Snow, wind and drop in temperatures creates havoc on area roads

A quick burst of snow Wednesday afternoon, December 4, 2024, combined with a drop in the temperature to below freezing and wind, caused area roads to quickly become treacherous.

The snow moved in as a cold front moved through between 2:30 and 3:30 in the afternoon. From that point on, it was literally chaos for area emergency workers.

In total, between the hours of 1 and 8 PM, the Fond du Lac County Communications Center handled 370 calls and dispatched units for 189 calls, with most being weather related. 41 crashes were reported along with 16 vehicles in the ditch and 13 disabled vehicles. The most significant of those crashes included a jackknifed semi on 151 near Oakfield, a head on crash on Highway k near Hunter Ave, a crash with two injuries on 41 near F, and a crash on 151 near Oakfield involving a box truck on its side. In that crash the driver was uninjured but unable to get out, needing assistance from the fire department. County highway WH near Peebles and State Highway 44 north of Ripon needed to be shut down because of icy conditions and crashes in those areas.

Fond du Lac County wasn’t alone in the bad road conditions. Roads from extreme north east Wisconsin all the way down to the Milwaukee metro area were impacted. One of the more significant calls was a jackknifed semi on Highway 41 on the Butte des Morts Bridge in Winnebago County blocking northbound lanes of traffic. This incident occurred just before 11 PM.

With well below freezing temperatures overnight, roads are likely to still be slippery in spots so use caution when out driving today.