Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, March 16 to 17, 2016

Name: Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, March 16 to 17, 2016
Start: 2016-03-16T13:00
End: 2016-03-17T14:00
Location: Wisconsin

March 16 to 17, 2016 · NWS DLH · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

Heavy rain and heavy snow caused flooding and power outages and closed schools. Roads and culverts were flooded.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 DLH wrote it up.

Heavy rain and heavy snow caused flooding and power outages and closed schools. Roads and culverts were flooded. Some areas of northwest Wisconsin had as much as 6 to 8 inches of snowfall. Reports include 8 in Poplar and near Sand Bay, and 7 to 7.5 in Gile, Oulu, Stone Lake, and Lake Nebagamon.

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 Duluth, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 16, 11:53 AM CST, 1 hour 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 16, 11:53 AM CST, 1 hour 7 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 16, 3:39 AM CST, 9 hours 21 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 16, 9:04 AM CST, 3 hours 56 minutes before

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Local storm report, Mar 16, 9:55 AM CST, 3 hours 5 minutes before

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Local storm report, Mar 16, 10:00 AM CST, 3 hours before

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Local storm report, Mar 16, 11:13 AM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes before

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Local storm report, Mar 16, 12:36 PM CST, 24 minutes before

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Local storm report, Mar 16, 12:37 PM CST, 23 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Douglas

When: March 16, 1:00 PM CST to March 17, 6:15 AM CST
Where: Douglas forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 46.464, -91.899 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Bayfield

When: March 16, 2:00 PM CST to March 17, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Bayfield forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 46.635, -91.181 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Ashland

When: March 16, 3:00 PM CST to March 17, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Ashland forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 46.510, -90.720 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Iron

When: March 16, 4:00 PM CST to March 17, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Iron forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 46.317, -90.264 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Washburn

When: March 16, 4:00 PM CST to March 17, 3:15 AM CST
Where: Washburn forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 45.899, -91.791 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Sawyer

When: March 16, 4:00 PM CST to March 17, 3:15 AM CST
Where: Sawyer forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 45.880, -91.145 (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

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2016 Every state in 2016 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, March 2016

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 626383, 626384, 626385, 626386, 626387, 626388.