Snowed under, digging out -- 14.5 inches falls, man dies shoveling

By Michael Burke

Saturday, December 2, 2006 2:17 AM CST

RACINE COUNTY - Racine County dug out of a blizzard Friday that dumped 14.5 inches of snow on the area, closing schools, snarling roads and leaving little doubt that winter had arrived.

The expected storm produced wind gusts up to 40 mph and and snow flurries that reduced driving visibility to a quarter-mile or less. Communities throughout southeastern Wisconsin struggled with the heavy snow, which led to hundreds of fender-benders.

The blizzard blew in from the south and moved northeast through Wisconsin on a path to Michigan and Canada. By late afternoon Friday, the snow had stopped. Forecasts called for minimal snow throughout the weekend.

Kenosha saw the largest snowfall in the state on Friday, reaching 17 inches, while Racine had 14.5 inches, according to the most recent information from the National Weather Service.

A man over 60 died after clearing snow in Racine Friday afternoon, said Jennifer Garbo-Shawhan, spokeswoman for Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare All Saints in Racine. Further information was unavailable as The Journal Times went to press.

A 70-year-old Fond du Lac area man collapsed while shoveling near his residence and died, The Reporter of Fond du Lac said on its Web site.

Digging out Racine County sent out plows at 2 a.m. Friday, just after the snow started falling, said Dennis Orlando, superintendent of highways and parks. "Right after the snow started it got intense," he said. "It snowed heavy right away."

For the next 22 hours, until midnight Friday, the county plows would continually work on removing snow from the highways.

By late afternoon, although the snowfall had stopped hours earlier, the snowplow drivers were still contending with the storm. "There are spots that, because of the wind, covered over repeatedly," Orlando said, "and spots that, because of the traffic, got packed down and bonded to the pavement. We're continuing to remove the hard pack.

"So, there are some bare spots, but there still are a lot of spots that are snow-covered."

Orlando said county snowplow drivers saw many vehicles in ditches. "It was heavy, wet snow, it's hard to push and very slippery," he said.

The city of Racine also sent its plow drivers out at 2 a.m. Friday for salting, "which quickly turned into a full-blown plowing operation," said Jeff Fidler, a superintendent of public works.

By late afternoon, he said, plows were finishing main arterials and working to get into all of local streets. "There are still some streets we haven't gotten to at all," Fidler said at about 5 p.m. Friday.

A snowstorm such as the one that hit Friday causes problems for citizens and city workers alike. "Our trucks were getting stuck too," Fidler said. "Not the plows, but we had garbage trucks getting stuck, and some of our secondary units."

How long the entire snow clean-up takes will hinge partly on how well people conform to the alternate-side parking regulations, he said. A car on the wrong side can end up behind a wall of snow.

"When you get this kind of a snow you can get a car buried where you actually can no longer see it," Fidler remarked.

"This is one of the more significant storms we've had in the last five years," he said. "There will be more inconvenience with this storm than some others, and it's simply due to the magnitude of the storm."

Region blasted

A record 10.1 inches fell on General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, the service said, beating the previous Dec. 1 record of 2.8 inches in 1985.

Airport spokeswoman Pat Rowe said snowfall caused cancellations or delays for one-third to half of scheduled takeoffs and landings by noon.

Some airlines that knew of impending cancellations advised passengers Thursday night not to come to the airport, she said. Passengers who ended up stranded in the terminal seemed tolerant of the wait, she said. "I think people understand there's not much you can do with a big storm system like this," she said.

Thousands of school children traded their books for sleds as district after district canceled classes for the day. The Milwaukee Public School District's 207 schools closed, marking the first time the state's largest district closed due to weather since 1997. Also among the school closures were all 41 schools in the Racine Unified School district and all 26 schools in the Waukesha School District.

Law enforcement officials urged drivers to stay off the roads as much as possible, and many residents appeared to heed the warning. Traffic snarled on some highways due to minor collisions but authorities reported no serious injuries.

Kenosha resident Gene Gruenwald, 76, looked out his apartment window at snow drifts three to four feet high and said he had no intention of braving the storm conditions.

"It looks pretty bad," he said. "Just a couple of days ago, it was 60 degrees here. What are you going to do? I don't like snow."

Not everyone shared Gruenwald's dislike for the white stuff. Charles Parker, 38, of Milwaukee happily operated his snow blower in Milwaukee.

"I just got this baby and I've been waiting to break it in," he said. "From the looks of things, it'll get a lot of use."

Andy Brooks' cross-country skis also got a lot use Friday morning after the 24-year-old financial adviser opened his garage in the morning.

"I saw I'm not going to work today so I decided to load up the Jeep and head out for a ski," the Brookfield man said. "I absolutely love snow. It's incredible."

Meteorologist Jeff Craven said the storm reacted just as scientists expected, entering the state around 1 a.m. and arching up toward Lake Michigan by 3 p.m.

"This is a well-behaved storm in terms of predictability," Craven said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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