Did you lose power?
How to Report Power Outage
Power outage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin? Contact your local utility company.
Milwaukee Power Outages Caused by Weather
Events
Snow accumulation of 8-11 inches. Branches and power lines down with tens of thousands of customers with no power.
General Mitchell airport ASOS measured a 61 mph wind gust. Scattered trees, branches, and power lines down throughout the county.
Numerous downed trees and branches in the area. The power is out.
Reports of large trees uprooted and large tree limbs of 12 to 15 inches downed in the West Allis, Wauwatosa, and Whitefish Bay areas. Reports of downed power lines in the Whitefish Bay area as well.
Reports of large trees uprooted and large tree limbs of 12 to 15 inches downed in the West Allis, Wauwatosa, and Whitefish Bay areas. Reports of downed power lines in the Whitefish Bay area as well.
A swath of snapped and uprooted trees and downed power lines from southwest Milwaukee County to Mitchell Field and nearby St. Francis. The ASOS at Mitchell Field measured a wind gust of 79 mph. A power pole was snapped near the airport. Some roofing material of a hangar was removed. Sliding doors to the main entrance of an airport building were blown in. Several cars in an employee parking lot at the airport had windows blown in.
A swath of snapped and uprooted trees and downed power lines from southwest Milwaukee County to Mitchell Field and nearby St. Francis. The ASOS at Mitchell Field measured a wind gust of 79 mph. A power pole was snapped near the airport. Some roofing material of a hangar was removed. Sliding doors to the main entrance of an airport building were blown in. Several cars in an employee parking lot at the airport had windows blown in.
Westerly wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph. Scattered tree limbs down and some power outages.
Trees down along Lake Drive and power poles broken.
Multiple large pine trees were snapped near base by strong thunderstorm winds. Power lines were also downed.
Scattered downed trees and limbs across the county with some falling onto power lines. A tree fell onto a school bus but with no injuries reported. A large road sign was blown down on I-94 at US highway 45. Multiple lanes were closed to remove the sign.
Scattered downed trees and branches were reported with some falling onto power lines, homes, or parked vehicles. Scattered reports of shingles, siding, and aluminum fascia torn from homes and garages were received. Other reports of minor structural damage included dislodged or downed signs. The southbound lanes of South 108th Street at West Layton Avenue were closed in order to secure a large sign that had come dislodged by the high winds. A bus stop blew over and was damaged in the Riverwest neighborhood. Mitchell Field Airport reported a maximum wind gust of 63 mph for the afternoon. Timmerman Airport reported a maximum sustained wind of 43 mph.
A trained spotter reported numerous trees and power lines downed by thunderstorm wind gusts estimated up to 70 mph (61 knots) along a path from 2 miles west of Wauwatosa to just east of Cudahy. A downed power line sparked a house fire 3 miles southwest of downtown Milwaukee.
Strong gradient winds downed tree branches and power lines, causing scattered power outages across MIlwaukee County. The ASOS at General Mitchell International Airport recorded a 41 mph (36 knot) wind gust.
Strong winds broke off tree limbs and knocked down power lines across Milwaukee County with sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph, and peak wind gusts up to 45 mph. The power outages resulted indirectly to the death of a 49-year-old man with muscular dystrophy who was dependent on a ventilator. Backup batteries that powered the ventilator during the outage gave out before the man could get emergency medical care.
Law enforcement officers reported numerous trees and power lines downed in a 4-mile wide swath from northwest of Timmerman Field to Bayside from damaging severe thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 56 knots (65 mph).
Law enforcement officers reported numerous trees and power lines downed in a 4-mile wide swath from northwest of Timmerman Field to Bayside from damaging severe thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 56 knots (65 mph).
Strong winds knocked large branches out of trees and toppled several large trees. Some power-lines were snapped by tree debris. A trained spotter in Cudahy had a measured wind gust of 66 mph.
Thunderstorms training over the region produced flooding rains over all of Milwaukee County...causing massive flooding, shutting down streets and the freeway system at rush hour with up to 4 feet of rushing water.||There was one fatality - the body of a 19-year-old male was found in Lincoln Creek near N. 32nd St. and W. Hampton Ave. in Milwaukee. He was swept from his vehicle when Lincoln Creek flooded. ||County Executive Scott Walker issued a Declaration of a Major Disaster for Milwaukee County since more than 7 inches of rain fell around the county, and an estimated $24.1 million in damage in the private sector, and nearly $11.6 million in public sector costs, which includes protective measures and clean-up costs. ||The private sector damage costs include: $22,396,790 dollars to residential buildings and $1,686,752 dollars to businesses. The public sector costs include: $2,003,010 dollars of damage to public buildings and equipment; $2,385,760 dollars of damage to public utility systems; $2,774,400 dollars or damage to road systems; $310,000 dollars of damage to water control facilities and another $1,326,100 dollars in damage to other public property for a total of $8,799,270. In addition, another $1,946,100 dollars were spent in debris clearance and $894,988 dollars were spent for overtime. These costs are not directly related to the flood damage.||The Milwaukee Fire Department logged 50 rescues from homes and streets. ||The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) reported that the storm resulted in a combined sewer overflow of around 2 billion gallons. All Lake Michigan beaches in Milwaukee were closed through the following weekend of July 24th and 25th due to sewer contamination. The City of Milwaukee received at least 2000 calls for sewer backups into basements of homes. It appeared that the northern half of the city of Milwaukee was hardest hit. ||The flooding rains created a massive sink hole 20 feet deep and some 20 to 40 feet wide at the intersection of Oakland and North in the city of Milwaukee around 830 pm. It swallowed a Sport Utility Vehicle and a street light. The driver of the SUV was injured and treated at a hospital. Electrical power cables and other cable lines were damaged by the sink hole. ||Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport was closed late Thursday night (July 22nd) through 2 pm Friday (July 23rd) due to flooded runways. One runway was opened at 2 pm Friday, however there were additional delays. ||In Milwaukee County, over 4,400 homes reported water-filled basements in the city of Milwaukee alone.||11,764 homes received some sort of impact from the flooding, with 6 homes destroyed; 57 homes receiving major damage; 1,859 home receiving minor damage; and an additional 9,842 homes minimally affected by the flood waters. Sixty-eight businesses were affected, with 9 having major damage and 59 having minor damage.||The north side of the city received the heaviest downpours with 7 to 8 inches of rain falling in 2 to 3 hours. WTMJ-TV4 on Milwaukee's northeast side measured 6.73 inches of rain in 1 hour, between 5:15 pm and 6:15 pm. The twenty-four hour rainfall (midnight to midnight July 22nd) was 8.31 inches. They also received another inch of rain after midnight on July 23rd, so the two-day total was 9.31 inches. ||The Milwaukee Fire Department logged 50 rescues from homes and streets.||Nicolet High School in the north suburban community of Glendale had a completely flooded basement and 16��� of water on the main floor.||Hourly rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches were reported, and WTMJ TV-4 on Milwaukee's northeast side measured 7 inches of rain in about 2.5 hours ending at 745 pm Thursday evening. The one-hour rainfall was 6.73 inches between 5:15 PM and 6:15 PM CDT in the late afternoon/evening. The twenty-four hour rainfall (midnight to midnight July 22nd) was 8.31 inches, with another inch after midnight on July 23rd, so the two day total was 9.31 inches. ||Mitchell Field recorded 5.61 inches for the day, breaking a record for the date. The previous record was 1.26 set in 1948. This also is the second highest daily rainfall total on record for Milwaukee. The greatest one-day precipitation record was the 6.81 inches which fell on August 6, 1986.
