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The winter storm is expected to impact travel all across the state on Friday.
By Jimmie KaskaMADISON, Wis. (Civic Media) – A second winter storm system is expected to bring several inches of snow across Wisconsin this week.
After a winter storm hit mostly southwestern and south-central Wisconsin earlier in the week, dumping up to a foot of snow in some places, a second storm could replicate those snow totals across a larger part of the state.
Winter storm watches and warnings are being issued ahead of the snowfall, which is expected to begin overnight Thursday into Friday and last until Saturday morning.
In addition to the state’s 511 service, which shows winter road conditions for Wisconsin’s main highways and real-time traffic cameras and traffic alerts, ReadyWisconsin is offering some safety tips ahead of the winter storm:
As of Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service was predicting snowfall of 10 to 18 inches across southern Wisconsin, except near Lake Michigan, where warm lake waters will keep the precipitation from being all snow. The line for the heaviest snowfall was roughly southeast from La Crosse to the Fox Valley, with cities like Madison, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Dells, Oshkosh and Richland Center in the center of the heaviest expected snowfall.
Northern parts of Wisconsin will see around a half foot of snow or more after largely missing out on the storm earlier this week. Far southeastern Wisconsin, which is under a Winter Storm Watch, may see similarly lighter snowfalls. Forecasters Thursday said that there is uncertainty with what precipitation type areas like Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine will get due to warmer temperatures along Lake Michigan, with a chance of rain or mixed precipitation reducing snowfall totals.
In addition to heavy snow, which might fall at a rate of one to two inches per hour, winds will gust up to 40 miles per hour, which could lead to blowing and drifting, especially in areas where there’s nothing to block the wind near roadways. After the snow is done, temperatures will fall into the single digits, with wind chills below zero this weekend. The National Weather Service says they do not expect the storm to be upgraded to a blizzard warning because winds won’t be strong enough to push it to that category.
“[The storm] will bring strong winds – sustained winds of 20 to 30mph and gusts of 35 to 50mph – Friday afternoon and night,” the National Weather Service said in its forecast discussion. “The winds are not quite as strong in our area, so we did not go with any blizzard warning. However, we could still see some brief white-outs.”
The impending winter storm has also prompted school closures for most of southern Wisconsin on Friday.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is advising that anyone that has to travel follow some of these safety tips:
Preparation before winter travel
Precautions while driving