(WLUK) — Snow remains deep across parts of the Northwoods and the Upper Peninsula, even though much of Northeast Wisconsin has seen notable snow-melting heading toward spring.

It’s connected to a shift in Pacific climate patterns.

As of Thursday, 75.1% of the Northern Great Lakes area was covered by snow. Snow depth across the Northwoods and the U.P. ranges from 20 to 30 inches, with areas along and north of Highway 8 in Wisconsin at about 20 inches.

But farther south, significant snowmelt has occurred over the last few weeks across Northeast Wisconsin and the southern half of the state.

Looking ahead, an ENSO-neutral spring is looking likely, meaning Pacific Ocean temperatures are not notably above or below average. Conditions tend to be more normal and seasonal, though that does not guarantee typical weather.

La Niña occurs when the Pacific Ocean has below-average temperatures across the central and east-central portions of the equatorial region. El Niño is the opposite, with warmer ocean temperatures in those regions. Those shifts influence weather across the United States and globally.

In Wisconsin, a La Niña spring is usually colder and wetter, while an El Niño spring brings warmer and drier conditions. During a neutral period, neither El Niño nor La Niña is in control and weather can swing either direction.

Despite the snowpack up north, the 2026 spring outlook from Green Bay’s National Weather Service leans toward a low flood risk, because ongoing drought in parts of the state is helping to absorb snowmelt.

Dry conditions are also raising fire concerns in several parts of the country. Low snowfall in states out west is increasing wildfire concerns, and those areas are already experiencing drought. Wildfire activity can increase quickly if above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation continue into spring. About half of the lower 48 states are in drought this week — an increase of 16% since January.

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(two, four, ten, twelve, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two)

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