Jan 12, 2012
The first respectable snowfall of 2012 has finally made its appearance across southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois including the cities of Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago. A strong upper level disturbance (Water Vapor image below) dropped south of Canada enhancing an area of low pressure to develop over the eastern Midwest. The regional National Weather Service (NWS)offices had issued Winter Weather Advisories for much of Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Michigan. During the mid morning, NWS Chicago had upgraded the Chicago Metro to a Winter Storm Warning as lake enhanced snow was becoming more of factor.
Snow accumulations are not expected to be anywhere near a foot, but this storm will be the first accumulating storm of the 2011|2012 winter season. Going into today, Milwaukee has only seen 1.7 inches of snow this winter which is somewhat unusual.
Snow started to pick up intensity over the Madison region, but slowly pushed east. According to the SPC Mesoanalysis there was an area of convergence along the Lake Michigan shoreline that persisted for a couple of hours. Soon after, a heavy snow band developed and drifted westward into Milwaukee, Kenosha, Racine and Waukesha counties dropping 1-2 inches per hour. As of 7 p.m. I measured 6.4 inches with the yardstick which can be contributed to the heavy band that set shop over Waukesha county earlier today. Most other areas have received accumulations between 2-5.
January 12, 2012 - Milwaukee Nexrad Radar
January 2012 - Waukesha, Wisconsin - Snow Video
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