SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ) – April snow has arrived just in time for the one year anniversary of last April’s blizzard that dumped a record amount of snow throughout the area and hit one community especially hard.
Words could not describe what Shawano area residents witnessed almost a year ago.
Ray Eckberg with the National Weather Service in Green Bay, said for two days the snow kept coming.
“For the Shawano area, that was the largest snowstorm on record with 29.8 inches.”
To resident,s it may have felt like more as neighbor had to help neighbor clear nearly three feet of snow from driveways and roofs.
Shawano County Sheriff Adam Bieber says it caused so many driving headcaches.
“It shut down a lot of roads that were totally impassable.”
That included Highway 29 between Pulaski and Shawano. For a period of time, cars were prevented from moving and had to stay parked on the side of the highway until plows could move enough of the snow to allow vehicles to travel through.
Sheriff Bieber said even their vehicles had a difficult time driving through the snow and soon after, decided to get more four-wheel drive vehicles.
He says he did some positive when it came to the community working together.
“People going out an helping clear roadways, getting people out of ditches and just getting supplies to some folks.”
He says looking back, crime was way down in the county for those two days and community togetherness was way up.
The National Weather service says 1 to 3 inches of snow per hour fell the first night.
When it was all said and done 29.8 inches of snow fell on Shawano.
“The sleet and snow switched over to a heavy snow,” Eckberg said.
He decribes it as a concerte snow.
Eckberg says snow in April is not uncommon and some years have shown records of snow in May. He did say that with the snow that fell this week, having two rather large snowstorms for two years in a row in April is uncommon.
