MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin is continuing to dig out after a powerful winter storm dumped as much as 18 inches of snow in some areas.

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Heavy snow and strong winds battered Wisconsin overnight as a major snowstorm crept across southern Wisconsin on Tuesday night.

The major snowstorm that crept across southern Wisconsin Tuesday and Wednesday caused widespread power outages, hundreds of school closings and treacherous travel for those braving the roadways.

The National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory for many counties in Wisconsin through Thursday morning.

The majority of area counties said Wednesday night that major highways are clear, although there are some slick spots. Most counties have pulled their trucks for the night Wednesday and will bring crews back in early Thursday morning.

But in Madison, the hardest hit area of the state, crews will be out all night long Wednesday. In the end, some city drivers will have put in a 20-plus hour work day, and the effort to clear area streets was far from over Wednesday night.

"We're still in the process of opening up the streets. There are several areas that are just hard to get to (due to) parked cars," said Mike Lewandowski, of the Madison Streets Department. "We have 100 pieces of equipment, (on the) East Side and West Side, that are out there doing the streets. Private contractors are still working with us right now."

Lewandowski and his crew will work all night Wednesday and all morning Thursday to make that morning commute as easy as possible. But his task hasn't been easy.

"The biggest problem we have is traction because of the moisture content and how wet it was. As soon as we started pushing it, the tires broke free and it's icing up fast," Lewandowski said.

While it has been a challenge, Madison plow crews said they are satisfied with their response to the storm.

They said the public can really help by getting their vehicle off the streets -- or at least make sure they're parked on the right of the street -- and by having patience.

"We have about 766 miles of streets that we have to plow in the city of Madison, and we can't do it all at once," Lewandowski said. "We're there; we've got all the equipment to do it -- it's just going to take us a little extra time."

On Wednesday night, 200 trucks were canvassing the city of Madison and working to clear roads. At midnight, they'll bring another crew in but send the private contractors home, so about 100 trucks -- 50 on the East Side, and 50 on the West Side -- will be out plowing overnight.

Although many roadways have been cleared, there is concern that roads could be come icy and slippery. Officials are urging drivers to plan extra time for traveling and to use caution on the roads.

Storm Causes Widespread Power Outages

Utility officials said heavy snow snapped off tree branches that fell on power lines. Snow-clogged roads and strong winds made repair work slow and difficult.

Alliant Energy spokesman Scott Reigstad said the storm cut power to about 22,000 people in southern Wisconsin. We Energies officials said about 30,000 people around southeastern Wisconsin lost power.

As temperatures fell across southern Wisconsin, thousands of residents were still without power and, likewise, heat Wednesday night, including about 500 homes in the Madison metro area.

Some residents in Monona lost power due to the storm. Their electricity was restored by Wednesday evening, but plenty of homes east and south of Madison, including Monona and Fitchburg, are still without power, and utilities will continue to work all night to restore power.

Madison Gas and Electric crews have been working since 3 a.m. Wednesday and will continue to keep working nonstop to restore power to all customers who lost it.

The Fiscus family in Monona said it appears that around 1 a.m. Wednesday the snow tore a huge branch off their maple tree and it took out a main power pole.

"The neighbor came knocking on the door and said, 'Your tree just took out the lines,'" said homeowner Lisa Fiscus.

A short time later, a second branch snapped off.

"We went to bed and all sudden something fell and the whole house shook," Fiscus said.

While crews tackled the project, the family and half a dozen other neighbors had to stick it out 12 hours or longer without power. The Fiscus family stayed warmed by lighting a lot of candles.

"I've been just been wrapped up in blankets and we have a lot of candles around our house," said daughter Alyssa Fiscus, who was home from school.

MG&E said that not all remaining 500 homes will be fixed by midnight but that crews will keep working through the night.

But many others were left without heat. Over the night, power and cable lines came down across the east Madison metro area, keeping fire engines equipped with tire chains very busy.

"(The cold) is going to cause some more arcing of the wires and with this heavy wet snow on them, we're really not sure if were going to have a problem. I'm sure were going to have some weather that's bad as last night that's hard to predict," Lt. Tim Ryan, of the Madison Fire Department.

Firefighters said they also fear they'll get a call for a serious fire and the wind and cold will make fighting it very tough.

