***Watch WISN 12 News for the latest on the snow and cold!***
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Quick update on reported snow totals
- Williams Bay 7.0″
- West Bend 6.0″
- Waukesha 5.5″
- Oconomowoc 5.2″
- Hartford 5.0″
- Brown Deer 4.6″
- Milwaukee 3.4″
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Thank you for stopping by the Weather Watch 12 blog! Snow lovers, this snow is for you! After a slow start to winter with little snow in and around the Milwaukee area, January has produced snow on 14 of the first 17 days!
Before we discuss the forecast for the rest of today and look ahead, I want to ask everyone to take a moment and post your snow totals to the comments section of the blog. We will do our best to include some on our WISN 12 newscasts today!
As of 6pm Monday, the official snow total at Milwaukee Mitchell Airport was 3.4″.
A steady snow continues across southeastern Wisconsin as of this writing, and the light snow will linger into Monday evening and night.
For the latest radar image, just click below. This is our interactive radar which can be zoomed right down to where you live, work, or play!
Around 1:30pm Monday, light snow was falling in Milwaukee, with a few bands of moderate to heavy snow just west of the city. The heaviest snow was moving through Walworth county. That band of heavy snow is highlighted below.
The snow forecast of 3 to 5 inches still looks good, with many areas likely topping out around 4 or 5 inches. This will very likely be the biggest snow of the season in Milwaukee!
With temperatures close to 30 degrees, the snow is fairly wet and heavy, so take it easy clearing your driveways and sidewalks!
Snow showers will linger into Tuesday morning, but any accumulations early Tuesday should stay well below 1″ in and around Milwaukee.
By Thursday into Friday the focus will shift to bitter cold. A quick hitting arctic blast will arrive Thursday afternoon and bring the coldest temperatures to the area on Friday.
Below is a forecast temperature map from the 12Z GFS. This is valid at 6pm Friday. This has single digits across much of southeastern Wisconsin. Brrrrrrr!
The cold will ease as we move into next weekend, but temperatures will likely remain below average.
For live radar updates, a list of snow totals, and a look ahead to the bitter cold, watch WISN 12 News all afternoon and evening!
Have a great day and enjoy the snow!
Jeremy Nelson
WeatherWatch 12 
Ah so this is the signature storm of the season!
Dan,
Back in mid-December I said January would be a very active month for snow. So far snow on 14 of 17 days. While it has not produced a huge total, we have seen lots of smaller storms. Today’s snow is not associated with a ‘signature’ storm in my opinion. This lines up with November 29/30, and then the cold that followed in early December.
Jeremy
I remember when you said that. I didn’t know what you meant by a signature storm. I assumed you were talking about a big storm with large amounts of snow.
Only 1.5 so far in New Berlin as of 1:30, but the flakes have recently increased in size.
After today concludes, do you think things will be relatively quiet (back to the dusting to an inch or two storms) until the big one?
Daniel,
Odds are we will go back to more of the ‘lighter’ snow. I need to really look at the pattern again, but I’m still expecting a storm around to close the month.
Jeremy
Monday, January 17, 2011 2:14 pm
Hi Jeremy,
Since I was going out anyway to check the mail, I took my yardstick with me. Took a few measurements that varied from 2 ½ to near 3 inches on what was previously a clear driveway.
Cordially,
Tony (approx middle of Pleasant Prairie)
Tony,
Keep us updated! Thanks for sharing.
Jeremy
Quick Update: (per your request)
About 3:15pm, moderate snow switched to what I guess is mixed precip. Looked more like light rain than anything else. Went and took another few measurements before the ‘rain’ smooshed the snowfall. Please put my official ‘unofficial’ total down as 3″, at least so far.
Having a good day & hope you are too.
Tony
Thanks Tony. It looks like the rest of the afternoon and into the evening areas south of Milwaukee will see snow, a mix, or even rain at times.
Jeremy
Quick Update: snowfall amount
My driveway was cleared around 4:30pm. Made measurement approx. 11pm. Without trying to sound too technical, I think the fairest amount to report is 7/8 of an inch. This would give my location a grand total of 3 7/8 inch for this event. This latest ‘inch’ of snow seems considerably ‘wetter’!!