Large trees were either uprooted or split by powerful thunderstorm wind gusts.
Powerful thunderstorm winds toppled large trees, and broken tree branches brought down some power-lines.
Powerful thunderstorm winds pushed over several large trees and knocked branches out of some trees. One tree fell on a home in Franklin (Milwaukee Co.) and resulted in minor damage.
Powerful thunderstorm winds toppled a few large trees, and broken branches pulled down some power-lines.
Powerful thunderstorms winds knocked down large trees.
Powerful thunderstorm winds gusts knocked down several large tree branches up to 10 inches in diameter.
Strong southeast wake-low winds gusting to 40 knots (46 mph) resulted in scattered reports of broken tree branches damaging power-lines.
Powerful thunderstorm wind gusts up to 68 knots (78 mph) toppled several large trees and damaged some power-lines.
Powerful thunderstorm wind gusts up to 52 knots (60 mph) toppled several large trees and damaged some power-lines.
Powerful thunderstorm wind gusts up to 52 knots (60 mph) toppled several large trees and damaged some power-lines.
Powerful thunderstorm wind gusts up to 56 knots (65 mph) toppled several large trees and damaged some power-lines.
Several large trees were uprooted by powerful, straight-line thunderstorm winds. Power-lines were damaged.
Several large trees were uprooted by powerful, straight-line thunderstorm winds. Power-lines were damaged.
Several large trees were uprooted by powerful, straight-line thunderstorm winds. Power-lines were damaged.
Dozens of power outages resulted from lightning stikes throughout Milwaukee County. About 1400 customers were left without electrical power.
Powerful thunderstorm winds knocked down large trees.
Powerful wind gusts to an estimated 61 knots (70 mph) took the roof of a lumberyard off, which took down nearby power-lines. Around 45 customers were without power for a time as a result. Large trees and powerlines were toppled.
Two foot diameter tree with power lines down at 105th Street and Beloit Road. Trees and power lines toppled or damaged in West Allis. About 4400 customers lost electrical power in West Allis.
Trees and power lines down on 76th street.
Trees and power lines down on West Tower Rd.
Trees and power lines down on N. 13th St.
Trees and power lines down on 25th and Wells.
Trees and power lines down on Wright and Holton.
Trees and power lines down.
Episodes
Developing low pressure tracking across the Ohio River Valley, spread a swath of moderate to heavy wet snow across southern WI. Lake enhancement brought the highest snow totals to the counties adjacent to Lake MI. The wet and heavy snow caused tree branches to fall onto power lines with power outages affecting 100,000 customers, mainly in the lake counties. Numerous schools chose to do a 2 hour delay or close. Some vehicle slide-offs and accidents occurred on slick roads across southern WI, which included one fatality in Fond du Lac County when a vehicle slammed into a jackknifed semi-truck on I-41 at highway N shortly after 4 AM CST on March 10th.
A large and slow moving low pressure area that tracked along the WI and IL border brought heavy snow to central Wisconsin, moderate to heavy freezing rain and ice accumulations over far southern WI, and 1-2 inches of sleet and some snow accumulation in between. Thousands of power outages were prevalent especially over far southern WI where the heaviest ice accumulations occurred. Widespread school cancellations were enacted.
Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms formed along a weak cold front across southern WI. A couple powerful and slow moving storms affected the Oconomowoc area, producing widespread golf ball sized hail. The hail damage was generally between Concord Road on the west, Highway 67 on the east, just north of Lac La Belle for the northern edge, and I-94 for the southern boundary. The hail lasted for 20-30 minutes and accumulated. Widespread damage to residential homes, businesses, vehicles, and agriculture occurred. More specifically, shingle, siding, downspout, and window screen damage. Some broken windows occurred. Gardens were shredded and trees were stripped of much of their leaves. The hail accumulated and blocked storm sewer runoff, resulting in street flooding. Some basement and business flooding occurred.
An unusually strong low pressure area tracking to the west and north of WI, generated frequent wind gusts of 45-65 mph. Scattered tree limbs and shallow rooted trees were brought down by the winds across southern WI. Some of the trees landed on homes and power lines. Power outages were not particularly high or long in most areas.
A complex of storms moved out of Iowa and into southern and central Wisconsin on August 10th. This complex morphed into a line of strong to severe thunderstorms, which marched eastward and gained strength as it approached Lake Michigan. Widespread tree damage and power outages were reported.
Multiple lines of high-based showers and isolated thunderstorms led to severe wind gusts that knocked down and uprooted trees. This resulted in downed power lines and several thousand customers without power over southeast WI.
Strong low pressure over southern WI moved to Lake Huron by the end of the day. As the low moved away, strong westerly winds developed and brought down tree limbs. Some power outages occurred as tree limbs fell on electrical wires.
A weak low pressure area brought a period of sleet and freezing rain to southern WI. Up to one half inch of sleet accumulation and a tenth of an inch of ice accumulation occurred. Some vehicle slide-offs and accidents occurred. There were a small number of power outages mostly in far southeast WI.
A surge of historically cold arctic air settled over southern WI. Windy conditions and low temperatures in the -20s to -30s Fahrenheit resulted in wind chill temperatures of 35 below to 55 below zero for much of this period. High temperatures did not warm above 10 below zero for most locations on January 30th. Widespread government, school, and business closings were common on January 30-31st. The United States Postal Service suspended mail delivery on January 29-30th. Many water main breaks occurred especially in Madison and Milwaukee. Power outages occurred over portions of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Kenosha Counties as power lines constricted and snapped in the extreme cold. A man was found frozen in his garage in Milwaukee and had collapsed after shoveling snow. Another man was found frozen in the snow in Cudahy and died from hypothermia.
Strong low pressure moving from Missouri to northwest Ohio brought heavy snow and strong winds to far southeast Wisconsin. Winds gusted to 45-53 mph near Lake MI with wind gusts of 30-40 mph inland. 6-10 inches of snow accumulated over much of Kenosha County and southeast Walworth County where schools were cancelled. Thousands of people were without power due to the strong winds damaging tree limbs and power lines especially in Pleasant Prairie. Some vehicle slide-offs and accidents occurred.
