City Administrator Matt Murphy says the worst winter storm of his municipal service career is to blame for the cities of Algoma and Kewaunee extending their snow emergency orders until noon Thursday.

The original order was supposed to expire at 2 p.m. Monday, but continuous snowfall and high winds are impacting snow removal efforts in both communities.

During the snow emergency period, no vehicles are allowed to park on any city street, no overnight on-street parking permissions will be granted, and vehicles disobeying the order could be ticketed or towed.

Murphy, who was Algoma’s public works director before becoming city administrator for the two communities, says the length of the storm and the wind speeds are making this the worst storm he has seen. He hopes residents and visitors stay home if possible so crews can clean up the snow more effectively.

Murphy says the cities will cancel the snow emergency earlier if possible. The Town of Gibraltar and the Village of Sister Bay issued their own state of emergency orders on Monday, calling for residents to stay home due to extreme snowfall, drifting and blocked roadways.