The Massive U.S. Storm of February 1-2, 2011
| Snowfall Graphics | Radar and Satellite Movies | Snowfall Totals | Peak Wind Gusts |
A strong storm system strengthened rapidly in Texas on Tuesday February 1 and moved northeast toward Indiana by Wednesday. Heavy snow of 12-18 inches (some amounts over 20 inches) and winds of 30-40 mph made for blizzard conditions from Oklahoma to Milwaukee and Michigan's Thumb area. South of the snow, over an inch of glaze ice was received across portions of Missouri through Pennsylvania. The snow and ice extended northeast all the way to parts of New England, although amounts were not as great as in the Midwest.
Northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin were on the northernmost edge of the storm and received about a foot of fresh snow and measured wind gusts to 49 mph. Even though Winter Storm Warnings were issued early Tuesday morning, many motorists (estimated over 100) became stranded Tuesday evening in whiteout conditions in far southwest Wisconsin. This storm came on the heals of a 3-7 inch snowfall January 31 to early February 1.
| The La Crosse National Weather Service (NWS) had been tracking the storm for days leading up to it, but issued watches early on January 31st (Monday) followed by an upgrade to Winter Storm Warnings early on February 1st (Tuesday). Forecast snowfall totals on Feb.1st can be viewed by clicking here. The image to the right (click to enlarge) shows the range of warnings and advisories by the NWS as of 9:46 a.m. February 1, 2011. |  |
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Snowfall and Storm Images (Click on image to enlarge)
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| U.S. map of the 24 hour snowfall totals ending at 8 a.m. February 2, 2011. | Regional map of 24 hour snowfall totals ending at 8 a.m. February 2, 2011. | Local map of 24 hour snowfall totals ending at 8 a.m. February 2, 2011. |
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| Regional map of 72 hour snowfall totals ending at 8 a.m. February 2, 2011. | Satellite view from February 1, 2011 showing massive storm moving through central U.S. (Courtesy of NOAA) | Image taken February 2nd around Patch Grove, WI (Grant Co.) via Grant County Sheriff. |
Radar and Satellite Movies (Click on image to view movie)
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| Radar movie from about Noon Tuesday Feb 1 to 6 a.m. Wednesday Feb 2. White and green colors indicate snowfall rates greater than 1" per hour. | Infrared satellite movie from about 6 a.m. Tuesday Feb 1 to 6 a.m. Wednesday Feb 2. Contoured lines are mean sea-level pressure. Hourly cloud-to-ground lightning strikes are seen as "+" or "-" symbols. |
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
715 PM CST WED FEB 2 2011
...FEBRUARY 1-2 SNOWFALL TOTALS ACROSS THE AREA...
LOCATION SNOWFALL
IOWA
...ALLAMAKEE COUNTY...
WAUKON 8NW 3.8
LANSING 4SE 3.0
...CHICKASAW COUNTY...
IONIA 3.0
...CLAYTON COUNTY...
ST OLAF 12.0
GUTTENBERG 8.5
EDGEWOOD 8.0
ELKADER 6SSW 7.5
CLAYTON CENTER 5.5
VOLGA 4.8
...FAYETTE COUNTY...
OELWEIN 7.0
FAYETTE 3.5
...FLOYD COUNTY...
NASHUA 2.0
CHARLES CITY COOP 0.5
...HOWARD COUNTY...
CRESCO 1.5
ELMA 1.3
...MITCHELL COUNTY...
OSAGE 1.0
...WINNESHIEK COUNTY...
DECORAH 5.5
FORT ATKINSON 4.6
MINNESOTA
...FILLMORE COUNTY...
PRESTON T
...HOUSTON COUNTY...
RENO 3SW 1.6
CALEDONIA 1.5
SPRING GROVE 4N 0.6
WISCONSIN
...ADAMS COUNTY...
FRIENDSHIP 2.5
...CLARK COUNTY...
OWEN 2N T
...CRAWFORD COUNTY...
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN 7.2
MT STERLING 6.0
MT ZION 2NW 3.3
SOLDIERS GROVE 3.0
STEUBEN 4SE 3.0
LYNXVILLE DAM 9 3.0
...GRANT COUNTY...
SINSINAWA 14.0
CUBA CITY 12.0
CUBA CITY 2NW 12.0
PLATTEVILLE 11.6
CASSVILLE 8NE 10.0
CUBA CITY 6N 8.0
BLUE RIVER 4.3
...JUNEAU COUNTY...
NECEDAH 2SE 1.1
...LA CROSSE COUNTY...
LA CROSSE 5SE 0.7
LA CROSSE AIRPORT 0.1
HOLMEN 2S 0.1
LA CROSSE NWS 0.1
LA CROSSE 4NNW 0.1
...MONROE COUNTY...
TUNNEL CITY 0.5
WARRENS 0.3
SPARTA T
...RICHLAND COUNTY...
GILLINGHAM 6.0
ITHACA 2S 5.0
RICHLAND CENTER 1NW 5.0
...VERNON COUNTY...
