Milwaukee suburbs reporting nearly 9 inches of snow as lakeshore communities will no longer be impacted by lake effect snow

The National Weather Service extended the winter storm warning until midnight for the lakeshore counties, but meteorologists now expect a lake effect snow band to just miss Milwaukee and other shoreline communities, meaning those shoreline cities will not receive the previously forecasted additional 2 to 3 inches of snow.

The National Weather Service is saying some communities in the Milwaukee area have experienced nearly 9 inches of snow, while the city experienced far less than the suburban communities.

Roads conditions caused problems for drivers earlier as three portions of Interstate 41 — near Fond du Lac, Kewaskum and Menomonee Falls — were either completely or partially closed. All lanes have subsequently reopened.

Most schools and universities in southeastern Wisconsin have closed for the day. Even the Milwaukee County Zoo closed.

Here’s what you need to know as the largest snowstorm of the season moves into the state.

Snow will 'taper off,' lake effect snow band expected to miss shoreline cities

Around 10 p.m., the National Weather Service said its been monitoring the lake effect snow band and believe it will now miss Milwaukee and other shoreline cities.

"We've been watching this band, looking at radar, (the snow band) is actually right off the coast," said Cameron Miller, meteorologist at the weather service. "(Snow) should taper off ... it should actually come to an end pretty quickly in southeastern Wisconsin, a lot quicker than we thought originally."

Temperatures will drop to as low as 10 degrees overnight and Friday also will be cold, but southeastern Wisconsin should see some sun in the afternoon, Miller said.

The official snow measurement site for the weather service's Milwaukee office is Mitchell International Airport, which recorded a total of 4.8 inches at 9 p.m.

Dozens of crashes, including injuries, on Milwaukee's roadways Thursday

The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office reported 69 weather-related calls for service on Thursday between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Among those calls for service were 46 crashes, with 10 crashes resulting in injuries. The sheriff's office said three calls were for debris or hazards on the road or highway and 20 calls were for disabled vehicles.

Cities offices that report to Mayor Cavalier Johnson will be open Friday

Mayor Cavalier Johnson closed executive city government offices at noon on Thursday. In a statement through as spokesperson, Johnson announced that city government offices will be open for regular business hours on Friday.

Here are the other snow totals in southern Wisconsin:

There is more snow on the way for southern Wisconsin, some areas will still see another few inches. The National Weather Service has begun to report more snow totals from the area, here are the latest:

• Hales Corners: 8.8 inches

• Franklin: 8.7 inches

• New Berlin: 8.1 inches

• Elm Grove: 7.4 inches

• Oak Creek: 7.3 inches

• Janesville: 6.8 inches

• Madison: 5.5 inches

• Brodhead: 5.5 inches

• Delafield: 5.5 inches

Quick inch of snow in an hour to hit Milwaukee; more lake effect snow from Port Washington to Kenosha later Thursday evening

Milwaukee is expected to see more snow into the evening and night, as a system moves toward the city that will drop an inch of snow in the next hour, meteorologists at the National Weather Service said shortly before 7 p.m.

Some of the suburban communities, such as New Berlin, have reported nearly 7 inches of snow, but Milwaukee has only seen an inch or two so far.

Following the quick burst of snow, communities along the lakeshore will experience another 2 to 3 inches of lake effect snow later this evening, meteorologist Cameron Miller with the weather service said. Communities as far north as Port Washington and south as Kenosha will be impacted, Miller said.

Crash closes two left lanes on 1-41/I-94 in Kenosha

Two southbound I-41/I-94 lanes have been closed due to a crash, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation said.

The incident occurred around 5 p.m. near Highway 142 and was expected to take two hours to clear.

The National Weather Service doesn't have a reported snow total for Kenosha, but Racine reported 2.5 inches at 2:24 p.m.

City not ready to declare a snow emergency, no parking rule changes on Thursday evening

The City of Milwaukee has not declared a snow emergency, but Mayor Cavalier Johnson has declared an extreme weather emergency. The Department of Public Works said it might need to declare a snow emergency on Friday.

Under a snow emergency, vehicles are required to park on one side of most streets. This rule will not be in effect Thursday night and regular winter parking rules should be observed, including those that need to observe alternate side parking based on the calendar day.

The rule usually provides plows room to clear the street, but since Milwaukee hasn't experienced a heavy snowfall, the city did not declare a snow emergency.

DPW said it will provide an update on Friday on whether or not a snow emergency is needed. During the previous snow emergency, DPW issued over 5,300 citations.

Sheriff's Office reports afternoon crashes, injuries as 'slick' and 'icy' roads conditions are observed

The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office said it responded to 27 weather-related calls for service between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., which resulted in at least 20 crashes and four injuries.

"Thankfully, there have been no fatalities," said Captain Jeremy Franke with the sheriff's office patrol division.

Franke is advising people to drive defensively by keeping your distance from other vehicles and to put your electronic devices away. "The snow and related slick and potentially icy conditions are expected to last well into the evening," he said.

Here is a breakdown of weather-related calls for service between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday, according to the sheriff's office:

• 16 property damage-only calls

• 4 crashes with injuries calls

• 2 debris/hazard on road/highway calls

• 5 disabled vehicle calls

Winter storm warning extended to midnight

The warnings have been extended until midnight for Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties and 10 p.m. for the rest of the area.

"Near-blizzard conditions remain possible for areas near Lake Michigan," the weather service said.

"Higher snowfall rates with 1in/hr rates and visibilities down to 1/4 mile are expected through this evening with banding and lake enhancement in the Winter Storm Warning."

