WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — The city of Wausau has issued a snow emergency beginning at 4:00 PM Monday and running through 10 AM Tuesday.
“Get your vehicles off the roads, because this is a safety issue,” said Mayor Robert Mielke on Monday. “Especially for our snowplows.”
Snow began accumulating in the Wausau area just after noon on Monday. Mielke says they’ve been tracking the system since last week and made the decision based on several forecast models.
“We are erring on the side of [caution] just to be safe. Depending on what we get tonight, and we’ve heard several forecasts, the biggest thing is public safety and making sure the city is ready to go tomorrow morning.”
He adds that ideally, Police would not have to issue any parking tickets at all because of the alert. Rather the emphasis is on the safety of everyone including plow drivers and those who do have to travel in the less-than-ideal conditions. “It really is in the interest of public safety, and that’s why we are declaring it.”
It’s the fourth snow emergency declared by the city in 2019. The other three came during a record-setting February that saw the city break numerous records for snowfall. Thanks to that stretch of weather, the city’s snow removal budget was stretched thin but Mielke says things remain in good shape. “We’ll get through it, we always do. We do have money and funds set aside just in case.”
Shortly after Wausau issued its snow emergency, the city of Wisconsin Rapids also issued one running from 10 PM Monday through 1 PM Tuesday.
The system is part of a line that has been pushing eastward for several days. The system shut down miles of interstate in South Dakota and caused travel headaches in the Twin Cities as well.
