Milwaukee, surrounding communities see first major snowfall of the season

WISCONSIN (CBS 58) -- Trucks all over Milwaukee and the surrounding communities are out clearing the roads, as the first major snowfall of the season hits Tuesday night.

It's been snowing in Fort Atkinson since about 5 p.m., and it's not slowing down anytime soon. A snow emergency will last until Wednesday afternoon.

Cities across the Milwaukee area got their hardest snowfall of the season, and it was a heavy snow to shovel.

"It is pretty wet. It's pretty damp. It's pretty heavy. IT's going to be a lot of snow ahead of us," said Mitchell Fanning, of Fort Atkinson.

Public Works departments and private companies prepared for the snow throughout the afternoon.

A&B Plowing got ready at 4 p.m. to plow through noon Wednesday.

"We're in Fort Atkinson. We're going to go plowing tonight and have some fun," said Jeff Pein of A&B Snow Plow Removal.

Milwaukee Public Works had 103 trucks on standby after spending Monday treating the streets.

They have stepped up their safety protocols in response to COVID-19.

"Enhanced cleanings, along with masking," said Brian DeNeve of Milwaukee DPW. "The tradeoff with that is sometimes we are less efficient in how we can operate."

With the downfall expected to last, Public Works is recommending drivers stick to the main roads early Wednesday.

"Those are the streets that first responders use in dealing with emergencies," DeNeve said. "They're also the more heavily traveled streets, so those are the streets first and foremost that we'd be addressing."

While cities like Fort Atkinson have declared a snow emergency Tuesday night, Milwaukee has not, which means there is no opposite side parking required overnight.