Over 50 Inches of Snow Blankets Wisconsin Town; Possible State Record

A northern Wisconsin town picked up over 50 inches of snow since Monday, and that may have set a state snowstorm record.

A weather observer in Gile, Wisconsin, technically part of the town of Montreal, measured 50.1 inches of snow from the morning of November 10 through early morning on November 14. 

Yes, you read that right: over four feet of snow in just four days' time in this area about 100 miles east of Superior, Wisconsin, or just southwest of Ironwood, Michigan.

Photos tweeted to meteorologist Jim Cantore by Jason Juno (shown above) showed giant snowpiles, some of which appeared to be over six feet high, in the town Thursday night.

The massive snow accumulation was due to a combination of widespread snowfall from Winter Storm Astro earlier in the week, followed by several days of lake-effect snow as cold air poured over the relatively warm and still unfrozen waters of Lake Superior. 

In responding to a question from Cantore whether a 50+ inch snowstorm had ever been recorded in the Badger State in November, the National Weather Service office in Duluth took a preliminary look:

This may not just be a November record, either.

According to the Wisconsin State Climatology Office, the state record for a single snowstorm was set during the infamous Halloween Blizzard of 1991 in Superior (31 inches from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2).

This event will likely be reviewed to see where it officially ranks in Wisconsin snowstorm history. Part of the challenge in this case is how long a period defines a single snowstorm. 

The greatest 24-hour snowfall total in state history was 26 inches in Neillsville (Dec. 27, 1904) and Upson (Mar. 13, 2006). 

"Twenty-inchers are pretty common. But we get those usually with a few days in between to catch up. Getting this much in one storm, without stopping, is really unusual, even for us," Peg Sutherland, a Gile resident, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Nearby Hurley, Wisconsin, averages about 174 inches of snow a year, but only about 24 inches during the entire month of November. Heavy lake-effect snow in this area is common due to the proximity of Lake Superior and nearby hills helping to lift the moist flow off the lake.

Sutherland told the Pioneer Press there have been some 300-inch winters, there. "But this is about the most we've had at one time."

Jay Hengtgen, who owns a restaurant in Gile, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel his driveway needed plowing three times a day for the past three days.

Parts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula picked up over 40 inches of snow, including near the town of Ishpeming. According to the National Weather Service in Negaunee, Michigan, just outside of Marquette, the 26.2 inches of snow on November 10-11 was the heaviest two-day snowfall there so early in the season. Last winter didn't deliver a 25-inch snow depth in Negaunee until January 18th.

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