Snowfall Records Broken In Some Northern Communities

For some northern Wisconsin communities, this week’s snowstorm was the final push needed to break all-time records for snow in a season.

Generally, the farther north you are in Wisconsin, the more likely it is that you broke a record. Kevin Kraujalis, National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist in Duluth-Superior, says communities like Spooner broke longstanding records.

“Spooner, they have 120.4 inches of snow, and their previous record was in 1898 to 1899, (with) 95.5 inches,” said Kraujalis. “So they blew away their record by 25 inches.”

Kraujalis says Duluth-Superior’s 125.3 inches was only the fifth snowiest on record, lagging the 135.4 inches recorded in 1995 – ’96. That was also apparently the snowiest season in Rhinelander, which didn’t break a record this year despite earlier reports.

NWS meteorologist Richard Mamrosh blames missing data from ’95 – ’96 for the mix-up. “Rhinelander’s seasonal snowfall is probably in the top five, but to say it’s number one is probably not correct,” he said.

Mamrosh says the farther south you go, the less likely it is that you broke a record. This season, Mamrosh says Marinette has its 17th snowiest winter, Antigo its 14th, Green Bay its 12th, and Appleton its 10th. “Then once you get down to Manitowac and Oshkosh, it drops off a lot,” he said.

As for next season, Kraujalis says we may get a break.

“Looks like we’re forecast to go into El Niño, which means that we’ll have some warmer air and less precipitation for next winter,” said Kraujalis. “But, you know, it’s still a ways away.”

Snowfall records were also broken this season in Phelps and on Washington Island. Mercer missed setting a record by an inch and a half.