Power Outage in Kenosha, WI

Snow accumulation of 6-9 inches. Some branches and power lines down.

Freezing rain with ice accumulation of 0.50-0.70 inches. Tree branches and power lines down. Power outages for thousands of customers. Snow accumulation less than an inch.

Scattered trees and branches down, including power lines, from Salem Lakes to Lake Michigan.

Kenosha Regional airport ASOS measured a 58 mph wind gust. Scattered trees, branches, and power lines down throughout the county.

Several trees and branches down, some on powerlines.

Westerly wind gusts of 50 to 56 mph. Scattered tree limbs down and some power outages.

Multiple trees snapped and uprooted in a couple neighborhoods in Kenosha. Some minor roof damage. Power lines down. A house fire related to downed power lines.

Up to one half inch of sleet accumulation and a tenth of an inch of ice accumulation occurred. Some power outages.

Northeasterly winds gusted to 45-50 mph east of I-94, and 30-40 mph inland. 6-10 inches of snow accumulated over much of Kenosha County with lesser amounts east of I-94. Near blizzard conditions occurred periodically. Thousands of people were without power due to the strong winds damaging tree limbs and power lines in Pleasant Prairie.

Scattered trees and power lines down across the county.

Trees and power lines down including a 40 foot tree on a road.

Scattered downed trees and limbs across the county with some falling onto power lines.

The majority of the roof of an assisted living home in Genoa City was torn off. The 33 residents were unhurt but relocated. Scattered reports of shingles, siding, and aluminum fascia torn from homes and garages were received. Scattered downed trees and branches were reported with some falling onto power lines, homes, or parked vehicles. A transformer was damaged. A semi-truck was blown over by the strong westerly winds on I-94. The interstate was closed for some time for removal and clean-up. The Kenosha Airport measured a maximum wind gust of 63 mph for the afternoon and a maximum sustained wind of 46 mph.

Scattered trees and power lines down.

Scattered trees and power lines down.

A swath of wind damage with trees and power lines down including one snapped power pole.

A swath of wind damage with trees and power lines down including one snapped power pole.

A few branches and trees down including a few power lines.

Numerous reports of tree branches and power lines down throughout the county. Kenosha airport ASOS measured a 62 mph wind gust.

Numerous reports of tree branches and power lines down throughout the county. Kenosha airport ASOS measured a 62 mph wind gust.

A couple trees and power lines down.

Strong gradient winds downed tree branches and power lines, causing scattered power outages across Kenosha County. The ASOS at Kenosha Airport recorded a 45 mph (39 knot) wind gust.

Law enforcement officials reported numerous trees and power lines down across far eastern Kenosha County from severe thunderstorm winds that gusted up to 75 mph (65 knots) as estimated by a trained spotter. A 31-year-old man riding a motorcycle was killed when a tree blew over on him in the 7600 block of 25th Avenue. A Pleasant Prairie woman injured her hip when she was struck by debris form a shed. Two other residents of the City of Kenosha were injured when they touched live wires brought down by the strong winds. Many large branches were also broken off by the powerful winds, which also damaged several homes. Officials estimate 500 to 800 trees were destroyed or badly damaged by the winds.

Severe thunderstorms produced damaging wind gusts estimated at 80 mph (70 knots). Many power lines and trees were taken down by the strong winds, and several homes and cars were damaged, including a home that had the roof taken off by the severe wind gusts.

A severe thunderstorm moved east from near Kenosha Airport, where a small plane was damaged, across western and southern portions of the city of Kenosha. Sporadic damage was reported as the damaging thunderstorm wind gusts fanned out along and either side of a line from the airport to near the intersection of 56th Avenue and 42nd Street. Power poles were snapped and a transformer exploded knocking out power to about 5000 customers. Ten to twelve-inch tree limbs were broken and trees were felled by the powerful winds. A portion of the roof of the Oemmcco building was blown off.

A severe thunderstorm moved east from near Kenosha Airport, where a small plane was damaged, across western and southern portions of the city of Kenosha. Sporadic damage was reported as the damaging thunderstorm wind gusts fanned out along and either side of a line from the airport to near the intersection of 56th Avenue and 42nd Street. Power poles were snapped and a transformer exploded knocking out power to about 5000 customers. Ten to twelve-inch tree limbs were broken and trees were felled by the powerful winds. A portion of the roof of the Oemmcco building was blown off.