VIROQUA 3.8
LA FARGE 3.1
WESTBY 3ENE 3.1
ONTARIO 3E 3.1
READSTOWN 2.3
GENOA 1.0
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
1048 AM CST WED FEB 2 2011
...HIGHEST WIND GUSTS REPORTED WITH THE FEB 1-2 2011 STORM...
STATION COUNTY TIME SPEED GUST
PLATTEVILLE AWOS GRANT 953 PM 29 MPH 49 MPH
CHARLES CITY AWOS FLOYD 1135 PM 28 MPH 40 MPH
ROCHESTER ASOS OLMSTED 1054 PM 24 MPH 39 MPH
OELWEIN AWOS FAYETTE 1215 AM 29 MPH 38 MPH
2 ESE CANTON RWIS FILLMORE 814 PM 26 MPH 37 MPH
2 SE EYOTA RWIS OLMSTED 1141 PM 26 MPH 37 MPH
4 E NORDNESS RWIS WINNESHIEK 345 PM 23 MPH 37 MPH
PRESTON AWOS FILLMORE 919 PM 22 MPH 37 MPH
2 NNE TAMARACK RWIS TREMPEALEAU 326 PM 18 MPH 36 MPH
VIROQUA AWOS VERNON 435 PM 25 MPH 36 MPH
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN AWOS CRAWFORD 335 PM 18 MPH 35 MPH
2 SSE KELLOGG RWIS WABASHA 804 PM MPH 35 MPH
BOSCOBEL ASOS GRANT 1153 PM 20 MPH 35 MPH
2 NE EAST DUBUQUE RWIS GRANT 203 PM 16 MPH 33 MPH
1 SW MOUNT STERLING RWIS CRAWFORD 223 PM 17 MPH 33 MPH
LA CROSSE ASOS LA CROSSE 1053 PM 18 MPH 33 MPH
1 W PLATTEVILLE CWOP GRANT 210 PM 22 MPH 33 MPH
1 W LA CROSSE CWOP LA CROSSE 337 PM 18 MPH 33 MPH
AUSTIN AWOS MOWER 835 PM 21 MPH 32 MPH
DODGE CENTER AWOS DODGE 354 PM 22 MPH 32 MPH
2 N IONIA RWIS CHICKASAW 1045 PM 17 MPH 32 MPH
1 E MAUSTON RWIS JUNEAU 320 PM 15 MPH 31 MPH
DECORAH AWOS WINNESHIEK 1135 PM 16 MPH 31 MPH
1 WNW NECEDAH RAWS JUNEAU 548 AM 16 MPH 30 MPH
1 ENE BOSCOBEL RAWS GRANT 303 PM 18 MPH 30 MPH
3 NE LUBLIN RAWS TAYLOR 614 PM 15 MPH 30 MPH
4 NNW RIDGEVILLE RWIS MONROE 324 PM 14 MPH 30 MPH
VOLK FIELD AWOS JUNEAU 112 AM 15 MPH 29 MPH
ST. ANSGAR CWOP MITCHELL 855 PM 17 MPH 28 MPH
SPARTA AWOS MONROE 437 PM 18 MPH 28 MPH
MAUSTON CWOP JUNEAU 402 PM 7 MPH 26 MPH
KENDALL CWOP MONROE 620 AM 8 MPH 26 MPH
MEDFORD AWOS TAYLOR 1055 AM 16 MPH 26 MPH
4 WSW RINGE CWOP OLMSTED 503 AM 9 MPH 26 MPH
1 NE BEAR VALLEY CWOP WABASHA 1120 PM 23 MPH 25 MPH
1 WSW ONALASKA CWOP LA CROSSE 239 AM 8 MPH 25 MPH
1 E BLK RVR FALLS RAWS JACKSON 815 PM 7 MPH 24 MPH
2 N TOMAH RWIS MONROE 522 PM 7 MPH 24 MPH
WINONA AWOS WINONA 715 AM 16 MPH 23 MPH
3 SW BARRE MILLS CWOP LA CROSSE 540 PM MPH 22 MPH
3 N VIROQUA CWOP VERNON 1219 AM 8 MPH 21 MPH
KEY TO OBSERVATION TYPES
AWS - SENSORS FROM AWS INCORPORATED. OFTEN LOCATED AT SCHOOLS.
APRS - AUTOMATIC PACKET REPORTING SYSTEM. HAM RADIO WEATHER STATION DATA.
CWOP - CITIZEN WEATHER OBSERVER PROGRAM. HOME WEATHER STATION DATA.
RWIS - ROAD WEATHER INFORMATION SYSTEMS. LOCATED ON MAJOR ROADS AND BRIDGES.
RAWS - FIRE WEATHER OBSERVATIONS. OFTEN LOCATED IN FORESTS.
ASOS/AWOS - AVIATION WEATHER OBSERVATIONS. LOCATED AT AIRPORTS.
OBSERVATIONS ARE COLLECTED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES WITH VARYING EQUIPMENT
AND EXPOSURE. NOT ALL DATA LISTED IS CONSIDERED OFFICIAL.
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