Multiple rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms moved across southern WI as a warm front slowly moved north through the region. Flash flooding occurred in Washington, Ozaukee, and northern Milwaukee Counties which was followed by prolonged river flooding. Four to eight inches of rain had fallen over this area. The thunderstorms produced sporadic tree and power line damage across southern WI.
A slow moving cold front brought rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms to southeast Wisconsin. Damaging wind gusts downed trees and power lines. Heavy rain resulted in some street flooding.
Strong damaging winds occurred due to a very deep low pressure area that affected the Upper Mississippi River Valley and Great Lakes region. The high winds downed scattered trees and limbs across southern WI resulting in downed power lines and 65,000 customers without power for up to 24 hours. 13 semi-trucks were overturned statewide on highways, and 7 wildfires occurred from downed power lines. Some structural damage to sheds, roofs, and other structures occurred from the high winds or from trees falling on them.
A shortwave trough and a persistent transport of very moist air into southern WI led to numerous thunderstorms and resultant wind damage, flash flooding, and river flooding. We Energies reported 11,500 customers without power with a majority of them in Milwaukee County. The Baraboo River flooded where over 6 inches of rain had fallen.
Clusters of strong to severe thunderstorms produced areas of straight line wind damage in southern WI as a cold front was passing through the region. WE Energies approximated 20,000 customers were without power for at least a brief period across southeast WI.
Strong low pressure tracked from the central Great Plains across northern IL and Lower MI, bringing snow, freezing rain, and sleet to southern WI. Heavier snow amounts were toward central WI. Northeast wind gusts in the 30 mph range contributed to reduced visibility and drifting snow toward central WI. Ice accumulations over one tenth of a inch occurred along and north of a line from Madison to Waukesha but diminished toward central WI. There were numerous vehicle slide-offs and accidents due to the snow covered or ice covered roads. There were localized power outages from ice covered tree limbs falling on electrical wires.
Strong low pressure tracked from Central WI to the eastern portion of Upper MI. Strong westerly wind gusts occurred as the low moved to the northeast. Many tree limbs or whole trees were brought down with some snapped or uprooted. Some fell on electrical wires resulting in power outages. We Energies reported 21,000 customers without power at one point, while Madison Gas and Electric reported 2,200 customers without power in the Madison area around 4 pm CDT. A few utility poles were snapped across Southern WI, while one semi-truck was overturned in Iowa Co. A large road sign was blown down on I-94 at US highway 45. Multiple lanes of I-94 were closed to remove the sign. Some shingle damage and roof damage occurred due to the high winds or trees falling on the roofs.
Strong low pressure moved across Northern Wisconsin and swept an occluded front across Southern WI in the late morning and afternoon hours. Strong westerly wind gusts of 58 to 65 mph occurred over Southeast WI and far Southern WI. Four Semi-trucks were blown over blocking all or partial lanes on the Interstates. Scattered downed whole trees and branches were reported with some falling on power lines, homes, or parked vehicles. Power outages reached a maximum of 26,000 customers. Scattered reports of shingles and aluminum fascia torn from homes and garages were received. Other reports of minor structural damage including downed signs were received.
Strong westerly wind gusts caused downed branches and power lines to southeast WI. We Energies reported up to 15000 customers were without power. The strong wind gusts mainly in the 50 mph range were caused by the passage of strong low pressure and its cold front.
A strengthening polar trough and front brought heavy snow to southern Wisconsin, mainly along and south of a line from Lone Rock to Milwaukee. Lake enhanced snow contributed to the overall snow totals over far southeast Wisconsin. Snow totals ranged from 5 to 18 inches with the heaviest totals in the counties bordering Illinois. Wet, heavy snow brought branches down onto electrical wires causing power outages mainly in the counties bordering Illinois where the heaviest snow fell. Vehicle slide-offs and accidents were prevalent.
A surge of relatively mild and moist air brought a mixture of snow, sleet, and freezing drizzle to southeast WI and far southern WI. The snow and sleet fell during morning rush hour and was followed by freezing drizzle later in the morning. This resulted in snow covered roads and numerous vehicle slide-offs and accidents. The highway system in Milwaukee experienced 88 vehicle slide-offs and accidents. The ice damaged We Energies equipment causing service interruptions in Milwaukee. A Cudahy middle school closed due to the power outage.
A large scale bow echo raced east to northeast across southern WI, causing straight line wind damage in many areas. We Energies reported a maximum power outage of 110000 homes which has not happened since 2005. The outages were due to straight line winds and lightning impacting the power lines.
Several lines of severe thunderstorms crossed southern Wisconsin during the evening hours of May 14th. The storms produced damaging wind gusts up to 70 to 75 mph (60 to 65 knots). Widespread damage was reported in swaths up to 6 miles in width, which included structural damage to homes and farm buildings as well as downed trees and power lines due to the powerful winds. WE Energies reported 23,000 customers in Dodge, Jefferson, Waukesha and Milwaukee counties were without power at the height of the storm. The severe thunderstorms formed along a warm front that extended from weak low pressure in northwest Wisconsin south of Superior to near Chicago. While wind shear and instability were marginal, evaporative cooling as the rain fell into dry air in the lower levels produced prime conditions for downbursts.
A wake low developed behind an area of rain showers that moved through the region in the early morning hours of April 11th. There were reports of downed tree branches and scattered power outages due to downed power lines, as well as entire trees being downed by the powerful wind gusts that reached as high as 52 mph (45 knots) at Watertown Airport.
Strong, widespread west to northwest wind gusts in the 45 to 50 mph (39 to 43 knots) range occurred over Southern Wisconsin during the evening of January 19th. These winds, behind a strong cold front, ushered in the coldest air to that point of the winter season. Newspaper articles reported scattered power outages as wind-broken tree limbs impacted power-lines. The strong 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.
Sustained winds of 30-35 mph and wind gusts between 45 and 50 mph affected the eastern sections of Southeast Wisconsin on January 18th. These winds were the related to a low pressure tracking across northern Wisconsin which pulled a strong warm front through southern Wisconsin during the late morning to early afternoon hours. The resulting low-level mixing allowed downward momentum transfer from a 50-60 knot low-level jet down to the surface. Newspaper articles reported scattered power outages as wind-broken tree limbs impacted power-lines.