Rock County Hit With Power Outages

Utility crews will work through the night to restore power to Rock County residents who were hit hardest with power outages in Alliant Energy's service area.

The Edgerton Fire District will set up a temporary shelter for residents without power Wednesday night.

As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, Alliant Energy reported more than 500 homes in the Edgerton area without power.

At that time, in all, more than 3,000 homes throughout Rock County were still waiting for service, WISC-TV reported.

Getting residents' power back on is taking time, and some fear they'll be left out in the cold.

"At least it looks like Christmas," said Janesville resident Kathy Wu.

That's about the only redeeming aspect of the snowstorm for Wu, her husband and her daughter Cassandra Horne.

"(We) can't use the phones, or the lights. We have no heat, computers, TV -- we're pretty much back in the dark ages," said Horne.

Before the sun came up Wednesday morning, everything in the house went dark.

"It's the entire block and the block behind us. Across the street I know they have power, but I know these two blocks don't. We saw somebody else with flashlights walking through their house," said Wu.

The family is among more than 8,000 Rock County residents who lost power during the storm.

The power outages have also kept Janesville firefighters on the move.

"It's been a lot. We've been running constant throughout the night and this morning too," said Bill Ruchti, shift commander at the Janesville Fire Department, station one. "You look at the trees and the wires. There's a lot of extra weight that's been added to those wires. It's stressing them, it's snapping them, pulling them off houses, taking them off the poles and so forth. We had a lightning strike last night that hit a pole."

Alliant Energy has been trying to reach customers without electricity, but because individual power lines are being ripped down by snow-heavy tree branches, only a few houses can be repaired at a time.

Alliant Energy is asking residents to be patient.

"They said it would be a couple hours until they'd get the power back on. It's been seven hours now that we've been without power," said Horne.

"It's going to get really cold and the temperature in the house is going to start dropping," said Wu.

For homes with electric heat, having power is a necessity as it is expected to become extremely cold throughout the night.

Alliant Energy said it's doing its best to repair the outages with 250 line technicians working throughout the state.

Many of those technicians are working in Rock County to assist local crews Wednesday night. Even so, Alliant Energy officials said it might be after midnight before everyone in the county has power restored.

Elsewhere, Wisconsin Public Service Corp. said about 12,000 people along Lake Michigan were without power, including about 4,000 in Door County and 3,000 in the Marinette area.

The Salvation Army opened a shelter at an Algoma church for people without power. The Red Cross opened a shelter in Marinette and emergency officials in Waukesha County have asked the organization to find a suitable shelter for people in that area.

Snow Prompts Government, School Closures, Cancellations

Forecasters expected 9 to 16 inches of snow to fall in parts of Wisconsin. The National Weather Service said some parts of the state are expected to get 15 inches of snow, with most likely to fall Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Jim Doyle declared a pre-emptive state of emergency across Wisconsin. The governor said the declaration was a precaution.

The declaration means in part that certain members of the Wisconsin National Guard could be activated if necessary. Doyle's declaration comes in the wake of a major 2008 storm that left thousands of motorists stranded between Madison and Janesville, some for 12 hours.

Doyle ordered state government offices and all University of Wisconsin campuses closed on Wednesday morning, except for those workers whose job duties are in the emergency response, public health or public safety arena.

The Madison Metropolitan School District, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Madison Area Technical College all canceled classes for Wednesday due to the winter storm.

UW-Madison said it plans to reopen for students and employees and will have normal business hours on Thursday.

All Madison Metro Bus services were canceled for Wednesday, officials said.

U.S. Mail service might be delayed depending on road conditions, officials said. They said that deliveries will occur only were it is safe to do so.

Sharon Wisniewsk, spokeswoman for the Dane County Regional Airport, said that the airport is still open Wednesday. She said a lot of flight cancellations are due to problems at hubs where flights are going to.

Meteorologist: Dane County Hit Hardest

A meteorologist with the National Weather Service said Dane County has so far been the hardest hit by the snowstorm in Wisconsin, with up to 18 inches in some areas.

Meteorologist Penny Zabel said 18 inches was reported in Oregon, about 10 miles south of Madison. She said the whole county is blanketed with about 15 inches or more in most areas, with another 2 to 4 inches expected Wednesday along with wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour.

