Heavy Snow, Vernon
- When
- March 21, 1:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
- Where
- Vernon forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 43.594, -90.834 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, March 21, 2008
Low pressure developed over western Nebraska and moved eastward into the Ohio Valley on March 21. Snow fell across much of southwest and central Wisconsin, with heaviest accumulations of 6 to 9 inches mainly through the Interstate 94 corridor to the Mississippi River near Nelson (Buffalo County).
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 9 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 9
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS ARX wrote it up.
Low pressure developed over western Nebraska and moved eastward into the Ohio Valley on March 21. Snow fell across much of southwest and central Wisconsin, with heaviest accumulations of 6 to 9 inches mainly through the Interstate 94 corridor to the Mississippi River near Nelson (Buffalo County). Volunteer weather observers reported snowfall totals of 9.0 inches at Richland Center (Richland County), 8.8 inches at Gilmanton (Buffalo County) and 7.5 inches at Mauston (Juneau County).
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 20, 8:42 PM CST, 4 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 8:42 PM CST, 4 hours 18 minutes before
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</html>Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 20, 2:34 PM CST, 10 hours 26 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 334 PM CDT THU MAR 20 2008 IAZ008>011-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ032-033-041-042- 053>055-061-211100- ALLAMAKEE-BUFFALO-CHICKASAW-CLAYTON-CRAWFORD-DODGE-FAYETTE-FILLMORE- GRANT-HOUSTON-HOWARD-LA CROSSE-MITCHELL-MONROE-MOWER-OLMSTED- RICHLAND-TREMPEALEAU-VERNON-WABASHA-WINNESHIEK-WINONA- 334 PM CDT THU MAR 20 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...NORTHEAST IOWA...AND SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL STRENGTHEN ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS AND MOVE EASTWARD INTO IOWA TONIGHT. SNOW WILL DEVELOP NORTH OF THE SYSTEM...AND WILL OVERSPREAD AREAS WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER THIS EVENING...THEN OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE SNOW MAY BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE LOW WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL ILLINOIS FRIDAY WITH A SWATH A MODERATE TO AT TIMES HEAVY SNOW TO ITS NORTH...ESPECIALLY BEFORE NOON FRIDAY. TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES ARE LIKELY... WITH LOCALIZED HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE SNOW TAPERS OFF FRIDAY NIGHT. HIGHEST SNOWFALL TOTALS LOOK TO BE SOUTH OF A LAKE CITY MINNESOTA...TO MAUSTON WISCONSIN LINE AND NORTH OF A OSAGE IOWA TO STRAWBERRY POINT IOWA LINE. THE WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO CALL IS SCHEDULED. IAZ018-WIZ034-043-044-211100- ADAMS-FLOYD-JACKSON-JUNEAU- 334 PM CDT THU MAR 20 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF NORTHEAST IOWA...AND WESTERN INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL STRENGTHEN ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS AND MOVE EASTWARD INTO IOWA TONIGHT. THE SNOW WILL SPREAD INTO THE AREAS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER THIS EVENING AND ACROSS PARTS OF WISCONSIN AFTER MIDNIGHT. ALSO...ACROSS PARTS OF NORTHEAST IOWA... THERE MAY BE A MIX OF RAIN...SNOW...AND SLEET THIS EVENING BEFORE COMPLETELY CHANGING OVER TO SNOW. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE LOW WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL ILLINOIS FRIDAY. SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE DAY...THEN WILL TAPER OFF FRIDAY EVENING. STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE 3 TO 6 INCH RANGE. THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES REMAIN IN EFFECT THROUGH FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO CALL IS SCHEDULED. WIZ017-029-211100- CLARK-TAYLOR- 334 PM CDT THU MAR 20 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL STRENGTHEN ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS AND MOVE EASTWARD INTO IOWA TONIGHT. LIGHT SNOW WILL SPREAD INTO THE AREA AFTER MIDNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE LOW WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL ILLINOIS FRIDAY. SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE DAY FRIDAY AND WILL END BY FRIDAY NIGHT. STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE 1 TO 3 INCHES...WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS OVER SOUTHERN CLARK COUNTY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO CALL IS SCHEDULED. BROOKS
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
9 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Monroe
- When
- March 21, 2:20 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
- Where
- Monroe forecast zone
- Reported by
- COOP Observer
- Coordinates
- 43.946, -90.618 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Richland
- When
- March 21, 2:30 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
- Where
- Richland forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 43.376, -90.429 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, La Crosse
- When
- March 21, 2:30 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- La Crosse forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 43.907, -91.115 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Buffalo
- When
- March 21, 3:00 AM CST to 5:00 PM CST
- Where
- Buffalo forecast zone
- Reported by
- COOP Observer
- Coordinates
- 44.380, -91.754 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Trempealeau
- When
- March 21, 3:00 AM CST to 5:30 PM CST
- Where
- Trempealeau forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 44.304, -91.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Jackson
- When
- March 21, 3:00 AM CST to 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Jackson forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 44.319, -90.805 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Adams
- When
- March 21, 3:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
- Where
- Adams forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 43.970, -89.771 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Juneau
- When
- March 21, 3:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
- Where
- Juneau forecast zone
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 43.924, -90.114 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Cold in Illinois, March 21, 2008
- Flooding in Arkansas, March 21 to 23, 2008
- Heavy Snow in Ohio, March 21 to 22, 2008
- High Wind and Strong Wind in Massachusetts, March 21, 2008
- Winter Storm in Wisconsin, March 21 to 22, 2008
- Winter Storm in Michigan, March 21 to 22, 2008
- Winter Storm in Illinois, March 21, 2008
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, March 21 to 22, 2008
- Winter Storm in Michigan, March 21 to 22, 2008
- Blizzard in Maine, March 21, 2008
- High Wind in Maine, March 21, 2008
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, March 21, 2008
More
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, March 2008
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 79296, 79293, 79294, 80115, 79292, 79295, 80116, 80117, 80257.