A major winter storm brought impressive double-digit snowfall amounts to parts of Southeast Wisconsin. Winds gusted to between 40 and 45 mph during the peak of the storm, reducing visibilites to 1/4 mile on occasions...even in those areas that picked up only 2 to 4 inches of snow. Moderate drifting was reports with drifts of 2 to 4 feet in height. A number of side roads had difficult travel conditions as snow plows struggled with the drifting. A number of power-outages were reported due to the heavy wet snow and winds bringing down branches onto power lines. Maximum 2-Day snow totals in each county include 17 in Lake Mills (Jefferson Co.), 15 in Wayne (Washington Co.), an estimated 13 in extreme northwest Rock County, an estimated 12 in extreme southwest Sheboygan County, an estimated 10 in extreme northwest corners of both Ozaukee and Waukesha Counties, an estimated 8 inches in extreme north-central Walworth County, and an estimated 4 inches in extreme northwest Milwaukee County. This winter storm was triggered by a strong low pressure which tracked from southeast Kansas to near Chicago the evening of December 20th...reaching the southern tip of Lake Huron by the morning of December 21st. Warm air wrapping into the system initially brought rain into Southeast Wisconsin before changing over to all snow.||A new daily rainfall record was set at Milwaukee ahead of the change-over to snow. Milwaukee recorded 2.16 inches of rain and liquid equivalent precipitation on Thursday, December 20th, which broke the previous record of 1.48 inches, set in 1977. In general, rain amounts of 1.50 to over 2.00 inches were reported southeast of a line from Ozaukee County to Walworth County, caused water levels in most rivers and streams to rise to near bank-full or bank-full. However, flood stages were not reached, due to the snow and colder temperatures halting runoff.
Strong low-level winds gusting to 46 to 49 mph (40 to 43 knots) affected south-central and southeast Wisconsin on November 11th. Widely scattered power outages were reported due to wind-broken tree limbs impacting power-lines. These winds were assoicated with a deep mid-upper level trough, with 850 mb winds of 60 to 80 knots. Some of this high-momentum wind mixed down to the surface ahead of a strong cold front during the mid-morning to early evening hours.
Strong gradient winds, ahead of a deep surface low tracking along the U.S./Canadian border, produced wind gusts up to 45 mph (39 knots) across southeast portions of South Central Wisconsin and most of Southeast Wisconsin. Numerous reports of tree branches being blown down as well as power lines downed by the strong winds were received from across the region. The downed power lines created scattered power outages across the area, with WE Energies reporting 7,000 customers without power, with 2,800 of those customers on the north side of the City of Milwaukee. The U.S. Coast Guard in Milwaukee rescued 6 kayakers within the Milwaukee Harbor breakwater after their kayaks capsized in the choppy waters produced by the gusty winds.
Two periods of strong winds affected Southcentral and Southeast Wisconsin as a deep surface low tracked from southern Minnesota into northern Wisconsin during the overnight hours of April 15th to 16th. Southerly winds gusting to between 45 mph and 54 mph (39 knots to 47 knots) affected South Central Wisconsin on the night of the 15th with the tightening pressure gradient ahead of the low. The winds were enhanced with strong low-level jet winds mixing down to the surface. Cold-air advection, behind a cold front trailing the low, crossed the region during the day on the 16th and brought sustained winds between 20 mph and 30 mph (17 knots to 26 knots) and gusts up to 49 mph (43 knots) to much of South Central and Southeast Wisconsin. There were multiple reports of downed power lines, trees and tree branches.
A tight pressure gradient around strong low pressure tracking across southern Canada produced gusty southwest winds over southern Wisconsin during the day on March 10th. The surface gradient winds were enhanced by a 40-knot low level jet that mixed down to the surface during maximum daytime heating. Sustained wind speeds were between 30 mph and 35 mph (26 to 30 knots), with gusts of 40 to 47 mph (35 to 41 knots). There were scattered reports of snapped power-lines due to the impact of fallen tree branches.
Deepening surface low pressure produced a swath of heavy, wet snow along with gusty northerly winds over much of southcentral and southeast Wisconsin during the afternoon and evening of March 2nd. The low deepened rapidly in response to a vigorous upper-level short-wave that crossed the western Great Lakes region. The surface low tracked from Missouri, across northern Illinois, to Lower Michigan during the afternoon and evening hours. A warm vertical temperature profile allowed the precipitation to begin as rain in far Southeast Wisconsin...with snow elsewhere across the southern portion of the state. The rain quickly changed over to snow late in the afternoon...with instability aloft sufficient to produce elevated convection and thunder-snow over southeast Wisconsin. Snowfall rates between 1.5 and 2 inches per hour were common at the height of the event during the evening rush hour. Snowfall totals were between 5 and 7 inches...with a few 8 and 9 inch reports in western Sheboygan County. The tight pressure gradient around the deep surface low produced gusty northeast to north winds up to 40 mph (35 knots) which occasionally reduced visibilities to near zero in the heavy snow. The heavy, wet snow collected on power lines and tree limbs, causing some to snap. At one point, We Energies utility estimated 15,000 customers lost electrical power in southeastern Wisconsin. There were numerous vehicle crashes and spin-outs during this event. A few minor injuries were reported, including a school bus crash in Walworth County that sent a high-school student to the hospital with a head injury.
The New Year started off with strong winds that developed in the wake of deepening low pressure as it crossed east-northeast over far southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois to Lake Huron by the afternoon of January 1st. Three-hourly pressure rises of 6-8mb, along with the tight pressure gradient and steepening lapse rates behind the departing low produced sustained northwest to west winds of 30 to 35 mph, and wind gusts of 45 to 50 mph over all of South Central and Southeast Wisconsin during the morning into the early afternoon hours. Scattered power outages were noted by the media due to broken tree branches impacting power-lines.
A strong low-level jet of 50 to 60 knots, ahead of a short wave trough approaching from the Central Plains, combined with steep lapse rates from the surface up to 800 mb to mix down strong wind gusts over Southeast Wisconsin during the afternoon of November 13th. Sustained winds of 30 mph, with gusts between 45 and 55 mph were measured over the southeast corner of the state. The highest reported gust was 54 mph (43 knots) in Kenosha. The strong winds snapped small tree branches and knocked down power lines.
Rapidly developing low pressure moved across western Ohio and southeast Lower Michigan during the overnight period of October 19th and morning of October 20th. An associated strong pressure gradient and unstable conditions over the relatively warmer waters of Lake Michigan allowed strong gusty north to northeast winds to mix down to the lake surface and push inland from Milwaukee south to the Illinois border. Wind gusts reached 50 to 70 mph along the lake shore...and up to 51 mph inland. In downtown Milwaukee, wind and debris broke a few windows in the U.S. Bank tower. Elsewhere...some weak trees were uprooted and there were many reports of broken tree branches. This tree debris damaged at least a couple homes and resulted in scattered power outages as power-lines came down. The strong winds and high waves caused extensive damage to several boats and docks at the South Shore Yacht Club in Milwaukee. Refer to the separate Marine Strong Wind event within Storm Data for details.
Strong and gusty northwest winds developed over Southeast Wisconsin behind a cold front trailing from rapidly strengthening low pressure that tracked across northern Wisconsin into northern Lower Michigan on Thursday, September 29th. The resulting tight pressure gradient over the state produced 850 mb winds of 45 knots (52 mph) and 925 mb winds of 35 to 40 knots (45 and 55 mph). Surface winds gusted between 45 mph and 53 mph (39 to 46 knots), driven by 3-hourly pressure rises on the order of 4 millibars. The strong winds, which continued into the early morning hours of September 30th, toppled trees and downed power lines across Southeast Wisconsin. The power outages indirectly led to the death of a 49-year-old Milwaukee man on a ventilator.