In the parking lot of a car repair shop on Madison's East Side Wednesday, employee Kurt Splettstoesser, 20, said he can only remember one snowstorm close to this bad in his life. He said his car got stuck in front of his house, and he has been "shoveling and snowblowing and plowing" all day.

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said the city's emergency operations center, which was open for the first time during a snowstorm, did its job.

"It works out really well. They are all there right now working really hard -- Streets, Metro, Police, Fire, Engineering -- about 10 different city agencies are represented (at the emergency operations center) and are working together," Cieslewicz.

The city's emergency operations center was previously used to monitor the large Halloween party downtown.

Dane County said it plans to resume all county government operations on Thursday, saying the improving forecast and road conditions will allow non-essential operations to resume. County office will be open and the county said non-essential employees are expected to report to work Thursday.

NWS Issues Wind Chill Advisory

The National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory that's in effect through Thursday morning.

A wind chill advisory has been issued from 3 a.m. until 11 a.m. on Thursday for south-central and southeastern Wisconsin, including the counties of Marquette, Green Lake, Sauk, Columbia, Dodge, Iowa, Dane, Jefferson, LaFayette, Green, Rock and Walworth. This includes the Madison metropolitan area and the western suburbs of Milwaukee.

A wind chill advisory has been issued from midnight until 11 a.m. on Thursday for southwestern Wisconsin, including the counties of Monroe, Juneau, Adams, Vernon, Richland, Crawford and Grant.

WISC-TV meteorologist Gary Cannalte said that Wednesday night will be mostly cloudy, breezy and bitter cold with a few flurries with some blowing and drifting snow. He said the low temperature will be -2 with wind chills of -10 to -25 by Thursday morning.

Cannalte said Thursday will be breezy and unseasonably cold with a few flurries in the morning. He said the high temperature will be 8 degrees and there will be wind chills of -5 to -15 degrees.

State emergency officials said they are advising people to stay home. People who must travel should prepare an emergency supply kit for their vehicles and monitor their local media for weather updates and road conditions.

Information how to build a supply kit is available at readywisconsin.wi.gov. Travelers can check road conditions by calling 511 or by visiting the state Transportation Department's Web site.

Municipalities Declare Snow Emergencies

Several local cities have declared snow emergencies in preparation for the heavy snowfall.

The city of Madison has declared a snow emergency for Tuesday and Wendesday. City officials extended the deadline for clearing sidewalks from noon on Thursday to 8 a.m. on Friday.
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk has signed an order closing non-essential county services for Wednesday. Public safety services performed by the Dane County Sheriff’s Department, the Dane County Highway Department and the 911 Center will not be affected by the closure. County officials said that sheriff’s deputies will continue patrols and snow-plowing crews will continue efforts to clear highways and roads.
The city of Janesville has declared a snow emergency effective at 5 p.m. "until snow plowing operations are complete," officials said.
The city of Fort Atkinson has declared a snow emergency starting at noon on Tuesday. The snow emergency is extended to include Wednesday night until further notice.
The city of Beloit has declared a snow emergency for Tuesday and Wednesday.
The city of Marshall has declared a snow emergency from noon on Tuesday until noon on Thursday.
The city of Stoughton has declared a snow emergency starting at midnight on Tuesday and will be in effect for three days. City officials have will close non-emergency services for Wednesday. Public safety services will not be affected by the closure. Services are to resume Thursday.
The city of Monona has declared a snow emergency starting at 10 p.m. on Tuesday until 10 p.m. on Wednesday.
The city of Sun Prairie has declared a snow emergency for Tuesday and Wednesday night.
The city of Black Earth has declared a snow emergency until Wednesday at midnight.
The city of McFarland has declared a snow emergency starting at 1 a.m. on Wednesday and ending at 7 a.m. Thursday.
The city of Portage has declared a snow emergency starting at 2 a.m. on Wednesday. Starting at 4:00 a.m., parking is prohibited on all other streets, except the Central Business District, according to city officials.
The village of Oregon has declared a snow emergency until Wednesday.
The city of Middleton is considering declaring a snow emergency. Officials said that residents are urged to not park in the street if at all possible overnight. Those parking in the street should remember the alternate side parking restrictions and only park on the odd side of the street on Tuesday night

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