WISCONSIN BLIZZARD

From the National Weather Service:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
820 PM CST SUN JAN 30 2011

...BLIZZARD LIKELY TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...

.THREE DIFFERENT WEATHER FEATURES WILL COMBINE TO BRING EXTREME SNOW TOTALS TO SOUTHERN WISCONSIN. A FAVORABLE SETUP FOR LAKE EFFECT SNOWS BEGINS EARLY MONDAY MORNING OVER SHEBOYGAN COUNTY AND OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE LAKE COUNTIES MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. IT THEN PERSISTS INTO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. A WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL AFFECT THE AREA ON MONDAY INTO TUESDAY BRINGING 4 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW WITH UP TO 8 INCHES NEAR LAKE MICHIGAN.

A STRONGER LOW PRESSURE CENTER WILL GATHER STRENGTH AND MOISTURE AND MOVE NORTHEAST FROM THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TUESDAY. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE FROM THE SHEBOYGAN AND JANESVILLE AREAS ON EAST. A LARGE AREA OF 6 TO 12 INCHES IS EXPECTED SOUTH OF A LINE FROM THE WISCONSIN DELLS TO FOND DU LAC. 12 TO 18 INCHES ARE FORECAST SOUTH OF A LINE FROM JANESVILLE TO PORT WASHINGTON...WITH ABOUT 18 INCHES IN RACINE AND KENOSHA COUNTIES.

STORM TOTALS FROM BOTH SYSTEMS COULD BE IN THE 18 TO 24 INCH RANGE IN FAR SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN. SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW AND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE. THIS STORM IS SIMILAR TO THE EARLY JANUARY 1999 BLIZZARD...WHICH PRODUCED 14 TO 18 INCHES OF SNOW IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN WITH 4 TO 8 FOOT DRIFTS EAST OF A LINE FROM FOND DU LAC TO JANESVILLE.

NEEDLESS TO SAY THIS COULD BE A HISTORIC BLIZZARD CAPABLE OF PARALYZING PARTS OF SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN.

MILWAUKEE-RACINE-KENOSHA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MILWAUKEE...RACINE...KENOSHA
820 PM CST SUN JAN 30 2011

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM MONDAY TO 3 PM CST TUESDAY...
...BLIZZARD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM MONDAY TO 3 PM CST TUESDAY. A BLIZZARD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

* TIMING...LAKE EFFECT SNOW POTENTIAL AND SYSTEM SNOWS INCREASE MONDAY AFTERNOON INTO MONDAY NIGHT. LAKE EFFECT POTENTIAL CONTINUES TUESDAY...WITH ANOTHER STRONGER LOW ARRIVING LATER TUESDAY THROUGH AT LEAST EARLY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...4 TO 7 INCHES OF ACCUMULATION MONDAY AFTERNOON INTO TUESDAY. ADDITIONAL 15 TO 21 INCHES TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY WITH STORM TOTALS AROUND 2 FEET IN SOME AREAS.

* WINDS...NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 30 MPH TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT GRADUALLY SHIFT NORTH WEDNESDAY. GUSTS OF 40 TO 60 MPH WITH HIGHEST WINDS IN OPEN AREAS AND NEAR LAKE MICHIGAN.

* IMPACTS...REDUCED VISIBILITIES TO 1/4 MILE OR LESS AT TIMES DUE TO SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW...RESULTING IN TREACHEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS. WORST CONDITIONS TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY WHEN NEAR ZERO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AND DRIFTS OF 5 TO 10 FEET
POSSIBLE. POTENTIAL FOR PARALYZING BLIZZARD.

Oh no!

A "paralyzing blizzard" would be rather inconvenient. A blizzard won't fit into my schedule this week.

Perhaps some other time?