State
Where I am we got about 15 inches & the husband is trying to dig us out:eekA colossal blizzard roared across a third of the country on Tuesday, paralyzing parts of the nation's heartland with ice and snow. Wisconsinites woke to dig out from several inches of snow. Wisconsin Emergency Management said that Interstate 94 is impassible between the Illinois-Wisconsin border to the Milwaukee County border. Interstate 43 between Beloit and Mukwonago was also impassable. The Wisconsin State Patrol and the Wisconsin National Guard are sweeping those roads looking for any stranded motorists.Gov. Scott Walker declared a state of emergency across southern Wisconsin on Tuesday night ahead of the storm. The executive order authorized state agencies to assist counties in the region respond and recover from the storm. It also activated the Wisconsin National Guard to help civil authorities. The state of emergency was declared for 29 counties.A spokesman for the governor said state offices in the following 29 counties will be closed to the public on Wednesday: Adams, Calumet, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, Kewaunee, Lafayette, Manitowoc, Marquette, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha and Winnebago.The powerful and dangerous blizzard has immobilized much of southern Wisconsin. More than a foot of snow and wind gusts up to 60 mph closed schools, businesses, government offices and some highways.Walker also issued another order on Tuesday ordering state offices and University of Wisconsin System campuses across southern Wisconsin to close to the public. State employees can use their discretion in deciding whether to come to work. UW System students will still be permitted to attend class, unless individual campuses cancel courses.UW-Madison said classes are canceled for Wednesday. Classes at UW-Madison will resume on Thursday.Many school districts canceled classes Wednesday, including the state's largest, Milwaukee Public Schools. The district, which is responsible for 81,000 students, dismissed classes a half hour early on Tuesday. Madison Metropolitan School District official said that they would cancel classes for Wednesday.Approximately 75 Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers are deploying to armories across the state to assist local and state authorities with weather emergencies. The soldiers, with tactical vehicles, will report to armoires in Plymouth, Milwaukee, Oak Creek, Kenosha, Sussex, Elkhorn, Watertown, Janesville and Platteville Tuesday night. They will remain on site through the state of emergency or until released.The nine manned armories will be available for use as back-up emergency shelters and the Soldiers will be standing by to support local authorities with emergency operations such as door-to-door safety visits, generator assistance or stranded-motorist support.
The monstrous storm, billed as the worst in decades, delivered knock-out after knock-out as it made its way from Texas to Maine. It's brought Chicago and the rest of the Midwest to a halt and prompted a region-wide snow day. In Chicago, public schools called a snow day for the first time in 12 years.The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for most of the state, which is set to expire at noon, when the storm is expected to die down by afternoon.NWS officials said Racine has taken the worst of the Midwestern blizzard, receiving almost two feet of snow. Meteorologist Mark Gehring said 21.5 inches of snow had fallen in Racine by Wednesday morning. That was the highest total in southern Wisconsin.Kenosha got 17.5 inches of snow, while Madison and Milwaukee each got about 15 inches.While the blizzard warning might end, Gehring said that conditions will still be dicey after that. He said temperatures in southern Wisconsin will fall below zero on Wednesday night, with wind chills of 20 to 25 degrees below zero.He said in terms of wind and snowfall, this is a "top-10 blizzard.