A large supercell thunderstorm, just offshore over Lake Michigan, produced strong outflow winds that moved into far southeast Milwaukee County, and eastern sections of Racine and Kenosha counties during the evening of June 30th. Wind gusts up to 82 mph (71 knots) felled or caused extensive damage to numerous large trees that damaged homes, garages and vehicles, as well as dropped power lines across the affected areas. A motorcyclist in Kenosha was killed when a tree fell on him. At one point, 26,000 customers were without power in southeast Wisconsin. It took several days to restore power, with all customers back online by 3 pm CDT on Sunday, July 3rd.
A warm front lifted into southern Wisconsin ahead of slow-moving low pressure in Iowa. Moderate wind shear with 0-6km shear values of 35 to 45 knots and mixed layer (ML) CAPE in the 1500 to 2500J/kg range in place over the region combined with enhanced lift from an upper disturbance rotating through the base of an approaching upper trough to produce strong to severe supercell thunderstorms during the afternoon into the evening of June 21st. The storms produced two EF1 tornadoes in the vicinity of the nearly-stationary warm front that tracked along the border between Fond Du Lac County and Green Lake County. The severe thunderstorms also produced large hail and damaging wind gusts, including a 2-mile wide microburst across sections of Waukesha County that damaged homes, barns and felled thousands of trees and numerous power lines. In addition, the thunderstorms fed off a moisture-rich air mass moving into the region, with precipitable water values around 1.8 inch, that also produced heavy rainfall and flash flooding in portions of Waukesha and Milwaukee counties.
Forcing along an advancing cold front moving into a warm, moist unstable air mass over the region produced severe thunderstorms with a tornado, damaging winds and large hail over south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the evening hours of June 8th. The combination of instability, with surface-based CAPE of 3000 J/kg, and 0 to 6 km bulk shear of 40 knots produced supercell thunderstorms, with one of the cells developing an EF1 tornado over central Dane County that uprooted trees, felled power-lines, damaged three vehicles and crushed a garage. A cluster of supercell thunderstorms from Lafayette into Dane County then congealed into a bowing line that moved due east and created damaging wind gusts of 60 to 80 mph across much of the area along and south of Interstate-94. At the height of the event, over 27,000 customers had no electric power in Southeast Wisconsin, and probably another 15 to 20,000 customers in south-central Wisconsin lost power.
A tight pressure gradient between low pressure over Ohio and a ridge of high pressure extending from North Dakota into Ontario, Canada, produced strong north to northeast winds over most of South-Central Wisconsin and Southeast Wisconsin. Daytime heating of dry air that had spread into the region with the leading edge of the high allowed mixing up to 40 to 45 knot winds about 5,000 feet above ground level. This mixing resulted in sustained winds of 30 to 35 mph and wind gusts up to 45 mph at the surface. Scattered power-outages were reported due to broken tree branches falling on and snapping power-lines.
Southern Wisconsin was situated between a polar high pressure area centered over southeast Canada and a strong low pressure that tracked from the central Plains toward northwest Illinois during the day on April 15th. The resulting tight surface pressure gradient over the region produced sustained east winds of 25 to 35 mph with peak gusts between 45 and 54 mph over a nearly 12-hour period. Scattered power outages were noted across southern Wisconsin due to broken tree branches falling on to power-lines.
A tight pressure gradient around strong low pressure over James Bay, 3-hourly pressure rises of 2 to 4 mb, and daytime mixing up to 925 mb winds of 35 to 45 knots produced strong gusty winds that affected parts of South Central and Southeast Wisconsin with sustained winds of 26 to 29 knots (30 - 33 mph) and gusts to 39 knots (45 mph). Scattered power-outages were noted by the media as old tree branches fell onto power lines. The responsible low pressure moved east across the northern part of Lake Superior which allowed strong west winds to affect parts of Wisconsin.
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 late afternoon and 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 55 mph, with the stronger wind gusts near Lake Michigan. The lakeshore observation site at Milwaukee reported a 54 mph wind gust at 7 pm CST on February 1st. 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 12 and 22 inches, with 22 inches of snow measured in Hales Corners (Milwaukee County), 18 inches recorded 4 miles southwest of Muskego (Waukesha County) and 12.1 inches at the NWS office in Sullivan (Jefferson County). Snowfall totaled 16.1 inches at Mitchell International Airport, which tied for the 5th greatest 24-hour snowfall total in Milwaukee. Most flights in and out of the airport were canceled until later in the day on February 2nd. 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. Many cooperative observer stations set records for multi-day snowfall totals. Whitnall Park in Hales Corners (Milwaukee County) set a record with 28 inches of snow from January 31st through February 1st. Snow drifts of 3 to 12 feet were common, with reports of some drifts reaching 12 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. 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. Most businesses, several restaurants and all of the Milwaukee-area shopping malls were closed for at least part of the day on February 2nd. The blizzard even caused the Milwaukee County Zoo to cancel the annual Groundhog Day festivities. Emergency rooms across Southeast Wisconsin reported dozens of heart attacks and injuries from snow blower accidents. Three Milwaukee area men, two with heart problems, died while shoveling snow. Milwaukee area law enforcement reported 24 vehicle accidents, with two injuries and 47 disabled vehicles. Jefferson County reported 1 indirectly-related injury due to a vehicle accident, with a total of 122 weather related calls. At the height of the storm, WE Energies reported 5,200 customers were without power across Southeast Wisconsin. An outdoor siren belonging to the city of Waukesha was blown down by the winds and had to be replaced. In the Port of Milwaukee, the wind gusts imploded at least 5 metal panals or siding and a roll-down door on a large storage pole shed.
Deep low pressure of 993 mb crossed Lake Superior into southeast Ontario, taking a cold front across southern Wisconsin. A combination of a tight pressure gradient around the low, with 3-hourly pressure rises of 2 to 3 mb, and clearing skies behind the front during the day, allowed for deep boundary layer mixing. This mixing tapped 30-40 knot (35 to 46 mph) winds just off the surface, which produced strong and gusty southwest winds. Sustained wind speeds reached 30 to 35 mph, with gusts between 35 and 45 mph during the morning and into the early afternoon hours. Scattered power outages were noted in newspapers due to wind-broken tree branches impacting power lines.
