December 31, 2011 - January 1, 2012:  Snow & Wind

A low pressure system moved east across Iowa on New Year's Eve and northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin on New Year's morning.  At the same time, a cold front moved east across Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Temperatures ahead of this low pressure system and cold front were in the 30s and 40s.  A band of rain developed along the cold front.  Temperatures were cool enough along and north of the Interstate 90 corridor for the rain to change over to snow.  The heaviest snow (2 to 5 inches) in our area fell across Taylor County in north central Wisconsin during the evening of New Year's Eve through the early morning hours of New Year's Day. 

Further west, there were even some reports of thunder snow across east central Minnesota.  One of these thunderstorms near Fairmont produced sustained winds of 40 mph and wind gusts to 78 mph. 

Snow:

The accumulating snow with this system was confined along and north of the Interstate 90 corridor.  One to two inches of snow fell across Clark County and the northern portions of Buffalo, Trempealeau, and Jackson counties in western Wisconsin.  Further north, two to five inches of snow fell across Taylor County.

Regional snowfall from December 31, 2011 through January 1, 2012 Courtesy of the Midwestern Regional Climate Center	Local snowfall map from the evening of December 31, 2011 through the early morning hours of January 1, 2012

The statement below provides some of the snowfall reported during this event.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
913 AM CST SUN JAN 01 2012

...RECENT SNOWFALL TOTALS ACROSS THE AREA...

LOCATION                   SNOWFALL    TIME     LAT/LON


MINNESOTA

...FILLMORE COUNTY...
SPRING VALLEY              0.1         0700 AM  43.69N 92.39W
SPRING VALLEY 3E           0.1         0700 AM  43.68N 92.33W

...OLMSTED COUNTY...
ELGIN                      0.3         0700 AM  44.10N 92.27W
ROCHESTER AIRPORT          0.3         0600 AM  43.91N 92.50W
BYRON 4N                   0.2         0700 AM  44.11N 92.65W

...WABASHA COUNTY...
WABASHA                    0.3         0307 AM  44.37N 92.04W

...WINONA COUNTY...
WINONA 4SW                 0.3         0646 AM  44.01N 91.71W
WINONA                     0.2         0307 AM  44.05N 91.66W

WISCONSIN

...ADAMS COUNTY...
GRAND MARSH                0.5         0645 AM  43.90N 89.71W

...BUFFALO COUNTY...
MONDOVI                    2.0         0311 AM  44.57N 91.67W

...CLARK COUNTY...
OWEN                       2.2         0700 AM  44.98N 90.55W
NEILLSVILLE                1.0         0311 AM  44.56N 90.59W

...JACKSON COUNTY...
MERRILLAN                  1.3         0311 AM  44.45N 90.84W
BLACK RIVER FALLS          1.0         0311 AM  44.30N 90.85W

...LA CROSSE COUNTY...
LA CROSSE NWS OFFICE       0.5         0311 AM  43.82N 91.19W
LA CROSSE ASOS              T          0600 AM  43.88N 91.26W

...MONROE COUNTY...
SPARTA                     0.1         0311 AM  43.95N 90.81W

...TAYLOR COUNTY...
LUBLIN                     4.0         0818 AM  45.08N 90.72W
MEDFORD 4NW                3.5         0625 AM  45.18N 90.41W

...TREMPEALEAU COUNTY...
WHITEHALL                  0.2         0311 AM  44.37N 91.32W

...VERNON COUNTY...
WESTBY 3ENE                 T          0700 AM  43.68N 90.81W

OBSERVATIONS ARE COLLECTED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES WITH VARYING
EQUIPMENT AND EXPOSURE. NOT ALL DATA LISTED IS CONSIDERED OFFICIAL.

FOR THIS...AND A WEALTH OF OTHER RIVER AND WEATHER INFORMATION...
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT  WEATHER.GOV/LACROSSE

Peak Wind Gusts:

Through much of the day and evening of New Year's Day, northwest winds blew at 25 to 35 mph with frequent wind gusts up to 50 mph.  The highest wind speed recorded was 51 mph near Ionia, Iowa (Chickasaw County).  Additional wind gusts can be found in the statement below. 

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
227 AM CST MON JAN 2 2012

...HIGHEST WINDS ON JANUARY 1ST...

...WISCONSIN...

...VERNON COUNTY...

VIROQUA AWOS (1292 FT)(OTHER-MTR)                835 AM JAN 1     41 MPH

...TREMPEALEAU COUNTY...

2 NNE TAMARACK (1240 FT)(WIDOT)                  903 PM JAN 1     39 MPH

...TAYLOR COUNTY...

MEDFORD AWOS (1469 FT)(OTHER-MTR)               1155 PM JAN 1     37 MPH
3 NE LUBLIN (1316 FT)(RAWS)                      914 PM JAN 1     36 MPH

...MONROE COUNTY...

