A winter storm may cause some disruptions to Thanksgiving travel plans across northern Wisconsin.
Rain Tuesday is expected to transition to snow overnight which will continue through Thursday.
“The concern is Wednesday is a huge travel day for Thanksgiving, so that's when we're going to have some of our highest impacts,” said Phil Kurimski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Green Bay.
Four to eight inches of snow is expected in parts of Oneida and Forest Counties.
South of that, a trace to three inches is expected.
More snow is expected further north where northern Vilas County up to the Ironwood area could see more than a foot of snow.
The lake effect could drive that total up even higher.
“If we see two feet up there, wouldn't shock us, because there’s a chance it could even exceed that,” said Kurimski. “If you look at the high end amount, we're still looking at pretty hefty amounts across much of north central into parts of northeast Wisconsin. If things start leaning towards that, we could expand our headlines to include warnings even a row further south.”
As of Monday evening, these were the advisories issued for the WXPR listening area:
- A Winter Storm Warning for Iron County, WI.
- A Winter Weather Advisory for Price County.
- A Winter Storm Watch for Gogebic, Vilas, Forest, and Oneida counties.
There should be a break in the snow Friday, but meteorologists are keeping a close eye on another weather system this weekend that could impact people traveling home after Thanksgiving.
At this point, Kurimski says it’s too early to get specifics for that system, but the National Weather Service does urge people to keep a close eye on weather conditions if they’re traveling this week.
As we get into the winter months, people are encouraged to keep emergency kits in their cars that include things like:
- Blankets or sleeping bags
- Extra stocking caps, warm socks, gloves/mittens
- Flashlight with extra batteries
- First-aid kit
- Booster cables and windshield brush/scraper
- Drinking water and high-calorie, non-perishable food (trail mix, energy/protein bars)
- Sand or cat litter for traction
- Cell phone adapter/charger
According to AAA, more than 1.6 million Wisconsinites are expected to travel this week—mostly by car.