HAM radio operator reported trees and power lines down. Law enforcement reported a section of roof measuring 20 feet by 20 feet was blown off a building. A tree fell onto a vehicle and damaged it. Elsewhere a tree damaged an awning. At least 50 calls were made to the city 911 dispatchers about downed wires.

Powerful thunderstorm wind gusts toppled several large trees and some power-lines came down. Minor urban flooding (water over the curb) also occurred.

A home in the Village of Salem experienced a smoldering fire in the attic after lightning struck nearby power lines and followed the lines into the house. The insulation on the home's electrical lines was burned off. The time of this event is estimated based on radar and forecast products tracking the thunderstorms that produced the lightning.

Thunderstorm winds left a 3-mile wide swath of damage through the City of Kenosha. Numerous trees were uprooted and tree debris knocked down several power-lines. Construction arricades and signs were blown around, and one stop sign was pushed over.

Several large trees were uprooted by thunderstorm winds and tree debris brought down a couple power-lines.

A couple street signs and fencing were damaged and several large trees were uprooted by powerful thunderstorm wind gusts.

Powerful thunderstorms winds knocked down large trees and power-lines throughout the city of Kenosha.

Powerful thunderstorms winds knocked down a few large trees.

Powerful thunderstorms winds knocked down large trees and power-lines.

This tornado was the 2nd of two tornadoes to affect southeastern Wisconsin on January 7th. It spun up near the intersection of CTH L (18th St.) and 47th Ave. and moved east/northeast through the northern reaches of the city of Kenosha, and dissipated just north of Carthage College and just short of Lake Michigan. In the Civil Town of Somers it resulted in minor damage to 2 homes, and major damage to one home. In the City of Kenosha, it affected one home, inflicted minor damage to 21 homes, inflicted major damage to 6 homes, and destroyed 5 homes. Additionally, it destroyed one church in the City of Kenosha. Several power-lines were toppled and there were transformer explosions. Dozens of trees were damaged or uprooted. Average path width was about 50 yards. The maximum winds were estimated at around 95 mph (DI 27 - TH, DOD 3). This tornado was photographed and video taped. The specific starting location was 42.62399,-87.86591, and the ending location was 42.63127,-87.81820.

Strong southeast wake-low winds gusting to 39 knots (45 mph) resulted in scattered reports of broken tree branches damaging power-lines.

Powerful thunderstorm winds toppled many trees. The hardest-hit area in the city of Kenosha was centered around 30th Ave. and 75th St. where a church steeple was knocked over by the winds. At least 4 vehicles were damaged by tree debris. Additionally, minor urban-type flooding (water up to the curb) occurred for about 30 minutes on some roads in the city of Kenosha. The gust was measured at the Kenosha Airport ASOS site, although a higher gust was possible where the church steeple was toppled. About a dozen power-lines came down on the south side of the city of Kenosha due to tree debris, leaving about 3600 customers without power.

Powerful thunderstorm winds toppled many trees. The hardest-hit area in the city of Kenosha was centered around 30th Ave. and 75th St. where a church steeple was knocked over by the winds. At least 4 vehicles were damaged by tree debris. Additionally, minor urban-type flooding (water up to the curb) occurred for about 30 minutes on some roads in the city of Kenosha. The gust was measured at the Kenosha Airport ASOS site, although a higher gust was possible where the church steeple was toppled. About a dozen power-lines came down on the south side of the city of Kenosha due to tree debris, leaving about 3600 customers without power.

Powerful thunderstorm winds knocked down large trees.

Several lightning strikes to several buildings caused structural fires and power outages. A large apartment building, known as St. Catherine Commons, was struck by lightning. The resultant fire severely damaged the building, displacing about 125 residents.

Trees and tree branches fell onto power lines.

Areas of toppled trees and broken tree branches, along with power-line damage, reported across the cities of Kenosha and Pleasant Prairie.

Trees and power lines toppled.

High winds affected parts of southern Wisconsin during the evening of January 21st as very strong west to northwest winds behind a strong cold front ushered in the coldest air to that point of the winter season. Widespread wind gusts in the 45 to 50 mph (39 to 43 knots) range occurred at the surface, with peak gusts of 58 mph (50 knots). Newspaper articles reported scattered power outages as wind-broken tree limbs impacted power-lines. The high winds were related to a tightening pressure gradient around a low pressure system that rapidly deepened as it tracked across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to southwest Quebec. Meteorologically, strong winds of 40 to 50 knots (46 to 58 mph) about 5,000 feet above the ground were mixed down to the surface.