SPARTA AWOS (836 FT)(OTHER-MTR)                  715 AM JAN 1     36 MPH
2 N TOMAH (990 FT)(WIDOT)                        802 AM JAN 1     35 MPH

...LA CROSSE COUNTY...

LA CROSSE ASOS (652 FT)(ASOS)                    511 AM JAN 1     49 MPH
1 SW LA CROSSE (639 FT)(APRSWXNET)               656 AM JAN 1     34 MPH

...JUNEAU COUNTY...

MAUSTON (872 FT)(APRSWXNET)                      702 AM JAN 1     43 MPH
VOLK FIELD (908 FT)(OTHER-MTR)                  1124 PM JAN 1     41 MPH
1 WNW NECEDAH (950 FT)(RAWS)                     848 AM JAN 1     41 MPH
1 E MAUSTON (880 FT)(WIDOT)                      759 AM JAN 1     41 MPH

...GRANT COUNTY...

PLATTEVILLE AWOS (1023 FT)(OTHER-MTR)            155 PM JAN 1     40 MPH
BOSCOBEL ASOS (672 FT)(ASOS)                     653 AM JAN 1     40 MPH
2 NE EAST DUBUQUE (800 FT)(WIDOT)               1039 AM JAN 1     40 MPH

...CRAWFORD COUNTY...

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN AWOS (662 FT)(OTHER-MTR)        135 PM JAN 1     45 MPH
1 SW MOUNT STERLING (1195 FT)(WIDOT)             703 AM JAN 1     45 MPH
1 WNW PRAIRIE DU CHIEN (615 FT)(WIDOT)           902 AM JAN 1     39 MPH

...MINNESOTA...

...WINONA COUNTY...

1 NE GOODVIEW (656 FT)(OTHER-MTR)                516 PM JAN 1     44 MPH
1 E RIDGEWAY (1318 FT)(MNDOT)                    821 PM JAN 1     42 MPH
2 SW STOCKTON (751 FT)(APRSWXNET)                533 PM JAN 1     35 MPH

...WABASHA COUNTY...

2 SSE KELLOGG (741 FT)(MNDOT)                    509 PM JAN 1     48 MPH
1 NE BEAR VALLEY (1000 FT)(APRSWXNET)           1240 AM JAN 2     38 MPH
1 E LAKE CITY (692 FT)(APRSWXNET)                417 PM JAN 1     34 MPH

...OLMSTED COUNTY...

ROCHESTER ASOS (1318 FT)(ASOS)                   400 PM JAN 1     49 MPH
2 SE EYOTA (1309 FT)(MNDOT)                      751 PM JAN 1     49 MPH
4 NW ROCHESTER (1273 FT)(APRSWXNET)             1230 PM JAN 1     37 MPH
1 WSW ROCHESTER (1205 FT)(APRSWXNET)             448 PM JAN 1     37 MPH
1 SSE STEWARTVILLE (1253 FT)(APRSWXNET)          342 AM JAN 1     36 MPH

...MOWER COUNTY...

4 E GRAND MEADOW (1322 FT)(IEM)                  709 PM JAN 1     55 MPH
1 ENE DEXTER (1410 FT)(MNDOT)                    736 PM JAN 1     50 MPH
AUSTIN AWOS (1230 FT)(OTHER-MTR)                 256 PM JAN 1     48 MPH

...FILLMORE COUNTY...

2 ESE CANTON (1348 FT)(MNDOT)                    514 PM JAN 1     50 MPH
PRESTON AWOS (1276 FT)(OTHER-MTR)                434 PM JAN 1     49 MPH
4 SSW LANESBORO (1044 FT)(IEM)                  1207 PM JAN 1     35 MPH

...DODGE COUNTY...

DODGE CENTER AWOS (1305 FT)(OTHER-MTR)           754 PM JAN 1     43 MPH

...IOWA...

...WINNESHIEK COUNTY...

4 E NORDNESS (1017 FT)(IADOT)                   1036 AM JAN 1     45 MPH
DECORAH AWOS (1158 FT)(OTHER-MTR)               1115 AM JAN 1     44 MPH

...MITCHELL COUNTY...

SAINT ANSGAR (1145 FT)(APRSWXNET)                434 PM JAN 1     40 MPH

...FLOYD COUNTY...

CHARLES CITY AWOS (1125 FT)(OTHER-MTR)           115 PM JAN 1     48 MPH

...CHICKASAW COUNTY...

2 N IONIA (1072 FT)(IADOT)                       725 PM JAN 1     51 MPH


OBSERVATIONS ARE COLLECTED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES WITH VARYING
EQUIPMENT AND EXPOSURES. NOT ALL DATA LISTED IS CONSIDERED OFFICIAL. THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE THANKS ITS PRIVATE AND PUBLIC PARTNERS FOR
PROVIDING US WITH THIS DATA.

$$