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Old Man Winter piles it on and whips up a near-blizzard

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Updated

BY BILL GUIDA

bguida@kenoshanews.com

Steadily falling snow Tuesday closed schools and businesses and kept plows busy throughout the day.

Though the snow is expected to end early today, strong winds will whip up drifts and create near-blizzard conditions.

It was winds coming off Lake Michigan that fueled the heavy snowfall.

“When you have winds coming off of the lake, that helps enhance snowfall,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Heather Buchman. “Cold air coming over the warm water of the lake creates an unstable environment. So, what you get is a rising motion, which helps increase development of snow.”

While areas of south central Wisconsin were expected to get 5-8 inches, areas closer to the lake were looking at 10-14, according to the National Weather Service.

City officials said 10 inches of snow had fallen by 8 p.m. Tuesday, with a prediction for another 2-4 inches before the storm ends.

The strong, gusty winds expected today will cause serious drifting and poor visibility and bring single-digit and below-zero wind chill factors, Buchman said, saying the winds will shift from the east to the northwest.

“We won’t have the lake effect, and the storm moving east will be out of the area,” she said. “We’ll still have a little bit of snow left over though, a little along the lake. It just won’t be as heavy as (Tuesday).”

A winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service was expected to end at 6 a.m. today, but strong winds will make travel hazardous today.

Wind gusts of up to 35 mph are forecast, which will reduce visibility and create near-blizzard conditions, the service said.

Plows out in force

Near whiteout conditions Tuesday added to the difficulty for plow drivers Tuesday. A light city crew — 10 trucks — started just after midnight, with the full fleet — 43 trucks — out by 7 a.m.

“We’ll probably plow every city street twice and maybe even three times by the time it’s all done,” said John Prijic, superintendent of the city of streets division.

Pleasant Prairie crews hit the roads at 5 a.m., and the work continued throughout the day and into the night.

“At least we’re keepin’ even with it, and it’s not gaining on us,” Pleasant Prairie snowplow driver Todd Tobin said, as he worked along 85th Street from the Prange Center to Cooper Road, Tuesday afternoon.

John Steinbrink Jr., Pleasant Prairie public works director, said crews would probably knock off around 10 or 11 p.m. and then return about 4 a.m. today.

He anticipated continued snowfall through the night but expected all streets to be cleared completely by later today.

“Everything has been going well so far, but you never really know,” he said.

‘In it for the long haul’

Gary Sipsma, director of the Kenosha County highways division, said trucks were “covering every section of the county” on Tuesday.

“We’re in it for the long haul. We usually can clear the roads pretty quickly once it stops snowing. But I don’t think that’s going to be happening. Based on forecasts, 30-35 mph winds are predicted.”

Even if the snow stopped falling Tuesday night, the strong winds could keep snow-clearing operations going through today.

“We’ll ... go full on again at 3 a.m. (today) so we can get things shaped up by morning rush hour,” Sipsma said.

“Because of the wind conditions, traveling on any roads could be very difficult well into (today),” he said. “We’ll have a full plowing and salting operation going. If people can give the plows a little more room, it certainly helps us and makes (plow operators’) jobs more efficient.”

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