Milwaukee Weather
Milwaukee: Winds Blowing, Drifting SnowBy Jay SorgiMILWAUKEE - If you're at home, having to plow or shovel all the snow that's accumulated where you are, the light but long-falling snow that's falling in Milwaukee County and by the lake is a good thing. "With all the wind blowing, depending on whether your driveway is east, west, north, south, half the driveway will be cleaned by the winds," said Storm Team 4Caster Scott Steele. "This is a very light and fluffy snow, so as the winds have picked up, it's blowing that snow around quite a bit." But that's not such a good thing if you're driving through the stuff today. "It is bad news if you're going to be out and about on the roadways," warned Steele.
"There's going to be a lot of variation which is going to make it difficult for road crews to keep up with the changes as the wind picks up and blows the snow around a bit." Lake Effect Snow Can Be More Dangerous Typically, snow is heavier along the lake when big snowstorms happen, such as what is expected to fall today in Southeastern Wisconsin. Driving such conditions can be real interesting, because as Storm Team 4Caster Michael Fish notices, you never know when and where the heavy snowfall happens. "We're seeing that lake enhancement, even out to the west, so even though the snow very light, you go a couple miles and it keeps getting heavier. You get one of those lake effects bands that through, and it makes things real slushy and slippery out there." He saw it on his drive into the TODAY'S TMJ4 HD studios. "What I noticed in my commute on I-43 heading to the south is that you're going to head into this light snow, and then all of a sudden it's going to get heavier and heavier at times, and then it's going to get light again. That's the lake effect. We're going to seen that on and off throughout the day." He also warns that drivers on that side of town will see dangerous conditions with the constant-but-sometimes-very-heavy snow fall, even with plows and salt trucks out there doing their jobs. "You just have an inch or snow on the ground, but that's what makes it really slippery," warns Fish. "Once you get those really heavy snow bands that move past, all of a sudden, it overwhelms the salt and becomes a little slippery out. The winds are fluctuating, so as the day goes on, you're going to notice the winds are picking up." The light weight of the snow will also make thing easier to shovel. "Some of them, we had rain and sleet mixed in, not this one. This is light powdery snow. This is easy to shovel, but as the winds start to pick up, it will start drifting around." |
     
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