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Falling temps could hurt street cleanup

JANESVILLE — It's not Wednesday's predicted snow—by the way, there shouldn't be much of it—that concerns John Whitcomb, Janesville's operations director.

It's the rapidly decreasing temperature after the snowfall that could make his life more difficult.

By the end of Wednesday, Janesville is expected to get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to Bill Borghoff of the National Weather Service. Other forecasters are predicting less, while Accu Weather is calling for 3 to 6 inches.

Borghoff said rain would fall tonight and into early Wednesday, when the precipitation will turn to a daylong snow. Temperatures are expected to linger in the low 30s throughout the day.

But overnight Wednesday, temperatures are expected to drop, and Whitcomb is concerned that the city could see a repeat of the first snowfall of the year.

On Sunday, Nov. 30, warm, wet snow fell all day. While most of it melted on contact with pavement, it eventually accumulated and was packed down on residential streets.

"The arterial streets were no problem, but by the time we got to the residential streets, it was all packed down and there was no point in plowing," Whitcomb said.

That created howls from some city residents.

"There's only so much we can do," Whitcomb said. "If we can plow snow, we'll plow snow."

Time will tell, and, for what it's worth, Whitcomb is expecting less than 2 inches.

Lower temperatures in the Madison area and farther north likely will result in 3 to 6 inches of snow, the National Weather Service said.

On Thursday, the weather service is forecasting a chance of light snow in eastern and northern Wisconsin. Lows will range from 5 below zero in the northwest to 10 in the southeast.

For Janesville, Accu Weather is forecasting a Wednesday high of 34 with a low of 13. On Thursday, the city should see a high of 19 and a low of 11.