A broken line of strong to severe thunderstorms formed along and ahead of a cold front...with lift further enhanced by a short wave passing through the region. Southern Wisconsin was in a strongly unstable air mass ahead of the front, with temperatures in the lower 90s and dew points in the upper 70s to around 80 degrees F. Mixed Layer CAPE values reached 3000 to 4000 J/Kg, and when combined with deep layer shear of 30 to 40 knots, set up conditions favorable for organized storm modes, including supercells and bowing segments. The resulting severe thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging wind gusts across portions of Rock County and the southern-most counties of Southeast Wisconsin. Up to 11,600 We Energies customers were without power in Racine and Kenosha Counties alone at the height of the storms.

Focused warm air advection ahead of a short wave trough produced showers and thunderstorms that moved across southern Wisconsin early in the morning of June 15th. A wake low developed behind the departing line of showers and storms, creating damaging wind gusts between 40 and 70 mph (35 to 61 knots) in eastern Kenosha County within 2 to 3 miles of the Lake Michigan shore. The marine observation site at Kenosha Harbor clocked a 67 mph (58 knot) wind gust, while the Kenosha Municipal Airport recorded a gust of 45 mph (39 knots). The gusty winds blew down trees and a few power lines in the city of Kenosha, and felled trees that blocked some roads in Pleasant Prairie.

A powerful low pressure center, passing south of Wisconsin, produced blizzard conditions across much of southern Wisconsin from the evening hours of Tuesday, February 1st into the early morning of Wednesday, February 2nd. Snow associated with the system began in the mid-afternoon hours of February 1st in far southern Wisconsin and became heavy as it pushed northward into the state through the evening. Very strong winds were associated with this storm for an extended period of time. Sustained northeast winds of 30 to 40 mph were common through the event, with peak wind gusts between 45 and 65 mph, with the stronger wind gusts near Lake Michigan. The lakeshore observation site at Kenosha reported a 64 mph wind gust at 120 am CST on February 2nd. The canopy over gas pumps at a gas station in the City of Kenosha was damaged by the high winds. The combination of high winds and heavy snow created widespread sustained visibilities of less than 1/4 mile, with frequent whiteout conditions and near zero visibilities. Twenty-four hour snowfall totals were between 20 and 26 inches, with 26 inches of snow measured in Pell Lake, and 24 inches recorded at both the Racine Wastewater Treatment Plant, a one-day record, and by a cooperative observer 4 miles southwest of the city of Kenosha. In addition to the snow that fell during the blizzard, several inches of snow fell on Jan 31, with light lake effect snow through the day on Feb 1st. It's possible that some locations did not see a break in snowfall between the evening of January 31st and the morning of February 2nd. Racine set new two-day (1/31-2/1) and three-day (1/31-2/2) record snowfalls with 26 inches for each period, and Kenosha also set new two-day (1/31-2/1) and three-day (1/31-2/2) record snowfalls with 25.3 inches and 27.3 inches respectively. Snow drifts of 4 to 12 feet were common, with reports of some drifts reaching up to 15 feet in open rural areas. A Civil Danger Warning was issued by Wisconsin Emergency Management concerning the dangerous driving conditions. Drifting snow closed Interstate 94 from the Illinois border north to Milwaukee and Interstate 43 from Beloit to Mukwonago with many stranded motorists having to be rescued from vehicles buried in the drifting snow. Several Kenosha County sheriff deputies had to be rescued from their squad cars on I-94 after being stranded for six and seven hours. About 100 National Guardsman were mobilized statewide in response to Gov. Scott Walker's emergency declaration for 29 counties to help rescue motorists and run emergency shelters at armories. The Racine Fire Department alone responded to 150 emergency calls related to the storm. Emergency rooms across Southeast Wisconsin reported dozens of heart attacks and injuries from snow blower accidents. A 52-year old Yorkville (Racine County) woman died from exposure after being dropped off by a tow truck driver at the foot of her driveway and became disoriented in the whiteout conditions. Her body was found 300 feet from her home. At the height of the storm, WE Energies reported 5,200 customers were without power across Southeast Wisconsin. An estimated $1.4 million dollars was spent for snow removal in Racine County alone. Trucks dumped snow that had been cleared from area streets at Pershing Park, with snow piles reaching 60-70 feet high.

