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Wisconsin crashes reported in area hit by factory-induced snow

By
Updated  November 29, 2024 8:49am CST
Winter Weather
FOX 9

WI crashes reported amid factory-induced snow

The National Weather Service says a burst of snow hit the area because of steam from a factory near Menomonie. This may have been a factor in multiple crashes on Interstate 94 in Eau Claire.

The Brief

    • The National Weather Service in La Cross, Wis., said steam from a factory near Menomonie created a 100-mile plume of snow on Thanksgiving.
    • The narrow plume extended southeast through Wisconsin.
    • Multiple crashes were reported in the area hit by the factory-induced snow.

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (FOX 9) - Multiple crashes in Wisconsin were reported after snow formed from steam coming from a plant near Menomonie on Thanksgiving. 

What we know

The National Weather Service (NWS) in La Crosse said conditions were in a "sweet spot" needed for snow formation to come from supercooled water droplets.

The result was a narrow 100-mile plume of snow that extended southeast from the factory through Wisconsin. 

A FOX 9 photographer caught footage of multiple crash aftermaths on Interstate 94 in Eau Claire early Thanksgiving afternoon.

The westbound lanes had to be completely shut down for several miles because of the dangerous road conditions, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

The science behind the snow

From Kevin Skow of NWS La Crosse: "This doesn't happen all that often and requires certain conditions to be met. In this case, we had a low cloud deck in place that was filled with supercooled water droplets at temperatures of around -15 C (5 F). The added particulates from the plume caused the water droplets in the cloud to convert to ice crystals and precipitate as snow. If the plume did originate from the glass factory and there were silica particles in the mix, these are especially effective for ice crystal production. There was a strong inversion above the cloud deck that trapped these particulates within the cloud and allowed them to propagate well downstream of the source."

What we don't know

FOX 9 has reached out to authorities in Wisconsin to ask if anyone was injured in the crashes but has not yet heard back.

Other details on the number of crashes and their severity were not readily available. 

Officials haven't named the factory that produced the steam.

The Source: A post from the National Weather Service and footage shot by a FOX 9 photographer. 

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