Annie Pulley
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Despite February snow storms, Racine County is seeing a drier winter than typical, according to the National Weather Service. |
RACINE COUNTY — Just as warmer weather begins to thaw the county, season-end data points to a cooler and dryer winter so far.
Denny VanCleve, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Milwaukee/Sullivan, explained that, as of late February, this winter has been somewhat colder and more dry. That doesn’t mean the county won’t catch up to normal totals, he said.
Data from a station in Racine shows that the county has seen 16.5 inches of snow this winter. Milwaukee has so far seen 24.6 inches, but the normal value for Milwaukee snowfall is 38 inches.
VanCleve said that Racine County data may be less reliable than Milwaukee’s totals because the Racine station doesn’t collect data as frequently, which may partially explain the gap between Racine and Milwaukee snowfall.
In January 2025, Racine saw 4.8 inches of snow compared to the normal count for January, which is about 13.3 inches.
And it’s not just southeastern Wisconsin. Madison has so far seen 19.9 inches of snow whereas its normal value is 40.1. Last year, the capital city had seen 32.8 inches of snow by this time last year.
But the season’s not quite over, VanCleve said.
“It really doesn’t take much to catch up,” he continued. “Certainly the door’s open solidly through March.”
If snowfall totals remain low, however, there may be less risk of spring flooding but increased risk of long-term drought conditions as well as conditions more prone to fire.
The winter overall, VanCleve said, will probably work out to be one or two degrees below normal.
Temperatures in the Milwaukee region this February were 5.9 degrees below the monthly normal. Similarly, January saw temperatures 2.7 degrees below normal. December, however, was more than three degrees above normal.
La Niña wind conditions over the Pacific Ocean, which generally have a cooling effect on the northern hemisphere’s winter, may have have mildly affected temperatures and precipitation in southeastern Wisconsin, VanCleve said.
A colder winter, though by only a few degrees, is quite a different story from this time last year.
Both Milwaukee and Madison made warm weather records last winter.
Overall, however, the trend leans toward warmer and not cooler winters.
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Average winter temperatures in Wisconsin from 1895 to 2023. Graph by the Wisconsin State Climatology Office. |
“We continue to, as a globe, as a nation, run warmer than average,” he said.
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