The entirety of Southeastern Wisconsin became blizzard-warned by the National Weather Service at 7:21 p.m. March 15, 2026, as a strengthening winter storm blew through the Midwest.
A blizzard warning constitutes four factors within the 12-18 hours of being issued. There needs to be winds of 35 mph or more, blowing snow, reduced visibility below or at a quarter mile, and continued conditions for three or more hours. Milwaukee definitely saw all of this with this blizzard.
Milwaukee entered its most recent blizzard warning with the Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011, which resulted in 19.8 inches of snow over two days.
This storm of March 15-16, 2026, was anticipated by some to hold possibly 2 feet of snow for Milwaukee. Its irregularity and supposed snow totals allowed this storm to quickly overtake headlines.
When it struck, while less than originally reported, Green Bay broke daily records for snowfall, Wausau was only 2.7 inches off of breaking Wisconsin’s century-old 24-hour snowfall record, and Sturgeon Bay had over 30 inches of snow. Here are some notable pieces of Milwaukee’s “March Madness” Blizzard of 2026.
The Storm:
On March 14, 2026, a low-pressure system exited the Central Rockies and aimed at Milwaukee. With a potent high-pressure system paving the way, the storm developed into three notable phases for March 15-16, 2026: Saturday night, Sunday, and Sunday night into Monday. Coming closer, updated models continued to have difficulty predicting the storm totals. Due to the storm’s warm front not rising as much as previously predicted, this pushed totals higher and temperatures lower. Setting out on southern Lake Michigan late Sunday night, the system not only caused blizzard warnings in the Northern United States but also caused tornadoes and severe thunderstorms to the south as far as Texas. With its passing, freeze warnings, high wind warnings, winter weather advisories, and more were put into place.
The Phases:
Saturday night placed Northern and Central Wisconsin in a blizzard warning while leaving Milwaukee around freezing with 0.2 in of snow and some rain. Sunday brought slightly warmer temperatures into Milwaukee, but it changed snow into rainstorms with occasional rumbles and total liquid precipitation of 1.34 inches. Rains slowly turned into sleet and freezing rain before 7 p.m. struck. Around this time, snow became the main precipitation as Phase 2 left over Lake Michigan.
Originally under a Winter Storm Watch, NWS meteorologists reassessed the storm for Milwaukee and the surrounding areas. They issued the blizzard warning at 7:21 p.m. Sunday for until 4:00 p.m. Monday, spanning all of Southeastern Wisconsin. During this time, Milwaukee received over 5 inches of snow, wind gusts up to 60 mph, and ultimately found itself sinking into the 10s for the night on Monday.
Power Outages:
Already reeling from the high winds from a couple of days prior, Southeastern Wisconsin’s major energy provider, WE Energies, witnessed a rapid increase in customers without power, especially when the high winds hit Sunday night. At 5 a.m. Monday, FOX6 reported that 13,256 customers had no power. This number dropped to 12,502 by 7:20 a.m., around 10,000 at noon, and to 1,628 by 8:28 p.m.
Roads:
Causing a 70-car traffic jam in Osseo, Wis., this blizzard influenced a sweeping “travel not advised” alert for Northeastern Wisconsin from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, while Milwaukee wrestled with completely covered roads until at least 11 a.m. Monday.
The Wisconsin State Patrol responded to over 90 crashes before mid-Sunday night. On Monday, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office responded to 106 road incidents, 26 of which were crashes, by 4 p.m. As of 11:24 p.m., some portions of I-794 and I-43 remain partially covered according to the DOT’s website.
Closures:
UW-Milwaukee was not the first to cancel school, but it certainly was not the last. Most, if not all, schools in Southeastern Wisconsin closed for in-person classes on Monday.
While some virtual classes were held, the snow won out over the schools. Transportation systems, businesses and airports alike all seemed to freeze in their tracks, slowly thawing over the day.
The Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport returned to some of its schedule on Monday night, but many cancellations still filled its webpage.