Long-duration, widespread, southwesterly high winds raked south-central and southeast Wisconsin for about 36 hours, resulting numerous reports of felled trees, broken tree branches, downed power-lines, and damage to structures and vehicles. All of this was generated by a record-breaking, low pressure system which tracked northeast from the Central Plains on Monday, October 25, and then rapidly deepened as it moved northeast across northern Minnesota on Tuesday, October 26. The surface low was being driven by a strong negatively-tilted 500 mb trough moving through the central U.S. A surface weather map at 600 PM October 26th is attached to the Dane County event. For additional on-line information go to this URL: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/?n=102610_recordcyclone.||This abnormally strong extra-tropical system broke the record for the lowest sea level pressures measured in the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The lowest pressure in Wisconsin occurred at Superior, in far northwest Wisconsin, measuring 961.3 millibars (28.39) at 11:15 AM CDT on the 26th. The previous lowest sea level pressure recorded in Wisconsin was 963.4 millibars (28.45) at Green Bay on April 3 of 1982. |Madison had the second lowest sea level pressure reading on record at 975.3 millibars (28.80 inches of mercury), and Milwaukee had the seventh lowest reading on record at 978.7 millibars (28.90 inches of mercury). ||Severe thunderstorms formed along and ahead of a cold front surging eastward ahead of the low. An EF1 tornado formed in northern Kenosha County and tracked northeast across portions of central and eastern Racine County. There were also numerous reports of wind damage from severe thunderstorm winds. All of this severe weather activity is documented in tornado and thunderstorm wind events for October 26th. After the cold front passage, strong subsidence in the dry slot of the system produced gradient winds of 22 to 38 knots (25 to 45 mph), with measured gusts to 55 knots (63 mph). Based on severity of resultant damage, isolated maximum wind gusts may have been as high as 61-64 knots (70-75 mph), especially on ridge tops.||The slow-moving low kept the tight pressure gradient draped across south-central and southeast Wisconsin Wednesday, October 27th. Wind speeds slowed for a time Tuesday night as nocturnal cooling prevented mixing up to the strong winds within 3,000 feet of the ground. However, mixing after sunrise on the 27th tapped these stronger winds, with average mixed-layer winds around 50 knots. Winds at many locations were stronger on Wednesday than Tuesday; with sustained speeds of 26 to 39 knots (30 to 45 mph), and estimated gusts to 56 knots (65 mph). Rural Mutual Insurance reported claims from agricultural producers of one million dollars in damage to buildings and equipment from across all of Wisconsin. We Energies reported 20,000 customers in Southeast Wisconsin were without power at the peak of the power outages on Tuesday, October 26th.||Below is a county-by-county breakdown (all damage losses are estimated based on variety of sources):||Marquette Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county.||Green Lake Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county. A trained spotter in Berlin measured a 62 mph (54 knot) wind gust at 115 pm CDT on October 27th.||Fond du Lac Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county. A mesonet site in Bryon measured a 60 mph (52 knot) wind gust at 4 pm CDT on October 27th. The maximum 2-minute wind speeds at the Fond du Lac Airport (KFLD) were 38 and 36 mph on the 26th and 27th, respectively.||Sheboygan Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county. The Sheboygan C-MAN site in the Sheboygan harbor entrance measured a 62 mph (54 knot) wind gust at 1 pm CDT on October 26th. A mesonet site one mile north of downtown Sheboygan measured a 62 mph (54 knot) wind gust at 430 pm CDT on October 27th. The maximum 2-minute wind speeds at the Sheboygan County Airport (KSBM) were 44 and 46 mph on the 26th and 27th, respectively.||Sauk Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county. A mesonet site in Baraboo measured a 60 mph (52 knot) wind gust at 1130 am CDT on October 27th. The maximum 2-minute wind speeds at the Lone Rock Airport (KLNR) were 35 and 38 mph on the 26th and 27th, respectively. Just east of Reedsburg, the metal roof of a church storage shed was ripped off. One of shed's support beams crashed through the roof of a the main church building. ||Columbia Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county. A mesonet site in Lodi measured a 59 mph (51 knot) wind gust at 330 pm CDT on October 27th and 50 knots (58 mph) on the 26th. Portage police responded to five wind-related calls, including two downed utility poles and a report of a fallen tree damaging two vehicles.||Dodge Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county. The RAWS site at Horicon Marsh measured a 53 mph wind gust at a 20-foot height with conversion to the 33-foot standard would bring it to an estimated 61 mph (51 knots) at 101 pm CDT on October 27th. A 53 knot (61 mph) wind gust was measured at a location 5 miles west of Knowles on the 27th. The Dodge County emergency manager reported parts of roofs torn off a couple of pole barns east of Beaver Dam, as well as trees down and shingles blown away.||Washington Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county. A mesonet site in Bear Valley measured a 62 mph (54 knot) wind gust at 430 pm CDT on October 27th.||Ozaukee Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county due to wind gusts estimated at 58 mph (50 knots). A large maple tree fell on a portion of a home in Grafton on Wednesday, October 27th, destroying an awning over the front door of the home and damaging roof shingles on the home.||Iowa Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county due to wind gusts estimated at 58 mph (50 knots). U.S. Highway 18-151 north of Dodgeville was closed from 7 am to 330 pm CDT on Tuesday, October 26th due to downed power lines at the intersection with State Highway 23. Also on the 26th, a large tree fell on a home on West Chapel Street in Dodgeville, severely damaging the roof.||Dane Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county. A Department of Transportation highway sensor on STH 12 in Madison measured a 62 mph (54 knot) wind gust at 4 pm on October 26th. The wind sensor on top of the 15-story University of Wisconsin Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences Building in Madison measured a wind gust of 72 mph (63 knots) at 150 pm CDT on October 27th. A semi-trailer truck was rolled over by the winds, blocking the westbound lanes of U.S. Highway 151 in Sun Prairie on the 26th. A section of the rubber roof on top of the Westgate Mall was peeled back by the strong winds. A tree fell onto a house on Lakeland Ave. on the east side of Madison, and a tree limb damaged the roof of a house on Regent Street on the west side. A large burr oak toppled in the strong winds damaged a barn on the grounds of the Sterling North museum in Edgerton on the 27th. Even in a sheltered, residential area 5 miles southwest of Downtown Madison, an observer measured wind gusts to 44 knots (51 mph) at 554 pm CDT on the 27th! At this same location, 1.11 of rain fell on the 26th and a total of 1.54 on Oct 23-24th. It is possible that the wet surface soils were softened by the rains, making it easier for the high winds to knock down trees. The maximum 2-minute wind speeds at the Dane County Regional Airport (KMSN) were 30 and 28 mph on the 26th and 27th, respectively.||Jefferson Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county from wind gusts estimated at 58 mph (50 knots).||Waukesha Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county from wind gusts estimated up to 60 mph (52 knots). We Energies reported about 1700 customers without power, mainly in the Oconomowoc and Nashota areas at 9 am CDT on October 26th. A large window was blown out at a sporting goods store in Pewaukee. The county mental health center, the Huber Facility, the county communications center and the county highway shop went to emergency back-up power due to the power outages. The high winds snapped a flag pole at its base at the Hawks Inn Historical Museum in Delafield. in the city of Waukesha a toppled tree damaged a home. At the Waukesha Airport (Crites Field) the high winds destroyed part of a roof of a hangar and damaged a door of an adjacent hanger.