More river flooding occurred across western Wisconsin in late March. Additional runoff from melting snow caused more problems and the Mississippi River went into flood as high water levels worked downstream.
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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.
The episode as NWS ARX wrote it up.
More river flooding occurred across western Wisconsin in late March. Additional runoff from melting snow caused more problems and the Mississippi River went into flood as high water levels worked downstream.
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 23, 10:47 PM CST, 2 hours 8 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service La Crosse WI 1147 PM CDT Sat Mar 23 2019 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Sunday) Issued at 250 PM CDT Sat Mar 23 2019 A bit of late March perfection ongoing out the window currently, courtesy of broad low/mid level ridging stretched from the lower Great Lakes up through the Northern Plains. Meanwhile just to the south, closed low pressure continues to spin over the Central High Plains, very slowly meandering eastward and on its way to a destination over southern Iowa by Sunday afternoon. Already seeing the first impacts from that feature in the form of gradually thickening mid and high clouds across southern areas, with the trend toward thickening cloud cover to continue overnight for the majority of the area. Overall forcing with the closed wave remains somewhat disjointed, though periods of transient frontogenetic forcing combined with a broader area of mid level deformation north of the low should deliver occasional bouts of light rain for areas mainly near and south of I-90 later tonight into Sunday. Farther north, entrenched drier air below 700mb should preclude much more than perhaps some sprinkles at times, with thinner clouds on the northern fringe of any rain likely to also promote some "sneaky" warmer temperatures. Just how warm remains in question given uncertainty in the expanse of thicker clouds, but there is some potential for spots near I-90 to warm well into the 50s. Meanwhile, even farther north is another storm altogether, with a batch of thicker lower clouds clearly evident across northern Ontario and Manitoba along a back-door type cold front arriving along with colder air to hold temps much cooler. Can't even rule out a rain or snow shower up toward Highway 29 with that boundary as temperatures fall quickly through the afternoon. .LONG TERM...(Sunday night through Saturday) Issued at 250 PM CDT Sat Mar 23 2019 Cold advection will kick in Sunday night and some drizzle may occur along the front during the evening before drying and clearing kicks in from the northeast flow /post frontal/. Monday will be the coldest day before moderation and warming. Overall, ridge building means tranquil weather. A warmer period looks probable ahead of the next weather system for late week. Southerly flow will increase Tuesday and Wednesday and begin warming with a moisture return as heights begin to fall in the High Plains as a western U.S. trough shifts east. Predictability and confidence are both low with the details of the complex evolution of the Rex block over western North America and this southern stream system coming in. In the big picture, model guidance suggests the Gulf of Mexico is open, and the low tracks across the Midwest with the potential for convective rains, possibly 1-2" late week. This could possibly aggravate the ongoing && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Sunday night) Issued at 1147 PM CDT Sat Mar 23 2019 Still watching the area of low pressure to our southwest. This has moved into southern Nebraska this evening and is still expected to shift east/southeast across Missouri Sunday. So far, it has only brought an increase in cloud cover to the area with VFR mid and high level ceilings. Regional radars indicate the showers are primarily confined to near the low and in a zone of warm air advection across Illinois. The RUC this evening continues to indicate the dry low level air will remain in place from about the Iowa/Minnesota border north and has become weaker with the frontogenesis signal. This suggests it will be harder for saturation to occur at the airports and there could end up being nothing more than some sprinkles or a quick, very light shower. Will continue to mention a VCSH with VFR ceilings for late tonight through about mid-morning Sunday. After that, a cold front pushing into northern Minnesota will slip through the region late Sunday afternoon. This will be accompanied by an increase in the north winds to around 10 knots along with MVFR or very low VFR ceilings. && .HYDROLOGY... Issued at 250 PM CDT Sat Mar 23 2019 Through about mid-week, the area continues to experience ideal snow melt conditions with overnight freezing temperatures disrupting runoff. Late week will really need to be watched as the Miss River will be running high and additional rainfall could occur. Predictability is not high for details, but the consensus is to lift a moist system through the Midwest with the potential for 1-2 inches of precipitation. Ice jams will continue along the Black River / Lake Arbutus area. Plan on fluctuations in water levels and some flooding of low lying areas, mainly south of Highway 95 to Lake Arbutus. The Miss river continues to rise as tributaries slowly drain. Generally, moderate flooding looks on track for the Miss river, provided additional rainfall does not occur over the area or north. Please see the latest river forecasts and statements at weather.gov/lacrosse. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. IA...None. && SHORT TERM...Baumgardt LONG TERM...Baumgardt AVIATION...04 HYDROLOGY...Baumgardt
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service La Crosse WI 507 AM CDT Sat Mar 23 2019 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029- 032>034-041>044-053>055-061-241200- Mitchell-Howard-Winneshiek-Allamakee-Floyd-Chickasaw-Fayette- Clayton-Wabasha-Dodge-Olmsted-Winona-Mower-Fillmore-Houston- Taylor-Clark-Buffalo-Trempealeau-Jackson-La Crosse-Monroe-Juneau- Adams-Vernon-Crawford-Richland-Grant- 507 AM CDT Sat Mar 23 2019 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southeast Minnesota...northeast Iowa and southwest into central Wisconsin. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Flooding continues along portions of the Mississippi River and some of its tributaries. Ice jams will continue along portions of the Black River over north-central Wisconsin. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday Rising river levels and flooding can be expected along the Mississippi River and some of its tributaries mainly north of Interstate 90. For the latest river information and forecasts please visit weather.gov/lacrosse. Isolated thunderstorms are possible at times from Wednesday night into Thursday evening. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Reports of ice jams and flooding are appreciated. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... No webinar is scheduled. Wetenkamp
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Runoff from melting snow pushed the Black River out of its banks in Black River Falls. The river crested over a foot above the flood stage at 48.54 feet on March 14th.
Runoff from melting snow pushed the Black River out of its banks near Galesville. The river crested around a half foot above the flood stage at 12.4 feet on March 26th.
Runoff from rain and melting snow across the Upper Midwest produced high flows along the Mississippi River. Flooding began in La Crosse on March 26th and continued into April.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, March 2019
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: 814239, 814241, 814564.