An already strong winter storm has gotten even stronger, to the extent that a Blizzard Warning has been issued from 5 p.m. Friday until 3 a.m. Saturday, with Winter Storm Warnings returning to finish up from 3 a.m. until noon Saturday.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service in Milwaukee added Sheboygan and Fond du Lac to the collection of counties to our north that will experience at least three hours of winds sustained beyond 35 miles per hour along with falling or blowing snow that reduces visibility to whiteout, or 1/4 mile.
The City of Sheboygan acted in anticipation of keeping vital routes open by declaring a snow emergency between 8 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Sunday. That means no parking on any marked snow emergency route, or on boulevards, cul-de-sacs and dead-end streets. For all other streets, the rule “Park for Tomorrow” still applies, and so overnight parking will be on the odd sides leading to Saturday the 13th, and for Saturday into Sunday the 14th, parking would be on the even side. And if you’re on a one-way street with one-side-only restrictions, then the rules of “Park for Tomorrow” take effect during a snow emergency.
Shoreline Metro also announced that it was suspending all transit services for the remainder of Friday as of 2:15PM. Metro Connection’s services were also suspended for the remainder of the day. Shoreline Metro Director Derek Muench added that “Our customer safety is important to us and we want to encourage customers to stay home and stay warm!” Services were scheduled to resume on Saturday.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation along with other local and state officials are urging people to stay off the roads unless it’s an emergency, and to be prepared with extra water, food, and fully-charged mobile devices and flashlights.
——STORM PROGRESS——
By 2:15PM on Friday a National Weather Service observation from Plymouth reported 9-1/2 inches had already fallen, while Mount Calvary in neighboring Fond du Lac County had 6 inches. Along with the Blizzard Warning issued shortly after 2 p.m. Friday, came the advisory that an additional 4 to 8 inches accumulation can be expected, with lower amounts possible along the lakeshore.
Winds are forecast to gradually swing from northeast to northwest as they gust to near 45 miles an hour tonight, keeping snow in motion even if it has stopped, which is expected by daybreak.
Temperatures by then will be near 20 degrees with wind chills in the single digits. A continual decline in temperatures ends on daybreak Monday, reaching minus 6 degrees, with a windchill of around 27 below. The National Weather Service says that it’s likely that Wind Chill Advisories will be needed. The actual temperatures are likely to remain mostly below zero from 9 p.m. Monday until 10 a.m. Wednesday, and the wind chill on Tuesday morning is now looking to reach as cold as -30 degrees Fahrenheit.
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