textproduct: La Crosse

KEY MESSAGES

- A cold start to the week with lows tonight falling into the single digits to teens below zero.

- A quick hitting clipper system for Tuesday late afternoon and Tuesday night brings a widespread 1-2 inches of light snow.

- Warming up and drier for the middle to end of the week.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 130 PM CDT Mon Mar 16 2026

Tonight - Tuesday Morning: Cold!

Clouds and light flurries this afternoon give way to clearing skies this overnight as surface ridging approaches from the west. With winds also lessening this evening, the stage is set for temperatures to plummet into the single digits to teens below zero by sunrise Tuesday. These fresh snows are notorious for causing lows to crater to impressively cold values and the NBM 10th percentile along our weekend heavy snow band axis is -15 to -25 with the 5th percentile an impressive -20 to -30!

Tuesday Afternoon - Tuesday Night: Light Snow

A subtle PV lobe crests a highly-amplified ridge along the Pacific coast tonight and races southeastward in conjunction with a 125-kt jet streak later on Tuesday. Large scale isentropic ascent within the WAA branch of the approaching mid- tropospheric wave will fuel a broad swath of light to moderate snow that moves through the region late Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night. Moisture is limited with this system but deep DGZ growth should result in snow ratios of 15-20:1+. This light and fluffy snow will start to taper off after midnight and end by sunrise on Wednesday. Total snow amounts are expected to be 1-2" with a 10-30% chance of some 3" totals in the mix. After our weekend storm, this snow hardly seems worth mentioning.

Mid Week into the Weekend: Warmer and Drier!

The large scale blocking ridge currently along the Pacific coast slides eastward over the next few days and really starts to exert its influence on the local weather pattern for the middle to latter part of the week and into the weekend. Bottom line, look for warmer and drier conditions. We still sit on the edge of the ridge through at least the end of the week, so a few transient waves could clip the region Wednesday night and again Friday, but the impacts look to remain north of the region. How quickly we can warm up depends heavily on how quickly our new snowpack can melt off. Confidence in reaching into the 40s and 50s for Wednesday and Thursday is certainly highest in northeast Iowa, but these 50+ temperatures should spread north of I-90 for Saturday. A cold front moves through Sunday and should temper readings somewhat to start next week.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 617 PM CDT Mon Mar 16 2026

Mostly VFR expected through the 17.00Z TAF period, outside of central Wisconsin counties which may experience periods of MVFR ceilings tonight.

Widespread impacts from incoming snowfall progress from west to east near the end of the TAF period and after the 17.00Z TAF period terminus. MVFR/IFR likely through Tuesday night with passing precipitation. Wintry mix may bring scattered areas of freezing rain as well.

ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

WI...None. MN...None. IA...None.