MONROE - For most, Tuesday night's epic winter storm was something to watch from home, one of those few times in life when it seems as if the busy world just stops in the face of nature's fury.
"In my 30 some years of police work, the great storm of Feb. 1 was the biggest I've seen in terms of the combination of wind and snow," said Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley. "Even as a kid I don't remember anything like it."
Kelley and others, who were out, described conditions as something like an inland hurricane with snow. That unrelenting, swirling snow would wallop Green and Lafayette Counties, close interstates and highways in Wisconsin and Illinois, and wreak winter havoc throughout the Midwest.
The National Weather Service reported Madison received 8.3 inches of snow, while Rockford received 10.9 and Dubuque received 10.6
But it was the winds that made driving everywhere so treacherous. Those were gusting to 55 mph in some areas in the area, with sustained winds of 20 to 35 mph, pushing the snow back onto roads as fast as crews could clear them. Whiteout conditions and drifts conspired to reduce visibilities to near zero, shutting down highways, and stranding motorists, who either couldn't - or didn't - heed the many warnings to stay home.
In Lafayette County, a woman on rural County W near Shullsburg found herself stuck in a snow drift during the height of Tuesday's storm. She called a tow-truck driver to rescue her but he too became mired in the drifts.
Finally, according to Highway Commissioner Tom Jean, snowmobiles were dispatched to try and get the pair, only to turn back because emergency personnel couldn't see where they were going, even on the sleds.
Then, when the tow truck driver and young woman ran out of gas - and heat to stay warm - at 2 a.m., the situation became especially dire, Jean said.
"That's when the Town of White Oak Springs came through," said Jean. "I don't know how they did it, but they got down there with a plow somehow and got them out."
Kelley said Monroe police could only park their regular police cruisers Tuesday night. But they continued to patrol in two-man recovery teams, riding in the department's four-wheel drive trucks.
City cops had shovels and were helping to rescue stranded motorists - more than a dozen or so before the night was over, in addition to trying to respond to the usual calls for service. Several people were given rides to local hotels that were rapidly filling up with travelers, he added.
In Lafayette County, a similar situation played out, as snow-plow drivers scheduled to go home after a long shift at 9 p.m. were reassigned to rescue duty. It was too hazardous to continue clearing roads, but the plows were still needed to venture out, two at a time, to free stranded motorists through the night, Jean said.
"They worked really hard to do what they could," he said.
Likewise in Green County, where Highway Commissioner Dallas Cecil said his crews put in extra hours and received "quite a few rescue" calls during the night. By early Wednesday night, however, he said most county roads were open, with some reduced to a single lane.
"We'll probably finish up again in a few hours, and then give it another shot in the morning," Cecil said at about 6 p.m.
The next task at hand, according to Jean, will be for heavier equipment to help remove some of the bulk snow piles and drifts, so that the lighter highway plows have somewhere to put additional snow.
"In my 30 some years of police work, the great storm of Feb. 1 was the biggest I've seen in terms of the combination of wind and snow," said Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley. "Even as a kid I don't remember anything like it."
Kelley and others, who were out, described conditions as something like an inland hurricane with snow. That unrelenting, swirling snow would wallop Green and Lafayette Counties, close interstates and highways in Wisconsin and Illinois, and wreak winter havoc throughout the Midwest.
The National Weather Service reported Madison received 8.3 inches of snow, while Rockford received 10.9 and Dubuque received 10.6
But it was the winds that made driving everywhere so treacherous. Those were gusting to 55 mph in some areas in the area, with sustained winds of 20 to 35 mph, pushing the snow back onto roads as fast as crews could clear them. Whiteout conditions and drifts conspired to reduce visibilities to near zero, shutting down highways, and stranding motorists, who either couldn't - or didn't - heed the many warnings to stay home.
In Lafayette County, a woman on rural County W near Shullsburg found herself stuck in a snow drift during the height of Tuesday's storm. She called a tow-truck driver to rescue her but he too became mired in the drifts.
Finally, according to Highway Commissioner Tom Jean, snowmobiles were dispatched to try and get the pair, only to turn back because emergency personnel couldn't see where they were going, even on the sleds.
Then, when the tow truck driver and young woman ran out of gas - and heat to stay warm - at 2 a.m., the situation became especially dire, Jean said.
"That's when the Town of White Oak Springs came through," said Jean. "I don't know how they did it, but they got down there with a plow somehow and got them out."
Kelley said Monroe police could only park their regular police cruisers Tuesday night. But they continued to patrol in two-man recovery teams, riding in the department's four-wheel drive trucks.
City cops had shovels and were helping to rescue stranded motorists - more than a dozen or so before the night was over, in addition to trying to respond to the usual calls for service. Several people were given rides to local hotels that were rapidly filling up with travelers, he added.
In Lafayette County, a similar situation played out, as snow-plow drivers scheduled to go home after a long shift at 9 p.m. were reassigned to rescue duty. It was too hazardous to continue clearing roads, but the plows were still needed to venture out, two at a time, to free stranded motorists through the night, Jean said.
"They worked really hard to do what they could," he said.
Likewise in Green County, where Highway Commissioner Dallas Cecil said his crews put in extra hours and received "quite a few rescue" calls during the night. By early Wednesday night, however, he said most county roads were open, with some reduced to a single lane.
"We'll probably finish up again in a few hours, and then give it another shot in the morning," Cecil said at about 6 p.m.
The next task at hand, according to Jean, will be for heavier equipment to help remove some of the bulk snow piles and drifts, so that the lighter highway plows have somewhere to put additional snow.