"Rather be out on a Harley:" Kenosha residents taking late winter storm in stride

KENOSHA -- Residents here were wishing for warmer days to ride Harley-Davidsons, but were thankful that a break in Monday's snowstorm allowed them to clear away what snow did fall.

Clearing snow in Kenosha

A few inches fell in Kenosha in the morning before the snow stopped for five hours Monday afternoon. The city was spared the huge snow totals and freeway pileups that happened north of Milwaukee during the storm.

As sun briefly peaked through an otherwise cloudy day, some people got out their snowblowers for the first time since since December.

"I've been telling everybody that winter's not over yet," said Jeff Leech, who lives in Kenosha, as he struggled to get his snowblower's rotors working. "I think the snow is just too heavy for the snowblower."

Across the road, a bar beckoned with the name Shenanigan's Pub -- but the snow was no joke to bar manager Adam Freitag. He said he'd rather be riding his motorcycle, like he did during February's record-breaking warmth.

"Last month, it was a fake spring and I was out for a week straight on a Harley," Freitag said. "Now it's like, what the hell? What's this all about?"

Five-year-old Novalee Tindall and her mom, Christen Rupple, were tossing snowballs at each other over the lunch hour.

"I have kind of mixed feelings (about the snow)," Rupple said. "She hasn’t gone sledding yet because it hasn’t really snowed, so tomorrow we’re going sledding."

The Kenosha County Public Works Department had 40 drivers in plow trucks Monday -- a full crew. The drivers worked 12-hour shifts starting at 4 a.m. and may be called in again on Tuesday, if the snow picks up again as expected.

There were some early-morning accidents in Kenosha County while the snow was falling. The midday break in the snow allowed crews to get a handle on road conditions, said Clement Abongwa, the county's director of highways.

"That’s very helpful because when it stops that means the snow is not accumulating after you make your pass," Abongwa said. "It has been very helpful and gives enough time for the salt to melt the snow."