Storm Wolfe Buries Oshkosh in Snow with Tornadoes in the Deep South

Monty Sloan out at Wolf Park sent in a great picture that goes well with Storm Wolfe or the name we gave to the system that lashed us with wind and rain. We added an "e" on the end of wolf in honor of our weekend forecaster extraordinaire Brian Wolfe. I know he wanted all snow like I did but it will be our turn and before we know it! Most areas did end up with a half-inch to just over one inch of rain. The good news is the patchy freezing rain stayed south of us this morning. I will post all your local rainfall numbers here on the blog shortly.

The biggest rainfall total received was Kentland at 1.10 inches. With a snow ratio of 10 inches for every inch of liquid that would have translated into 11.0 inches of snow! Randy in Frankfort was almost on the verge of tears when he called in .76" of an inch of rain. Randy has had bad luck with snow since last winter. He thinks an invisible dome has been covering Frankfort. Hang in there Randy! What could have been for snow fans! Here at WLFI we had .51" of an inch. Chalmers and Monticello both checked in with .50". Mary Anne in Remington ended up with .55". So it was a soaker. Most of us did miss out on the 1 to 1.5 inches of rain that fell from southern Clinton and Montgomery Counties to near Bloomington, Indiana.

This wetter pattern emerging will eventually pay its dividends for all the snow mobilers but I still think our best shot of a good old-fashioned snowstorm will come between December 21st and the New Year. Storm Wolfe will be remembered in Lafayette as our first sign of a big snow ahead but for many around the country Wolfe delivered a knock-out blow on all accounts including severe weather and snow.

Things have gotten crazy across the country and we are not just talking about the economy and politics. Our weather is having wild swings from coast to coast and it has helped to produce Storm Wolfe. Take a look at our severe weather reports in the last 24 hours. This is pretty incredible for this time of year. We have January meeting Spring weather across the Deep South. There were 4 tornadoes reported in Mississippi and one tornado in Georgia. There were 14 hail reports along with 38 damaging wind reports that included wind gusts to almost hurricane force near McComb, Mississippi. More severe weather can be expected over the next couple of days. I have already warned my parents in Florida.

Storm Wolfe showed its power and fury not just with plenty of rain and wind damage but with a blinding snowstorm that actually caused much of southern and central Wisconsin to come to a grinding halt. Thousands of kids were out of school and tons of businesses stayed closed. Jeff Key of Oshkosh, Wisconsin gives us a first hand look at the big snows. You see the 10 to 15 foot snow mounds in his neighborhood street!! I love climbing those things when I visit Wisconsin this time of year! Officially Oshkosh ended up with 11.6 inches of snow which was a record-setter for them. My cousin Matt was especially happy with his snow day. That extra day of studying German should really help him on his exam! Here are some more pictures and other impressive snowfall totals. This could easily have been us!

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
854 PM CST TUE DEC 09 2008

THE TOTALS BELOW ARE SEPARATED INTO SNOW...AND ICE AND SLEET
CATEGORIES...THEN BY AMOUNT...AND ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE
FINAL AMOUNT FOR EACH LOCATION.



12.00   PARDEEVILLE              WI  COLUMBIA      
11.20   1 NW RIPON               WI  FOND DU LAC   
10.00   1 N WATERTOWN            WI  DODGE         
9.50   RANDOM LAKE              WI  SHEBOYGAN     
9.20   3 W BEAVER DAM           WI  DODGE         
9.00   REEDSBURG                WI  SAUK          
8.50   LODI                     WI  COLUMBIA      
8.10   2 NE HOLY HILL           WI  WASHINGTON    
7.90   JACKSON                  WI  WASHINGTON    
7.60   MADISON /UW-MADISON/     WI  DANE          
7.50   3 S BERLIN               WI  GREEN LAKE    
7.50   JUNEAU                   WI  DODGE         
6.50   3 NE MADISON /TRUAX ARPT/WI  DANE          
6.50   8 SW MADISON             WI  DANE          
6.50   OCONOMOWOC               WI  WAUKESHA      

This deep snow pack will eventually come back to haunt us if you do not like cold weather. La Crosse, Wisconsin is reporting 12 inches of snow on the ground which is the deepest it has been this early in the season since 1991. Beware of those northwest winds coming our way by Thursday night and Friday. The bitter cold air will have no problem moving our way over that big snow pack. But things are looking pleasant for us at least through Friday.