Don't Believe the Groundhog

I had a feeling that the predictions for a major snow storm on Good Friday would be wrong.

Sure, I thought we'd get some snow, but I just had this feeling that the path of the storm would shift and all the forecasts for 10+ inches of snow wouldn't pan out.

I really didn't think it would happen. Oh, well. It was wishful thinking, I guess.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Like an aging prizefighter still packing a mean punch, the mighty winter of 2007-'08 took another swing at southern Wisconsin on Friday, smacking the area with up to 15 inches of snow and knocking out plans for thousands of Good Friday travelers at Mitchell International Airport.

The 10.9 inches of snow measured at the airport by 10 p.m. raised the winter's total to the second highest on record for a single season - 95.4 inches.

"We've been fighting a very hard fight with Mother Nature all day," airport spokesman Ryan McAdams said after the decision was made Friday evening to cancel all flights for the rest of the night.

"Even when we have been able to get the runways open, the airlines haven't been able to get their flights in the air."

McAdams said passengers with morning flights today should check with airlines before setting out.

Motorists didn't fare much better, with snow- and ice-clogged streets and highways prompting officials to warn people to stay off the roads.

"We're buried in snow," said Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls at noon Friday.

He described U.S. 41, which was closed for a time near Highway F after a semitrailer truck jack-knifed, as "snow, ice-covered and slippery."

The snow that began falling about 6 a.m. had gained such intensity that by noon virtually all flights at Mitchell had been canceled.

...Friday's storm might have been a huge disappointment to winter-weary cheeseheads who could almost taste spring.

But Bill Borghoff, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sullivan, said March snowstorms are not that unusual.

"The window for receiving another significant snow storm will probably be open for another month."

According to the groundhog, there was supposed to be an early Spring.

The groundhog was so wrong.