UPDATE: The National Weather Service has updated forecasted snowfall totals for the current winter storm impacting our area. It is now projeted that four to eight inches of snow will fall in Sheboygan County through noon Tuesday. Amounts will be less the closer one is to Lake Michigan as there will still be a mix of sleet at times with the snow.
ORIGINAL POST:
SHEBOYGAN COUNTY, WI (WHBL) - It is expected to be a messy next 36 hours as the first major winter storm moves through Sheboygan County. High winds along with a mix of snow, sleet, and possibly freezing rain, could cause problems on area roadways.
Prepared for this are area local government road departments. City of Sheboygan's Department of Public Works Director David Biebel told WHBL News late morning they are getting equipment and crew members ready. “As the day moves on we will shift some of our employees that are working and get them into the snow operations, and work on that as we speak. Once we get into the evening hours we’ll be calling more employees in and getting more equipment on the roads as needed.”
Greg Schnell with the Sheboygan County Highway Department says they are preparing for a busy night. "“Well we’re preparing now to bring in some additional staff for overnight; usually we have only four guys on but we’re going to have that up to eight tonight. We’re preparing also, because of some of the high winds that they’re talking about, for the potential of trees going down, that type of thing, as well as the snow. So it’s kind of a mixed bag of things that we’ll be dealing with.”
Also on heightened alert are power companies, as the combination of precipitation and high winds could bring down lines and cause outages. Lisa Prunty with Wisconsin Public Service says their utility began preparing for the storm system Sunday afternoon, informing line crews what they will be doing if outages occur. Each utility also has tips for their customers on what to do if an outage occurs and how to prepare for the possibility of the power going out. Click on the links below to find out more.