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Chance of slushy snow Saturday

JANESVILLE — The Janesville area could get a little “poor man’s fertilizer” Saturday.

Then again, maybe not.

Either way, it sounds better than “snow.”

The National Weather Service in Sullivan is tentatively predicting an overnight rain Friday that could turn into 1 to 2 inches of snow throughout the day Saturday.

“The situation is still a little questionable,” meteorologist Courtney Obergfell said. “If it does turn to snow, it will be slushy because temperatures will be mostly above freezing.”

The temperature could be as low as 30 degrees overnight Saturday but should be in the 40s the rest of the weekend and into next week, Obergfell said. She predicts a slight chance of snow on Sunday and clear skies for the beginning of next week.

That means the snow won’t last long if it does fall, she said.

The average total March snowfall in Wisconsin is 7 inches, Obergfell said. In 2009, .097 inches of snow fell in the Janesville area. In 2008, 6.757 inches of snow fell, according to Gazette records.

If snow does fall this weekend or yet this spring, it could help green up lawns and pastures.

Many people call spring snow “poor man’s fertilizer.”

That’s because snow captures atmospheric nitrogen and delivers about 10 pounds of it per acre, said Jim Stute, Rock County crops and soils agent for UW Extension.

A typical Rock County farmer applies 130 to 150 pounds of nitrogen to grow an acre of corn.

The soft, warm ground easily absorbs the nitrogen as the snow melts, Stute said.

“It really greens things up,” he said.