The area from Marquette County east to Sheboygan experienced snow accumulations ranging from 1.5 inches near Lake Michigan to 3 inches in Green Lake County. Near the end of this event, a glazing of freezing rain occurred with ice accumulations of less than 1/10 of an inch. This combination resulted in Interstate 43 in Sheboygan County being closed for 3 hours during the morning of December 24th due to vehicle accidents.||Just south of this winter weather event, winter storm conditions were experienced. A band of moderate, to at times heavy, snow extended from near Milwaukee, to just north of Madison to the Wisconsin Dells area, producing 4 to 6 inches of accumulation before changing over to sleet and freezing rain overnight. Counties along the Illinois border saw snow quickly turn over to freezing rain Wednesday afternoon that restulted in an ice storm. Ice acumulations of 1/4 to 1/2 inch coated trees and power lines, causing them to break. Synoptically, warm air advection with a short wave aloft followed by a surface low pressure lifting northward from the southern Plains brought a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain to Southern Wisconsin the afternoon of Wednesday, December 23rd into the morning of Thursday, December 24th.

A narrow band of intense rain showers with isolated thunderstorms ahead of a cold front moved rapidly from west to east across Southern Wisconsin during the late evening hours of March 24th. Outflow winds from individual cells within the band produced powerful thunderstorm wind gusts that resulted in tree and structural damage. This was the 1st severe weather episode in South-central and Southeast Wisconsin for the 2009 season.

Yet another weak cold front moved southeast through southern Wisconsin with double-structure in terms of lines of associated storms. The first line was solid while the second line had scattered storms. Some of the storms briefly pulsed to severe limits with powerful wind gusts.

A weak cold front moved southeast through southern Wisconsin and several thunderstorms along the front became severe. Large hail up to 1 inch in diameter and powerful wind gusts to around 52 knots (60 mph) were produced. Dewpoints in the upper 60s to lower 70s resulted in CAPE values of 1500-2000, which was sufficient for severe storm development.

Two rounds of severe storms affected parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on July 17th. The first round occurred during the early afternoon hours over the counties of Dodge, Fond du Lac, Washington, and Sheboygan. By 1250CST the storms had organized into a bow echo line extending from Lake Winnebago south to near West Bend and Hartford in Washington County and then west to the Columbus area in southeastern Columbia County. This bow echo then moved east to out over Lake Michigan. Dime-size hail and thunderstorm wind gusts up to 65 knots (75 mph) resulted with some of these storms. Tree and power-line damage was reported in addition to some structural damage in Dodge and Sheboygan counties. A semi-truck was also blown off InterState 43. After a brief lull from thunderstorms, more storms developed during the evening hours across the remainder of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. These storms produced dime to quarter-sized hail and wind gusts to around 52 knots (60 mph). Mainly tree damage was reported with these storms.Interestingly, the cluster of severe storms that affected the southern parts of Lafayette and Green Counties moved east-southeast to McHenry County in northeastern Illinois. A strong thunderstorm gust front (outflow boundary), associated with the McHenry County thunderstorms, pushed north into southeastern Wisconsin. The gust front winds knocked down some trees in the Twin Lakes-Trevor area of western Kenosha County, and the Eagle Lake area northwest of Kansasville in south-central Racine County. No precipitation was associated with these outflow winds in Kenosha and Racine County. Eventually this gust front merged with another south-moving frontal boundary over the central portions of Racine County. Severe thunderstorms quickly popped up in this merger zone over central Racine County, and eventually they moved southeast through the remainder of Racine and Kenosha Counties (round #2 of severe weather for July 17th). Synoptically, a strong, mid-level short wave trough traveled east through Wisconsin during the afternoon and evening hours. Hot temperatures in the mid-90s with dew points in the low to mid-70s, and cooler air aloft, caused extreme instability to increase through the day which allowed for rapid thunderstorm development.

A late-season severe weather outbreak affected parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Locally powerful downburst wind gusts of 52 to 56 knots (60-65 mph) toppled large trees, and there was a report of large hail. The storms, in the form of bowed lines along a near a cold front, moved quickly from west to east at 50 to 60 knots (58 to 69 mph) thanks to a strong jet stream aloft. One toppled tree caught fire after pulling down a power line southesat of Orfordville (Rock Co.). Synoptically, a very strong vorticity maxima at 500 mb moved east through the Wisconsin/Illinois stateline area. A strong cold front plowed into unstable air with LI's of -6 and CAPE's of 1500-2000. Maximum afternoon temperatures peaked in the mid 70s F, or about 20 degrees above normal.

