Afternoon Update: Heavy, wet snow on track to start Wednesday evening
Updated: 12:45 p.m. October 30, 2019
Not much has changed with the incoming storm. The weather models are starting to come into more agreement so our confidence in snow totals is increasing. Snow is still expected to start late this evening and last through the overnight and Thursday morning. Snow may begin to taper off early Thursday afternoon, especially for some western and northern spots. The only change is taking the 3-5" area of snow and making it 2-5" thanks to some weather models showing a few lower totals for northern communities. Up to 2" is expected for northern areas like Beaver Dam, West Bend, Fond du Lac and Sheboygan and very close to the lakefront.
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Posted: 7:17 a.m. October 30, 2019
It's not unusual to see snowflakes and flurries in southeast Wisconsin in October but getting a couple of inches of snow is. And see two snow events is rare, but that's exactly what we're getting. The first snow arrived Monday night into Tuesday morning dropping some accumulation on grassy surfaces. The second round of snow arrives Wednesday evening through most of Thursday.
When forecasting for snow, meteorologists look for consistency among weather models and right now we aren't seeing that. Some weather models only have an inch or two of snow where others are showing over a half foot of snow. The current forecast calls for 2-5" for most of southeast Wisconsin with the lowest totals in northern spots and along the lakefront. Snow will wrap up late Thursday afternoon or early Thursday evening so trick-or-treating may be okay for Halloween.
Snow is one of the big threats with this storm with not much rain mixing in, but wind is also a threat. The wind will gust to 30 mph on Thursday blowing the snow around and reducing visibility. This will be a heavy, wet snow and the added weight to power lines and tree limbs combined with strong wind could cause some power outages or other damages. For the most part, roads will stay wet or slushy.
Download the CBS 58 Ready Weather App to track this next snow event.