Cordially,
Tony
i am in central dodge county in juneau, it has been snowing since 7 a.m. heavy snow moved in around 10:00 and is snowing heavily right now. as of this posting @ 2:30 we have 6″ of snow. looks to be breaking up to the west of here now.
Steve,
Looks like your area and Lake Geneva have seen the heaviest snow so far.
Jeremy
Hi, Jeremy!
Here in Reeseville, Dodge County, it started snowing at 7 a.m. — lightly for maybe a half-hour, then got heavy and stayed that way until around 3 p.m. Windy for most of the day. As of this writing — 3:30 p.m — snow is much lighter and the wind has died down a lot. Snowfall is light to moderate. Some spots in the driveway are measuring 4 1/4″ to 4 1/2″ and in other places it’s showing 5″.
If we get less than an inch with what falls the rest of the late afternoon and into evening and overnight, we’ll wind up with a good 5″ for sure.
Once again, you hit it right on with the snowfall forcast total, putting us in that 3-5″ range!
Hope this info is helpful to you!
Keep up the good work!
Don in Reeseville
Hello Weather Watch 12 team,
So far here in Oostburg we have about 3 inches of light fluffy snow. Looks like the wind is calming down a little.
Sue
Thank you Sue. We’ll try to add that to the list for 6pm.
Jeremy
East Troy got about 3 1/2 inches. Still snowing here. Wouldn’t be surprised if we get up to 4 -4 1/2 inches
Thanks for sharing Nicole. You’ll continue to add to that total.
Jeremy
Jeremy,
Why do snow events last so long? With this one, we’re looking at 12 hours + of snow falling. This evening has been especially hard to keep sidewalks clear as it just keeps coming down heavy.
Rain events can and do last awhile, but they seem like they move a lot quicker then snowstorms.
Dave,
Often but not always, in the summer months rain is associated with convection. This can produce quick hitting rains or downpours that don’t last long, but can produce heavy rain in a short amount of time. Then you may have the damp and dreary days where light rain is on and off, like when an upper low parks nearby.
In the winter we don’t have convection to deal with(or at least not often). In the case of today, we may end up with about 0.30-0.35″ of liquid, but as you mentioned it was over 10-12 hours.
The rare times we get thundersnow(convection) then snow totals can be 2-3″+/hr Today we just saw a prolonged period of light snow, with some heavier pockets mixed in.
Jeremy
Hi Jeremy,
Update to the snow total in Oostburg. At my house we are up to 5 inches and it is still snowing pretty hard.
Sue
there is 5.75″ of snow in Raymond as of 8:00 and still snowing pretty decently
We have 5 1/2″ of snow in Waukesha. It’s snowing fairly hard still. Our current snow depth is 9″.
Chris & Kevin,
Thanks for the totals. This snow is wet!
Jeremy
Agreed! Very heavy snow to try to clear.
Snow is basically over and it seems like most of the heavy bands just skirted by to my north and south throughout the evening. Snow total in New Berlin as I head off to bed is 4.1.
Final total here in Reeseville — Dodge County — is 6″.
Don
Don,
Thanks for the update. What is your total for the season?
Jeremy
Hi, Jeremy —
RE: seaosnal total here in Reeseville — Dodge County.
Funny you should ask, because Iwas just wondering about that this morning.
Sad to say I haven’t been keeping written records — but to the best of my recollection, I would say that with the 12″ from the “signature storm” in December, 1-2″ from each of this January’s several clippers and then the 6″ in yesterday’s bigger snowfall, we’re looking at having received at least 24″. One thing I know for sure, I’ve used the snowblower alot more this winter than last!
I’ll try to keep more accurate records for you from here on —
Don
Don,
You were comment number 2000 all-time!!! I’m guessing your total is even higher than 24″. Milwaukee had very little snow back on December 11-12, and we are now close to 20″ for the season. You are probably just a touch lower than Madison’s total of 33.1″.
Jeremy
Jeremy —
What do I win for being comment #2000?? 🙂 🙂
Is there a way to tell what the average snowfall for our area is, or compare it to last year’s total?
I’ll use the 33″ mark and build from there —
Don
Don,
The NWS has a statewide map with average snowfall. I would just search it, you should find it easy.
Jeremy