The Great Ice Storm of March 1976 knocked television stations off the air, caused Madison's reservoirs to dry up and left more than 600,000 Wisconsin residents without power for days.
It may be wishful thinking proclaimed by this road sign in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, because a blizzard probably would not have done as much damage as the March 1976 ice storm that downed this power pole and the electric lines it carried.
JOSEPH W. JACKSON III, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES
Mount Horeb High School students help clean up broken limbs on North 2nd Street.
ED STEIN, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES
Icicles on a barbed-wire fence in the aftermath of the March 4, 1976, ice storm.
J.D. PATRICK, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES
Wires short out on a utility pole at 6209 Bridge Road in Monona, Wisconsin, during the ice storm of March 1976.
BRUCE FRITZ
Cars slide off the road during the Madison ice storm of March 1976.
BRUCE FRITZ
A fence along Wisconsin Highway 73 shows the aftermath of the ice storm of March 1976.
BRUCE FRITZ
The March 1976 ice storm devastated the countryside between Cambridge and Stoughton in eastern Dane County, Wisconsin.
J.D. PATRICK, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES
Front page of the Wisconsin State Journal from March 5, 1976.
Page from the Wisconsin State Journal from March 6, 1976.
Front page of the Wisconsin State Journal from March 6, 1976.
Page from the Wisconsin State Journal from March 6, 1976.
Mount Horeb High School students help clean up broken limbs on North 2nd Street.
ED STEIN, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES
Icicles on a barbed-wire fence in the aftermath of the March 4, 1976, ice storm.
J.D. PATRICK, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES
Front page of the Wisconsin State Journal from March 5, 1976.
Page from the Wisconsin State Journal from March 6, 1976.
Front page of the Wisconsin State Journal from March 6, 1976.
Page from the Wisconsin State Journal from March 6, 1976.
It could take several days for power to be restored to some MGE customers, and a small number of Alliant Energy customers may also experience multi-day outages.
Old Man Winter may not have put his feet on the ground quite yet, but he’s certainly been stirring in his icy quarters the last couple weeks, scattering fallen leaves with his glacial breath.