Ice storm brings beauty along with power outages and hazards

The ice storm that moved through the Merrill area and most of northern Wisconsin this past weekend covered everything in its wake with a coating of ice by Sunday morning, leaving everything gleaming and sparkling in the light of the morning sun and creating slippery conditions until temperatures warmed enough to melt the ice on roadways. It was a beautiful site to behold, but that thick coating of ice also brought down tree limbs and power lines and resulted in the loss of power to homes in various locations across the region including in Merrill, Gleason, Irma, Hamburg, Pine River, and surrounding areas.
A downed power line on Hwy. 64 east of Merrill closed down the highway in both directions at French Ridge Rd. early Sunday afternoon, March 30, for more than an hour, and tree limbs and fallen trees in the area, as well as trees bowing beneath the weight of iced branches made navigating some roads difficult. Downed power lines made some areas impassable and rendered it impossible for a few area residents to leave their homes.
In a press release on Monday, March 31, 2025, Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) reported utility workers were working hard to restore power to more than 95,000 customers affected by the snow and ice storms. Nearly 3,000 Lincoln County customers and more than 3,300 Marathon County residents were affected. As of Monday evening, March 31, 2025, WPS reported 37,533 customers still without power with 1,240 separate outages reported. Crews were working diligently around the clock to try to get power restored to the area before the next winter weather hit the area, with snow and more ice set for Tuesday and Wednesday as we were getting ready to go to print. As of Monday morning, WPS was hoping to have more than 90% of affected customers’ power restored by the end of Tuesday.
“While final details are still being gathered, WPS believes its response will be one of the largest restoration efforts in company history,” the company said in their Monday press release. “An army of line workers from across the Midwest are working in the field to repair extensive damage, including snapped utility poles, downed power lines, and damaged electric equipment. So far, WPS has received more than 1,600 reports of significant damage.”
But even as utility crews worked in one area, new power outages were happening in another. “While crews make repairs quickly and safely, new power outages continue to be reported,” WPS said. “As snow and ice melt, trees weighed down by the storm are coming back into contact with electric equipment, causing the outages.”

“All available crews will continue to work nonstop to address these outages until every last customer has their lights back on,” WPS said.
“Customers who experience an outage—including those who previously had power restored—should report it immediately using the WPS app or online outage map. Customers also can use these tools to receive the latest information on their estimated time of restoration.”
WPS said customers who come across a downed power line should stay at least 25 feet away and report the downed lines to WPS or local law enforcement immediately.