||Milwaukee Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county. A mesonet site in Brown Deer measured wind gust of 63 mph (54 knots) at 430 pm on October 27th. The maximum 2-minute wind speeds at the Milwaukee Airport (KMKE) were 44 and 43 mph on the 26th and 27th, respectively. The strong gusts peeled off exterior wall bricks on two buildings north of downtown Milwaukee along the Milwaukee River. The City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works received 45 calls about broken tree branches, a half dozen reports of minor damage and traffic signals out at a dozen intersections.||Lafayette Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county from wind gusts estimated up to 58 mph (50 knots).||Green Co. -Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county. A mesonet site in New Glarus measured a wind gust of 62 mph (54 knots) at 340 pm CDT on the 27th.||Rock Co. - Wind gusts, estimated up to 58 mph (50 knots) blew down trees and power lines across the county. A man in Janesville was injured when he was struck by a wind-blown object, possibly a garbage can lid. He was knocked into his outdoor grill, and received hospital treatment. School was canceled and students sent home from Janesville Parker High School when portion of the roof was peeled back by the strong winds (estimated repair of $215,000). A garage roof was damaged in Janesville by a large oak limb punching a hole in the roof, and a power pole and power line were downed by the winds near the intersection of Center Ave. and Joliet St. southwest of downtown Janesville. A massive burr oak tree in Edgerton was blown over and smashed part of roof of a barn on the grounds of the Sterling North museum.||Walworth Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county. A mesonet site in Elkhorn recorded a 59 mph (51 knot) wind gust at 3 pm CDT on October 27th. Wind-driven rain leaked through the large windows of the atrium at East Troy High School.||Racine Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county. A mesonet site in the city of Racine reported a 63 mph (55 knot) wind gust at 3 pm CDT on October 27th. The maximum 2-minute wind speeds at the Racine Airport (KRAC) were 36 and 37 mph on the 26th and 27th, respectively. About 4,000 customers in the county were without power. In the city of Racine, embers blown out of a portable fire pit ignited a nearby shed and a neighboring garage on Glendale Ave. Both the garage and the shed were destroyed. Gilmore Middle School and Wadewitz Elementary School dismissed students for the day around 11 am on Tuesday, October 26th because of power outages at both schools.||Kenosha Co. - Wind gusts blew down trees and power lines across the county, including some road signs. The ASOS at Kenosha County Airport reported a 58 mph (50 knot) wind gust at 344 pm CDT on October 27th. The maximum 2-minute wind speeds at the Kenosha County Airport (KENW) were 49 and 46 mph on the 26th and 27th, respectively. About 1,700 customers lost power when strong winds snapped four utility poles and downed power lines along County Highway KR in Somers. A garage was leveled by the strong winds in the 200 block of 72nd Avenue in Kenosha.||Lake Michigan waters - a buoy in the nearshore waters of Lake Michigan just east of the city of Racine recorded a 12-foot wave on the 26th and 9-foot wave on the 27th. A buoy east of Washington Island (Door Co.) in the middle of Lake Michigan recorded a 21.7 foot wave on the 26th.
A tight pressure gradient set up over Wisconsin as strong low pressure, located over western Nebraska on the morning of September 23rd, moved northeast to central Lake Superior on the morning of September 24th. Scattered showers that formed ahead of a trailing cold front in the early morning hours transferred momentum down to the surface from a 50 to 55 knot low level jet, located between 1,000 feet and 2,000 feet above ground level. This produced southwest wind gusts between 39 and 48 knots (45 mph and 55 mph) at a few locations in far Southeast Wisconsin. There were scattered reports of downed power lines due to broken tree branches falling on wires.
A strong surface pressure gradient around a departing deep low pressure system moving from central Lake Superior to southwest Quebec, Canada produced westerly wind gusts between 39 and 43 knots (45 and 50 mph) during the afternoon hours, mainly over Southeast Wisconsin. There were scattered reports of downed power lines due to broken tree branches falling on wires.
A closed mid to upper-level low tracking across the northern U.S. took an associated surface low from the Dakotas, to Lake Superior and into southern Canada. The tight pressure gradient around this system produced strong winds across southern Wisconsin during the day. Wind gusts reached 40 to 50 mph (35 to 44 knots) in many locations. An 80 year-old Wauwatosa (Milwaukee County) man was killed in his back yard when a tree limb, estimated to weigh 1000 pounds, struck him after being blown down by the strong winds. The limb knocked the man's garage off its foundation. The highest measured wind gust reported in southern Wisconsin was 55 mph (48 knots) measured just southeast of downtown Pewaukee in Waukesha County. There were scattered reports of downed power lines due to broken tree branches falling on wires.
An upper level short wave trough moved rapidly eastward across the Upper Mississippi River Valley and into Wisconsin during the early morning hours of August 9th. The approaching short wave backed low level winds to the south, which brought a moist, unstable air mass into the region with CAPE values of 2000 to 3000 J/kg. A linear mesoscale convective system developed over Nebraska and moved eastward across northern Iowa on the nose of the 30-35 knot low-level winds. This system moved into Wisconsin shortly after 1 am CDT, with the bowing line of storms producing damaging winds along a 10-mile-wide path as it moved rapidly from west to east across South Central and Southeast Wisconsin. The line of thunderstorms extensively damaged trees and downed power lines, including knocking out electrical power to 1,300 Alliant Energy customers in eastern Sauk County and northwest Dane County. Madison Gas and Electric Company reported about 4,000 of their customers lost power on the southwest side of Madison.
Parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin experienced several rounds of record-setting torrential heavy rains during the afternoon and evening hours of July 22, 2010 that led to flash flooding and damage. During the afternoon, a persistent band of strong to severe thunderstorms developed and moved very slowly over south central and southeast Wisconsin through the evening hours. The individual storms were moving quite fast, about 40 to 50 mph, but the slow southward movement of the boundary these storms were developing along, resulted in storms repeatedly training, or moving, over the same area.||Widespread 3 to 4 inch amounts were reported along and either side of the I-94 corridor, with locally higher amounts of 5 to 8 inches. The greatest rain amounts fell in Milwaukee County. Mitchell Field recorded 5.61 inches for the day, breaking a record for the date. The previous record was 1.26 set in 1948. This also is the second highest daily rainfall total on record for Milwaukee. The greatest one-day precipitation record was the 6.81 inches which fell on August 6, 1986. Madison also set a record for precipitation for the date at 3.62 inches. This beat the previous mark of 2.21 inches set in 1885. The 3.62 inches of rainfall ranks 13th for the most precipitation received in one day. The record is the 4.96 inches which fell on August 8, 1906. ||About 32,000 We Energy utility customers lost electrical power throughout southeast Wisconsin due to the flooding and lightning.