Severe weather round #2 on May 20th featured damaging straight-line winds, large hail (up to golfball size), and flash flooding as several short lines or clusters of thunderstorms moved across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. In the Paddock Lake area (Kenosha Co.), the powerful wind gust to 56 kts (65 mph) toppled large trees, with one falling onto a home. Flash flooding over Kenosha County was the result of slow-moving, training thunderstorms that dumped 2.54 inches of rain in Paddock Lake within 45 minutes. Water levels in this city quickly rose to 1 to 3 feet, resulting in floating or stalled cars, damage to basements, and gravel washouts. In addition, mudslides and severe crop erosion occurred in the surrounding countryside. In Somers Township (5 NW of Kenosha in Kenosha Co.), almost one-half of the roads were under water, gravel washouts were common, and basement damage was noted. Gravel washouts and basement flooding were also reported south of Sturtevant (Racine Co.). Refer to the Green Lake County May 25th flood event for additional information. Lightning struck a home in Brodhead, resulting in a minor fire.

Fast-moving, severe thunderstorms swept through southeast Wisconsin, resulting in powerful downburst winds that leveled trees in western Racine County. In addition, cloudbursts dumped 1.02 inches of rain in the city of Kenosha (Kenosha Co.), and 1.80 inches of rain in Lake Geneva within 30 to 60 minutes, triggering some urban flooding in both locations. Lightning struck a couple power stations (location unknown), resulting in the loss of electricity for 5370 residents in Racine and Kenosha counties. Lightning struck a West Bend (Washington Co.) home, triggering small fires and damaging structural and electrical components. Lightning struck near a Burlington (Racine Co.) home, blowing out a window, and toppling trees that side-swiped and lightly damaged two neighboring homes.

High winds raked part of south-central and southeast Wisconsin for about 14 hours with gusts of 50 to 56 knots (58 to 64 mph). The area from the Town of Taycheedah ( Fond du Lac Co.) to Greenbush (Sheboygan Co.) reported toppled trees and power lines. In the city of Janesville (Rock Co.) a powerful gust toppled a restaurant sign onto power lines, resulting in a loss of electricity for 1 hour. In the city of Delevan, the powerful winds pushed a tree onto power pole and nearby garage. In the city of Kenosha, the high winds knocked bricks from a church bell tower, causing police to close off the local area. Measured peak wind gusts from trained spotters were 56 knots (64 mph) three miles south of the city of Waukesha (Waukesha Co.), and 50 knots (58 mph) in the Town of Taycheedah. Other notable peak gusts were: 49 knots (56 mph) at the Sheboygan Airport (Sheboygan Co.) and Kenosha Airport (Kenosha Co.) , 48 knots (55 mph) in Lake Geneva (Walworth Co.), 47 knots (54 mph) at a location 2 miles southwest of the city of Fond du Lac (Fond du Lac Co.), and 46 knots (53 mph) at the Brodhead Airport (Green Co.). Most other locations in south-central and southeast Wisconsin experienced peak gusts in the 35 to 45 knot range (40 to 52 mph). Interestingly, the peak wind gusts (generally from the west) tended to occur with some of the more intense scattered snow showers, indicating that atmospheric mixing of higher-momentum air down to the surface was taking place in/near the snow showers. Temperatures were in the 25 to 30 degree range during the afternoon hours of the 9th. There were scattered reports of some trees pushed over from several of the counties surrounding the named counties in this high wind event. Altogether, about 2500 customers in south-central and southeast Wisconsin lost electrical power due to toppled power lines. Synoptically, a low pressure over eastern Colorado on March 8th moved to southeastern Kansas and deepened to 992 millibars (29.29 inches), and then tracked to Lake Superior by mid-day on the 9th with a central pressure of 988 millibars (29.18 inches). High winds were observed over northern Iowa and much of Minnesota as well.

Scattered severe thunderstorms rumbled through southeast Wisconsin during a very warm and muggy afternoon. Powerful, downburst , straight-line winds (estimated around 60 mph /52 knots/) accompanied the storms, resulting in toppled trees, power lines, and power poles. In addition, 4 people were injured when lightning struck tent support poles at the Country Thunder music festival near Twin Lakes in western Kenosha County. They were holding the poles as they waited out the powerful thunderstorm winds affecting that area. About 11,200 customers across the southern parts of Washington and Ozaukee Counties lost electrical power due to the toppled trees and power lines.