HOWARD, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Northeast Wisconsin is dealing with cold weather even sooner this year.
Temperatures today are expected to flirt with the day’s record-low of 6 degrees. Even when it “warms” up, we’re still expected to be about 25 degrees below average.
“It’s really hard to take with the cold,” said James Faucett of Howard.
Faucett tells FOX 11 he might have picked the wrong year to skip his usual stay in Florida. That’s where he got his dog, Abby, last spring.
“So she’s 5 years old and not used to the cold at all. It always seemed like it used to change right around Thanksgiving, but this year it’s been almost a month early.”
It’s meant people are looking for cold-weather essentials even earlier.
“I need something that is a little warmer than what I have right now, so trying to find something to keep up with the cold weather,” said Janine Hornblad, of Oconto, while shopping for a coat at Fleet Farm in Howard.
“The biggest thing would be their gloves, their hats,” said Tom Schumacher, the store’s general manager, of what people are looking for. “For their vehicles, it’s the windshield wash, it’s the wiper blades, the heat, the fuel additive.”
FOX 11 heard that some stores weren’t prepared for the cold, not only because it came earlier, but also because they weren’t anticipating extra traffic from this being the first winter without Shopko stores.
“We did a lot of shopping there and we miss it,” said Hornblad.
Schumacher tells FOX 11 they were prepared for the early cold spell. Fleet Farm bumped up it’s buy on items you’d normally find at a store like Shopko.
“As far as our apparel, we’ve added a ton of assortment from that category, more seasonally relevant and trying to bulk up on that.”
If you think you’re prepared and not worried about record November cold, just remember, Faucett says these lows aren’t nearly as chilly as what’s likely to come.
“We have another 3 or 4 months to go that you would expect this.”.
