State Weather Roundup: Flooding a concern in the southern part of state

• Flood watch

Flood watch

Talk about it

Folks in western and northern Wisconsin are digging out from up to seven-and-a-half inches of new snow. But further south, at least five rivers were above their flood stages at mid-morning, due to heavy and steady rains during the weekend. The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for part of Grant County until 9:30. That was after two town roads were closed, due to high waters from the Little Platte River. Only minor flooding is predicted in all of the flood warnings except the Sheboygan River – which was almost two-and-a-half feet above its flood stage. Moderate floods are predicted at Sheboygan, and the river is not expected to drop below its banks until tomorrow evening. Turtle Creek near Beloit, Spring Creek at Lodi, the Fox River in Kenosha County, and the Pecatonica River at Lafayette and Darlington were all slightly above their banks today. The Sugar River at Brodhead also has a flood warning. That one’s about a half-foot below its flood stage. It snowed as far south as La Crosse, which got four inches last night and early today. Osseo had the most, with seven-and-a-half. Medford had almost six-and-a-half inches. Wausau had around five. Forecasts call for more occasional light snow and freezing rain throughout the Badger State at least through tonight.

___________________________________________________________________________

A few of Wisconsin’s smaller school districts are closed today, as a major snow-and-ice storm hit the Badger State for the fourth time in two-and-a-half weeks. This time, it’s western and north central areas that are being hit the hardest. Forecasters say the worst of the storm is over, but occasional light snow and freezing rain are predicted for much of Wisconsin throughout the day. Whitehall had seven-inches as of five a-m. Whitehall’s schools are closed, along with those in Pepin, Abbotsford, Colby, Spencer, and Stratford. A number of other schools are opening two hours late – again, limited to the smaller communities.

__________________________________________________________________________

Much of northern and western Wisconsin have slick driving conditions, after another healthy dose of snow fell on top of frozen rain. Whitehall had seven-inches of snow last night and this morning. Rhinelander picked up five-and-a-half inches. Menomonie, Eau Claire, La Crosse, and Wausau all had close to four inches. It rained for most of the weekend in many parts of Wisconsin. Madison picked up just under an inch yesterday, breaking the old record for the date of two-thirds-of-an-inch set in 1986. Dense fog is a problem in southeast Wisconsin this morning. A low pressure system is expected to drag mixed precipitation across Wisconsin today. Drier air will move into the state tonight and tomorrow, with near normal temperatures expected all week. Highs are expected to be in the 30-degree range each day, and close to 40 on Friday. Lows will range from the single-digits to around 20.

Tags: news, wisconsin, weather