Elsa

Elsa has concluded her wrath upon the Midwest, and now that she has finally ceased whipping the land with wind and snow, I have a chance to sit down and share my experience from the last few days. I have been in Wisconsin my entire life, witnessed some truly incredible weather being on the lakeshore, and I thought I had seen all the sky could offer. From waterspouts and tornados, rain so hard the roads flooded, and of course the blowing snow that covers the land, this last one was an incredible experience.

I normally would not bother writing about the weather, but this was the storm of a lifetime that we will not soon forget. A town over, about a 20 minute drive in ideal conditions got some of the worst in the state, 33 inches by Monday morning, an amount not recorded since 1888 from what I’ve heard. I personally had around 23 inches land in my yard and paired with the 40 mile an hour winds it was an absolute mess.

Saturday, March 14th 2026, it came on slowly at first, after the sun had fallen, a typical snow fall from what anyone could tell, we ran around gathering any last-minute groceries and supplies. My best friend and I planned out what we would do if the power went out, I messaged my elderly neighbors, checked fuel levels and for the most part took things easy. I left his home around 10pm to be greeted by a light layer across the roads.

Sunday, March 15th 2026, I woke up to about eight inches of snow blowing around, cars covered and the visibility poor, but nothing to panic over, again it was all coming together like a typical storm. Yes, of course I watched the news, but if you’ve ever been out this way you’ll understand there’s no predicting the weather this time of year. This all began to change as the afternoon came around, I had shoveled a path out to my car four times by now and the wind just kept pushing the drifts over. Now I go to the tavern every Sunday for a few drinks and the drawing I pay into every week, so naturally I make my way out around 3pm.

Now it’s becoming obvious how much snow we are getting, the plows had made a pass and the banks along the roads are over two feet high, and I’m struggling just to get across town. It was not slippery out yet, but the wind had become such a force I made it halfway before everything infront of me went white. Now I have driven to work through every major storm in the last 15 years, and I have never experienced a white out like this one, it wasn’t just that I couldn’t see past my headlights, it was a sheet, like someone threw a white tarp over my truck. I turned around at this point, I’ve never been so lost in my own town, making my way down streets off cardinal directions.

Monday, March 16th 2026, I forgot to mention they preemptively called work off the night before, regardless I woke up to 22 inches of snow blown by wind that felt like sandpaper across your face. The plows are called off or only doing highways, the residential streets will not be cleared until late afternoon. The snow only came down for a few more hours, until around noon, while the wind finally settled around 2pm, if you’ve never seen an angry sky open up into sunlight it was like every time Gandalf shows up with an army in Lord of the Rings. Clearing the snow commenced now, but not in the upbeat way one would think, the neighbors came out slowly, the roads were void of cars, and the entire town was shut down. The gas stations, grocery stores, factories all silent.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it, just a ghost town with a million pounds of snow on it, and it would not be cleaned up that day, or even the next. Calls were made to make sure everyone had power, and to my elderly neighborhood to make sure they were ok. A kid that lives across the street showed up on my door to see if I needed help, my buddy later dug him out with his tractor. I’m going to include the text I got from another neighbor, because it makes me feel good and it’s a great reminder that we’re all just people in a community that went through a great struggle.

-Thank you so much Brier for your buddy to come over I really appreciate it thank you for thinking of us thank you again.

Tuesday, March 17th 2026, the plows got put back on the road last night so we could all make it to work. There's no more room for snow, but at least the wind has died so it’s all staying in one place for now. Most houses are dug out now, but not all of them, it makes me wonder what those people stuck in their homes are doing, they must be going crazy not even being able to walk out their front doors or do anything.

At the end of it all Elsa was a real monster, but it brought a lot of us together, I almost feel bad for those of us that don’t get to experience the hardships of the north like this. It’s really special in its own way.