Winter Storm December 9th

Roads throughout Wisconsin remain treacherous as the heavy snow turns to ice. In Dodge County, there were numerous reports of semi’s, cars, and even a county snow plow in ditches. A multi-car pile up just south of Fox Lake closed Highway 33 for a couple hours this morning and emergency management officials say the road remainm dangerous. Tree branches in Columbia County were snapping under the weight of the snow. Meanwhile, power outages were few and far between in Dodge County. An official with Alliant Energy said that as of 9am they were working to restore power to 23-people scattered throughout the area. Bigger outages were seen in the Milwaukee area where an estimated 23,000 people lost power for a period this morning.

Dodge County Highway Commissioner Brian Field says his crews will be going around the clock to keep the roads as clear as possible. He says the heavy and wet snow we are seeing today is not easy to clear and the road will get worse as the temperatures drop later today. Field recommends staying off the roads, but says if you do have to travel, drive for the conditions and slow down as stopping on this type of snow is not easy. Plows have been on the Class 1 roads, such as Highways 151 and 26, since last night and Field says they’ll continue through tonight. Meanwhile, plows on secondary roads have been going since 4am and will be on until about 6pm.

More than 10-inches of snow had fallen by 7 this morning in Beaver Dam. That’s one of the lower totals in our area. Allenton and Fox Lake checked in with more than 12.5-inches while Markesan had 10.4. Hartford reported 11.7-inches while Oconomowoc had 8.5-inches. In Jefferson, 9-inches were totaled by 8:45 while Portage was reporting 11.2. A blizzard warning continues through midnight from southwest Wisconsin to the northeast. Winds of up to 40-miles-an-hour are supposed to pick up today, with more blowing snow predicted.