Schools Closing Early As Another Winter Storm Approaches

Schools closed early Tuesday as a major winter storm approached Wisconsin with projections of up to a foot of snow in some areas followed by a plunge into single-digit high temperatures.

While some districts sent students home for the afternoon, others canceled classes altogether Tuesday, including Platteville, Portage, Baraboo, Prairie du Chien and Wisconsin Dells.

The National Weather Service posted a winter storm warning through noon Wednesday for parts of central, northeast and most of southern Wisconsin. Forecasters expected the Fox Valley along the shore of Lake Michigan to get 8 to 12 inches of snow. Four to 9 inches of snow was predicted for the Milwaukee area through Wednesday morning.

Meteorologist Nicole Batzek of the National Weather Service in La Crosse says this storm is moving more slowly than the one that hit Friday.

“It’s going to be spread out over a long period of time, which is helpful, but it can definitely impact the evening commute tonight, as we are anticipating that light to moderate, more widespread snowfall to move in,” Batzek said.

Sarah Millard with the city of Beloit said about 20 plow trucks have been mobilized to clear snow, especially on key roads.

“The busiest streets of the community — the path to the hospital — we’ll make sure those roads are kept open and safe for people to drive on,” she said. “From there, they’ll go into the secondary routes, where they have more residential streets.”

Meteorologists expected temperatures to drop to the single digits by Friday with wind chills of 25 to 35 below zero.

Editor’s note: this story will be updated.