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Winter storm hits region
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
A winter storm dumped about 2 feet of snow across Green Bay area in March 2026.
Forecasters now watch El Niño and polar vortex for the coming winter's storm tracks.
Background
In March 2026, a winter storm brought heavy snowfall to the Green Bay area, with about 2 feet of snow reported. The storm was significant enough to be featured in a retrospective of extreme weather in the region. As the next winter approaches, forecasters are examining climate patterns like El Niño and the polar vortex to predict potential storm activity.
How it unfolded
- Mar 15, 2026A winter storm began affecting the Green Bay area, with snowfall accumulating rapidly.
- Mar 16, 2026The storm dumped about 2 feet of snow across the region, with downtown Green Bay nearly hidden by snowfall.
- Mar 19, 2026Plows cleared parking lots of more than 2 feet of snow in Bellevue, Wis., as cleanup continued.
- Aug 14, 2026The Green Bay Press-Gazette published a retrospective of the area's extreme weather in 2026, including the March storm.
Who’s saying what
- NOAA
- El Niño patterns can produce a mix of warmer temperatures and heavier precipitation, with a strong storm track potentially bringing heavy precipitation.
- Farmers' Almanac
- An active storm pattern is expected across the southern U.S., with above-normal precipitation possible from California eastward through the Southeast.
- Almanac
- The polar vortex is a key factor to watch; if it weakens, colder Arctic air can spill south, bringing wintry outbreaks.