Sometimes winter in Wisconsin is more like a hyperdrive for the snow and cold. We’ll have a mild November and December, but January and February more than make up for it as the snow doesn’t seem to stop and the state receives 75% of the snow it usually sees all season in just a matter of weeks.

It’s been so ridiculous that it’s hard to fathom the idea of a nearly snowless winter, but that actually happened in 1968. The state climatology office has kept records of total seasonal snowfall dating back to the winter of 1884-85. In that massive span, there have been just five years where the snow accumulated over the course of a full winter season has amounted to less than 20 inches. But the record came in 1968, when the office, located in Madison, measured just 12.7 inches of snow for the entire winter, from October to April. Milwaukee had just 12.1 inches of total snow that same winter. This event set Milwaukee snowfall records… for totally different reasons than usual.

It's pretty easy to fall down a rabbit hole of research when poring through this fabulous table compiled by the state climatology office.
Wisconsin State Climatology Office
Back in the late 1800s, there was a 70-inch winter bookended by two 30-inch winters. More recently, there was the 2007-08 winter when more than 100 inches of snow accumulated. Nice.
As the snow out in our alleys is now piled up higher than our garages, it seems like a winter where barely a foot of snow fell from October to April is basically like a myth or a fairy tale.
Flickr/StanleyZimney
But the records show Milwaukee had just one day all winter where there was two inches or more of snow cover on the ground. Madison had just two weeks of days with a single inch of snow cover. It SERIOUSLY happened, and it was absolutely bonkers.
Oddly, air temperatures didn't vary much that winter.
Flickr/LadyDragonflyCC
Milwaukee was 0.3 degrees colder than average. Madison was 0.3 degrees warmer. There's not any obvious or forthright reason why the white stuff didn't fly that year, it just... didn't. Nature is weird sometimes, and SUPER weird at other times (like this one).
The winter before had one of the biggest blizzards the Midwest ever experienced, with two feet falling in about 24 hours.
Wikipedia/58follow
It was like nature was trying in its own way to provide balance, we suppose.
In the nearly 60 years since that mostly snowless winter, there's been just one other year that had about 20 inches and everything else has been closer to three feet or more.
Flickr/ASwinchell
The mere dusting of snow was definitely an anomaly and something we've not experienced since. We kinda wish we could, though.

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That winter, there was a light snow in November and that was about it until January, when most of the 12 inches fell.
Flickr/AndreaWilliams
By February, it was mostly done and just dustings happened through to April.
Even the heartiest of Wisconsin souls has to be getting a little fed up with all the snow we've been getting in these condensed winters.
Flickr/Darin
There's more than plenty of fluffy powder for skiing, snowboarding, and snowmobiling, so all the rest that keeps piling on is really excessive and unnecessary. That's what makes thinking about a whole season with not much more snow than we get in a typical weekend kind of mind-blowing.
It had to be a perfect meteorological storm that winter as temperatures were exactly what we're used to here in Wisconsin, but the conditions never really got ripe for a big, snowy season.
Flickr/JeremeRauckmann
The fronts didn't align or clash and the cold, snowy masses never came down from Canada.
Though many of us are a bit fed up by the end of winter time and time again, we do have to admit that snow-covered branches and powdery hills are definitely a welcome sight in the winter in Wisconsin.
Flickr/EricWilcox
We complain, but we also live here, so we knew what we were getting in to. It probably wouldn't feel like home - like winter in Wisconsin - if there weren't a few feet of snow to help mark the days.
There's something gorgeous about our snow-covered landscape and without all that pretty cover, it's kind of just sad and bare and desolate and really a bit depressing.
Flickr/KenMattison
So while we'd probably sign right up for a low-snow winter right now, we'd also regret it in a way.

Do you remember this mostly snowless winter in our history? We want to know about it in the comments! Did it still feel like winter in Wisconsin, or were you missing the snow? Would you trade this winter for that one? Do you have any all-time favorite winters in Wisconsin? If so, which years were they? Tell us about it!

The winter of 1967-68 was a fairly mild one for us, snow-wise, but were you around for the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940, one of the worst that’s ever happened here in Wisconsin? If so, tell us about it in the comments – we love hearing your stories.

If you can’t get enough of winter in our little state, here are ten of the best places to visit in Wisconsin in the winter.

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More to Explore

Milwaukee Snowfall Records

Tori Jane | December 01, 2022
  1. What are some remarkable Milwaukee snowfall records?  

Milwaukee is no stranger to snow. There have been a handful of snowfall records set in Milwaukee over the years, like:  

  • 2008: 106.6 inches of cumulative snowfall 
  • 1960: Greatest one-day snowfall of 16.7 inches in Milwaukee 

 

2. How much does it snow in Wisconsin?  

As we said above – Wisconsin is no stranger to snow. It’s a pretty frigid place in the winter, but as long as you bundle up, you should be alright. Snowfall averages in Wisconsin vary from region to region, with the northernmost reaches naturally receiving the most snowfall. In central and northeast Wisconsin, one can expect about 40-50 inches of snow annually, while areas in the so-called “snow belt” will receive up to 125 inches, which is well above the national average (28 inches).  

3. What is winter in Wisconsin like?  

That being said, winter in Wisconsin isn’t all bad, as long as you know how to enjoy it. It’s a festive time with plenty of fun things to do, such as:  

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