SHEBOYGAN COUNTY, WI (WHBL) - So far, the 2015-16 winter season in Sheboygan County has been very warm, and at times record setting. That all changes Monday as the first winter storm to impact our listening area moves through.
Forecaster Paul Collar with the National Weather Service office in Sullivan says it's all thanks to a low-pressure system moving in from the south. “There’s going to be a moisture surge that comes up late morning into the afternoon, and it’s going to continue into the overnight hours. The precipitation type is going to be kind of the main issue here. We’re looking at all sorts of different kinds of precip; rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain potential.”
Forecasters say the highest of the snowfall from the storm will be in western, central, and northern Wisconsin. Collar says that won't be the case in our area with lower totals expected. Collar adds there are several reasons for this, with one being the influence of the open waters of Lake Michigan. "The winds around this storm are going to be coming in off the lake, so that’s going to have a say on precip type. But having said that it’s still going to be a mess, and the winds are expected to be very strong out of the east. So it’s going to be a very windy, messy, yucky kind of a situation.”
The high winds will also cause a problem along the lakeshore. "The waves are going to be crashing the shores," says Collar. "I mean there should be pretty impressive wave action with these onshore winds.” There is a Lakeshore Flood Advisory in effect along the shoreline.
If there is any good news with the storm's impact in Sheboygan County is that the threat of freezing rain is very small. “Any freezing rain with these kind of winds would be a problem for power lines, tree limbs and things like that;" says Collar, "but hopefully it will be more of a snow and sleet deal for you guys. Freezing rain is the biggest problem out of all the winter precip types. I mean it doesn’t take much ice to cause mayhem, especially on roads and that.”
Still, there is a chance the track of the storm could shift, which would change how much snow or mixed precipitation our area sees. "It’s just a good situation to hunker down and not have to go out and deal with this yuckity mess," says Collar.