How much snow fell in Madison and southern Wisconsin this weekend?

The previous record for Nov. 29 was 6 inches in 1991 and the previous high for any day in the month was 7.6 inches on Nov. 27, 1995, said meteorologist John Gagan.

The total is higher when the complete 24-hour period of the storm is considered. Madison got 11.7 inches of snow from 6 a.m. Saturday until 6 a.m. Sunday, meteorologist Andrew Quigley said at about 7 a.m. Sunday. 

"It was just shy of a foot, but basically right at about a foot there at the airport in Madison," he said. "So a really, really good snowfall there in the last 24 hours."

Madison now has 13.7 inches this snow season (since July 1), 10.1 inches above normal, and a snow depth of 8 inches.

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The last time Madison saw this much snow in a 24-hour period was a 12.1-inch snowfall on March 25-26, 2023, he said.

Before that, the last time Madison 10 inches or more of snow from a storm was Dec. 20, 2012.

"One of the messages of the storm is, it's been a couple years at least since we've seen some of these kind of totals around southern Wisconsin. So it definitely lived up to those expectations going into the event," Quigley said.

Other parts of Wisconsin weren't spared either. Kenosha and Racine had 11 inches. La Crosse saw 8.2, Chippewa Falls 5.3 and Wisconsin Dells had 8 inches.

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The snow in the Madison area wasn't a heavy, wet snow. "It's really unscientific," Quigley said, adding that it wasn't the driest type of snow, like powder-sand, but it wasn't the wettest snow that's a lot like concrete and hard to move.

"We were kind of in the middle of that range yesterday, particularly out in South Central Wisconsin, I would say maybe even a touch towards that drier, powdery side. But it certainly wasn't like the wettest or heaviest type of snow," he said.

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory until 3 p.m. Sunday because of higher winds. Blowing and drifting was affecting north-south roads, so caution was advised when driving.

There's not a lot of good news to report in terms of temperatures, Quigley said. Colder air moved into the region Sunday and Monday night will also be chilly, he added. 

The forecast is for partly cloudy skies Sunday evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight with a low of 9 degrees, according to the Weather Channel.

It will stay cold until early Tuesday and then will get back into the lower 30s, probably on Wednesday afternoon, Quigley said.

More snow is also on the way, but will be part of a much weaker system, he said. It will quickly move into the area on Monday afternoon and evening with "a quick hit of light, kind of fluffy snow to the area, and that'll include Madison."

The best chance of snow will be between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Monday. "We're not expecting anywhere near the totals that we saw in this system, probably somewhere between 1 or 2 inches in the Madison area when it's all said and done," Quigley said.

He cautioned people to be careful during the evening commute. "You're definitely going to want to budget a little bit of extra time driving home tomorrow night with that light powdery snow falling."