'It's very heavy:' Port Washington residents struggle to clean up nearly a foot of snow

Northern counties pummeled with snow

PORT WASHINGTON -- Nearly a foot of snow had fallen in Port Washington as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12 (11.5 inches, according to the National Weather Service). That's in addition to the snow that was already on the ground after multiple storms starting in late January, including snow, bitterly cold temperatures and freezing rain.

"She's winning right now," said Michael Decker of Mother Nature, who unloaded on southeast Wisconsin yet again starting Monday night.

Michael Decker

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning and winter weather advisory for most of southeast Wisconsin until 3 a.m. Wednesday. Port Washington/Ozaukee County were included in the warning.

"I'm sure we'll be going for at least 30 more hours," said Decker of his snow removal business in Port Washington.

Cleaning up nearly a foot of heavy, wet snow was no easy task.

"I was guessing six inches, but this is a lot more than that! It's double that! Oh my gosh! It's heavy, and God, we just got back from Jamaica -- so it was a contrast," said Kathy Westphal.

Kathy Westphal

Forty minutes into shoveling and snowblowing, Kathy Westphal had run out of steam, while her husband ran out of gas.

"It's very heavy for somebody with a bad back. I think he already used a tank," said Kathy Westphal.

The city's 15 plows were on the road by 3 a.m.

"There's a lot of snow to move. There's not a lot of places to put it anymore," said JD Hoile, street commissioner. "We made our first pass -- there was probably three to four inches -- cleared the roads, and by the time we got back to the beginning of our route, there was probably another five to six inches. We're running on E. It's been hard, but we'll get through it if people are patient with us."

Crews planned to hit the road again around 3 a.m. Wednesday to clear parking spaces and side roads. Officials said the plan was to move snow piled up in the downtown area on Thursday, and dump that in less congested parts of town.