Crime & Safety

Winter Storm Caused Closings, Treacherous Roads

The winter storm that sat over the Milwaukee area on Tuesday and Wednesday dropped far more snow than originally predicted, leading to school closings and treacherous road conditions.

Updated 10 p.m. Wednesday

The winter storm that started Tuesday and ended overnight Wednesday into Thursday was originally predicted to leave little impact. 

But conditions were just right for the storm to grow, and it ended up dumping wet, slushy snow that closed schools and made roads dangerous for several days. 

Find out what's happening in Fox Point-Baysidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Patch media partners WISN 12 News said this storm didn't follow the predictions.

Computers and humans alike had originally predicted two to four inches of snow from this system, which earlier had buried the Plains states in a fresh blanket of snow.

Find out what's happening in Fox Point-Baysidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

However, some uncharacteristic lake enhancement took place late Tuesday afternoon, driving snow totals much higher.

"A humbling storm for all meteorologists in southeast Wisconsin," said WeatherWatch 12 chief meteorologist Mark Baden. 

"It was quite a storm," he said. "I think the most surprising thing about this storm was the amount of moisture it was able to transport."

Updated 11 a.m. Wednesday

Patch will keep you up to date on what's going on with the big snow storm today.

Traffic is slow on the freeways this morning, with slippery stretches and snow making travel more difficult than usual.

According to the Wisconsin DOT's traffic map, traffic speeds vary from 30-55 mph from West Brown Deer Road to Downtown, in both directions. Traffic on I-794 is also going slow, between 30 and 45 mph. The Marquette Interchange appears to be moving fairly well, except for northbound traffic on I-43/94 turning east onto I-794. That ramp is moving at speeds less than 20 mph.

Here are some school and business closings:

  • All local schools are closed: Nicolet High School, Fox Point-Bayside Schools, Maple Dale - Indian Hill Schools and St. Eugene School.
  • Congregation Sinai and Congregation Shalom are closed.
  • Milwaukee Art Museum is closed.
  • The JCC is open today for all programs and activities. Some classes are dependent upon instructors ability to get to the JCC, please call prior to your class to confirm. 

If you have heard of any other closings, please let us know in the comments section.

WISN 12 News predicts Fox Point and Bayside will receive 7 to 12 inches through the end of the night. So far, 9.5 inches of snow have fallen in Brown Deer, according to the National Weather Service.

winter weather advisory is in effect until noon Wednesday for Ozaukee, Waukesha, Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties.


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