This storm is shaping up to be much like last Thursday's snow in that it's a very narrow band of snow moving from the southwest to the northeast. The key difference is that this one is a little further south than last week's, with Milwaukee taking the brunt of the storm. To the northwest, there is very little snow north of Highway 151.

Snow totals from across Wisconsin are starting to come in

So far some of the largest snow totals have come from Milwaukee’s suburbs as Oak Creek has reported 6 inches of snow and New Berlin has reported 6.9 inches. Places further north, like Sheboygan, have only seen about an inch of snow thus far, according to the weather service.

Initial totals for the City of Milwaukee have not been reported yet but many surrounding cities are currently experiencing anywhere from 3 to 6 inches of snow.

Lake effect could enhance snowfall amounts

Lake effect snow is what could push some of the snow totals up to 11 inches along the lake from Milwaukee to Kenosha.

"We have a storm paired with lake effect and especially at night from Ozaukee County to Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha we should really see that lake effect showing up and it might even drift as far as Waukesha," said NWS Meteorologist Mark Gehring.

Wisconsin road conditions are deteriorating rapidly as I-43 near Cedarburg, I-41/94 near Racine and Highway 28 south of Lomira all close

The morning drive in was pretty uneventful as the snow didn't reach the Milwaukee area until about 8 a.m., but as snow continues to fall throughout the day the evening commute is expected to be significantly affected.

As of 1:30 p.m., three major highway closures have been announced as I-43 northbound is closed at County C near Cedarburg, I-41/94 north is closed at County G near Racine and I-41 is closed at State Highway 28 just south of Lomira — all the closures are due to crashes.

As of 3 p.m., the interstates in Ozaukee and Racine counties had reopened. I-41 still had closures in Dodge County and Fond du Lac County at 5 p.m.

Numerous vehicles crashed along I-43 northbound and shut down the interstate from Pioneer Road to State Highway 60, Ozaukee County Patrol Lieutenant Brad Arndt said. No fatalities have been reported, but there have been multiple injuries.

The interstate reopened shortly before 2 p.m., Arndt said. As of 1:35 p.m., there had been 11 crashes on I-43, both northbound and southbound between Pioneer Road and State Highway 60, with some also taking place near Mequon Road, he added.

Hours later the Department of Transportation announced that I-41 southbound had been closed at Wisconsin 28 in Dodge County due to multiple crashes.

The Racine County crash occurred at 1:49 p.m., and was originally two cars on the median near 7 Mile Road, however, later that crash would cause one semi to crash into another as it could not stop fast enough — this ended with one of the semis in a ditch.

The DOT confirmed three injuries stemming from the crash, though all were non-fatal.

As of 3:20 p.m., all lanes of traffic southbound on I-41, near Fond du Lac, were closed due to a crash. Three lanes also have been closed on I-41/US 45 southbound at Pilgrim Road due to a jackknifed semi.

A third portion of I-41 was closed at as a crash involving 30 cars caused the southbound portion of I-41 to close at Wisconsin 28 near Kewaskum.

Mitchell Airport already seeing increased cancelations

On Wednesday, Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport saw only three cancelations, but as the snowstorm moved into the Milwaukee area the airport has already seen 19 cancelations on Thursday.

Harold Mester, Director of Public Affairs and Marketing at Mitchell, said when this many cancelations happen, it is assumed that weather is the culprit. However, the decision to cancel flights is ultimately up to each airline as long as the airport remains open.

"Weather would be a good assumption, especially with how many (cancelations) we have had today, but the airlines don't tell us why they cancel flights so it's possible some of those cancelations might be due to separate issues," Mester said.

Many Milwaukee area schools canceled school for the day

Milwaukee Public Schools decided to cancel classes Thursday. "All schools and district offices are closed as well as all district after-school, recreation and athletic programs and events," the district said in a statement.

Many of Milwaukee's suburbs canceled school as well. The following Milwaukee County school districts announced a snow day:

Wauwatosa, West Allis-West Milwaukee, Whitnall, Greenfield, Greendale, Franklin, Oak Creek, Brown Deer, Glendale-River Hills, Fox Point-Bayside, Shorewood, Cudahy, and South Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Universities have closed, too

Marquette University sent an alert to students and staff late Wednesday night saying that campus will be closed on Thursday.

"All classes are canceled," the university said. This goes for both in-person and virtual classes.

Only employees who are required to come to campus during a university closing should be on campus, and employees with a university-issued laptop are expected to work remotely or use a vacation day, the university said.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee also canceled classes ahead of the winter storm.

“With a winter storm warning predicting heavy snow and strong winds, UWM is canceling all in-person classes, public events and student activities at all three campuses for Thursday, Feb. 16. Online classes and virtual sessions for hybrid courses will be held as scheduled,” the university said in a statement.

Milwaukee County has declared a snow emergency

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has declared a snow emergency beginning at 6 a.m. Thursday lasting through midnight Friday.

All nonessential departments will be closed, including the Milwaukee County Courthouse, Vel Phillips Detention Center and Marcia P. Coggs Building (with the exception of the Behavioral Health Mobile Crisis Teams).

The City of Milwaukee also announced that government offices will open as scheduled this morning but will close at noon as the storm enters a more severe stage.

Many government services like Milwaukee Health Department clinics and the Milwaukee County Zoo have announced that they will be closed on Thursday. All Milwaukee Public Libraries will close at noon.

Milwaukee weather radar

Can't see the image? Click here.

Alex Groth and Alison Dirr of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What are snow totals in Milwaukee? Near blizzard conditions forecast