GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – “Our biggest thing is to protect life and property.”
The National Weather Service in Green Bay is working around the clock, forecasting the up-to-date storm path and helping keep people alerted to potential snowfall totals.
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“The thing that’s been very consistent with this system is that we’re very confident somewhere there’s going to be a swath of 12 to 18 inches of snow and maybe some localized amounts up to 24 inches of snow,” said National Weather Service Green Bay Meteorologist in Charge Kurt Kotenburg. “We are also very confident in the high wind speeds. It’s looking like we’ll have wind gusts of 40, 45, maybe even a couple moments of 50-mile-an-hour winds with this system.”
The biggest question on everyone’s mind: where is the snow going to hit the most?
“We’re looking at the warmer side of this. The southern edge is looking more like some snow, maybe like 4 to 6 to eight inches of snow, but also a little bit of rain and maybe sleet and ice mixed in with that,” said Kotenburg. “So it’s going to be very different for those places, getting the 4 to 6 inches of snow with a little bit of ice versus places where it’s all snow, where they’re getting like 12, 18, 20 inches of snow.”
This late winter storm is eerily similar to the blizzard in April of 2018, a storm that brought over 20 inches of snow to Green Bay.
Those with the NWS say no two storms are alike.
“The 2018 storm came in two separate rounds. This one, it’s looking like it’s going to be more one round of very heavy snow. Then Monday is when we have the impacts changing to less snow,” said Kotenburg. “But more strong winds and more of the blowing snow impacts. So that’s the two big differences between this event and the 2018 one.”
This time around, Kotenburg says the more advanced forecasting models are helping many across Northeast Wisconsin prepare for large amounts of snow.
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“The models are handling the magnitude of the snow better. It’s just a challenge of where that heavy snow falls. So, you know, we really shouldn’t be caught off guard by the heavy snowfall in this system,” said Kotenburg. “Like we’re expecting it. It’s just where exactly the heaviest snow is going to fall. We’re still trying to dial in on that.”
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