Extreme weather effects on City services, public schools, and City meetings

A declared snow emergency is in effect. With the extreme weather conditions heading to Madison, all non-essential, in-person City services will be suspended on Tuesday, January 9. Remote and online services such as online permitting will continue to be offered during this time. Also:

• The Madison Metropolitan School District will be closed Tuesday, January 9, 2024.
  • All MMSD schools and facilities will be closed
  • All after-school activities in school buildings are canceled
  • All MSCR programs, activities and rentals are canceled
  • Athletic events, practices, and school co-curricular activities are canceled
  • For information on how we make decisions about weather-related closings, please visit mmsd.org/weather
• Several City meetings are cancelled tonight (1/8) and tomorrow (1/9) and some have moved to virtual only formats. Please check the City’s meeting schedule for these changes.
• Trash and recycling collection will be suspended for Tuesday, January 9, 2024.  The drop-off sites will also be closed on Tuesday, January 9, 2024. Read here for more information. 
• Emergency services, including the Madison Police and Fire Departments will not be affected by the closure. 
• Madison Metro plans to operate regularly scheduled service; riders should expect delays due to the weather. Read here for more tips.
• All Madison public libraries will be closed on 1/9/24. Read here for more information.
• Other city facilities such as libraries, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, and the Clerk’s and Treasurer's Offices, among others, will not be open to the public. 

Visit this web page for continued updates on snowplowing (and subscribe to the email list on that page to receive ongoing updates while you are there).

From the website: “Streets Division crews will be responding around the clock to this event – but be prepared to alter your plans. When the storm gets underway tonight, the Streets Division will have 36 plows out focusing on the salt routes. 

Trash, recycling, and drop-off sites have been cancelled for January 9, 2023.  The additional staff plus normal Streets Division crews will all be devoted to performing snow control duties throughout the day. The additional staff will be focusing on keeping the main thoroughfares of the city open throughout the long-lasting and intense storm.

The storm is expected to intensify by the start of the normal Tuesday morning commute and remain strong through the entire day, leaving Madison with a deep accumulation of heavy, wet snow by the evening time.  Forecasts show that at 7am Madison may have around 1 to 3 inches of snow on the ground, and then by the night, the accumulation could be anywhere between 8 to 12 inches by some forecast models.

As a reminder, residential areas are not plowed until the storm is at or near its end.  This storm will make travel through residential areas very difficult at best, especially if you do not have a vehicle appropriate to handle deep snow.  Please consider this when making your travel decisions.  If you do choose to attempt travel during this severe storm, make good choices. 

The roads will be very slippery at best.  Due to warm pavement temperatures and wet snow, these are conditions that can create slick, greasy-like roads.  As fresh snow falls on melting snow, that exacerbates the slipperiness.  Remember to anticipate your stops and turns so you do not slide.  Do not drive too fast for conditions.  Be patient, alert, and slow on your travels if you must travel.

All information does point to a citywide plowing event as a result of this storm; however, when that operation will commence is not yet known. A future update will be provided to give additional details regarding the next steps in the Streets Division's response to this storm.  Streets staff will also be monitoring the roads and the weather.  Operations will adjust should road or weather conditions require it.”

It is expected that all in-person operations will resume on Wednesday, January 10. We will continue to monitor the weather for Wednesday and will provide you with notice should conditions warrant additional closures.