Strong to severe thunderstorms developed across much of south central and southeast Wisconsin during the evening of June 21, 2010. A vigorous upper level disturbance helped to support deep vertical motions in the atmosphere, along with strong deep layer wind shear. This lift acted on a warm and very moist atmosphere, carried into the region on a 40 to 50 knot low-level jet. The result was powerful rotating thunderstorms, with damaging straight line winds, large hail, and in this case, 5 tornadoes. At one point during the height of the event, around 48,000 customers in southeast Wisconsin were without electric power due to downed power lines. However, power-line and power-pole loss estimates were not available and do not show up as damage amounts in any individual event within this severe weather episode.
A bowing MCS developed in Iowa ahead of a cold front and pushed eastward into southern Wisconsin during the afternoon. The event was characterized by gusty winds with minor damage (trees down and power lines down) as well as heavy rain. At one point, more than 19,000 WE Energies' customers over southeast Wisconsin were without power after the event - mostly in the counties of Racine and Kenosha.
Strong southwest to west winds affected all of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on May 5th. Maximum wind gusts were 39 to 45 knots (45 to 52 mph). Small trees were knocked down or tree limbs were broken. Some of these fell on power-lines resulting in scattered power outages, especially in the counties of Green Lake and Columbia. The strong winds were generated by a deepening low pressure over Lake Superior moving eastward. The atmosphere mixed all the way up to 8 to 10 thousand feet above the ground which allowed for the mixing down of higher momentum air to the surface. The strong winds affected the nearshore waters of Lake Michigan east of Sheboygan to Kenosha, but no damage was reported.||Three Fitchburg (Dane Co.) police officers were injured (direct injury) when they were hit by an 8-foot-by-8-foot section of wall that was wind-blown off a trailer being used for training purposes. In the Township of Albion (southeast Dane Co.) a man-made debris fire got out of control when the wind pushed the flames onto a nearby barn. The barn and contents were a total loss. Inside the barn were stored 5 boats, 3 classic cars, farm machinery, and tools. The barn and contents loss (estimated at $300,00) would be indirectly related to this strong wind event. Consequently, the $300K in damage is not part of the $240K in property damage listed in the header strip of this strong wind event. Elsewhere, it was assumed that there were at least a couple power-lines down in each county listed in this event (loss of $10K), and damage amounts are estimated.
Winter Storm conditions were experienced in the Baraboo to Madison to Milwaukee corridor from the evening hours of Dec 23rd into the early morning hours of Dec 24th. This storm had a major impact on Holidy shoppers and travelers due to slippery roads and poor visibibilities. Generally, a band of moderate, to at times heavy snow, extended from near Milwaukee to just north of Madison to the Wisconsin Dells area, producing 2 to around 6 inches of accumulation before changing over to sleet and freezing rain overnight. Ice accumulations were on the order of 1/10 to 2/10 of an inch, but there was an isolated 1/4 inch ice accumulation in south-central Dodge County. Small tree branches broke under the weight of the snow and freezing drizzle, but no power outages were noted. The maximum snow accumulations for each county included 6.3 south of the city of Waukesha, almost 6 inches in far northwestern Sauk County, 5.5 near Port Washington (Ozaukee Co.), 4.4 in Big Bend (Waukesha Co.), 4.2 in Downtown Milwaukee, 4.1 just southeast of Portage (Columbia Co.), 4 in Hartford (Washington Co.), 3.8 in Lake Mills (Jefferson Co.), 3.5 in the southwest part of the city of Madison, 3 in southeast Dodge County, and 2 in east-central Iowa County. 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. Toward the Illinois border, mostly freezing rain fell that resulted in a low-end ice storm.
This winter storm was the first, widespread storm to affect south-central and Southeast Wisconsin during the 20009-10 winter season. Low pressure strengthened as it moved northeast from the Oklahoma Panhandle across Missouri and western Illinois on Tuesday December 8th, then across northern Illinois and southern Lake Michigan to northern Lower Michigan on Wednesday December 9th. This is a favorable track for heavy snow for southern Wisconsin. Observers recorded widespread 12-inch snow totals, with local 16 to 20 inch amounts. The maximum storm total snowfall reported was 20.2 inches near Mc Farland in Dane County (CoCoRaHS). Snowfall amounts were reduced to between 2 and 6 inches along the Lake Michigan shoreline as a combination of warm air drawn northward ahead of the low and warmer air over the lake turned the precipitation over to rain for a time. Additionally, rapid deepening of the low (a 15-mb fall in less than 12 hours) generated sustained winds of 17 to 26 knots (20 to 30 mph) and occasional gusts of 30 to 37 knots (35 to 43 mph) out of the northeast. This resulted in occasional near-whiteout conditions in open areas due to blowing and drifting snow. The somewhat moist snow and the winds combined to knock down trees and power-lines. At the height of the storm, 32,000 customers in the Madison area and 50,000 customers in the metropolitan Milwaukee area were without electrical power.||Maximum snow amounts in each county include an estimated 16 in northwest Marquette County, 13.8 in Berlin (Green Lake Co.), 13 in Ashford (Fond du Lac Co.), 13 in Elkhart Lake (Sheboygan Co.), 16.6 in Reedsburg (Sauk Co.), 16.5 near Doylestown (Columbia Co.), an estimated 15 inches in far western Dodge County, 16 in West Bend (Washington Co.), an estimated 12 in far northwestern Ozaukee County, an estimated 14 in fare southeastern Iowa County, 20.s near McFarland (Dane Co.), 14 in Waterloo (Jefferson Co.), an estimated 10.5 in far southwestern Waukesha County, an estimated 6.5 in far southeastern Milwaukee County, 14 in northern Lafayette County, an estimated 18 in northeastern Green County and northwestern Rock Counties, an estimated 10.5 in far north-central Walworth County, an estimated 9 in far northwestern Racine County, and 5 in far western Kenosha County.
Strong west-southwest winds with sustained speeds of 26 to 30 knots (30 to 35 mph) and gusts to 39 to 49 knots (45 to 57 mph) raked south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the late afternoon and evening hours of October 6th. The highest sustained wind speed was 32 knots (37 mph) at the Waukesha Airport (Waukesha Co.) at 2000 CST, and the highest wind gust was 49 knots (57 mph) at a school mesonet site in Grafton (Ozaukee Co.) at 2200 CST. There were a number of reports of broken tree limbs impacting power-lines based on newspaper accounts. Scattered power-outages occurred. A wind-toppled tree in the city of Sheboygan fell onto a parked SUV and damaged its windows and rear quarter panels. Damage was estimated at $5,000. In addition, a nominal $5,000 of power-line damage was assigned to each of the counties listed in the headerstrip of this strong wind event. Synoptically, low pressure deepened while it moved northeast through central Wisconsin to northern Lower Michigan. The strong west-southwest winds were post-cold-frontal.||Over the nearshore water areas within 5 nautical miles of the shoreline, between Sheboygan and the Illinois state line, frequent gusts to 34 to 45 knots (39 to 52 mph) were measured by observation platforms. However, no damage was reported (but minor damage was possible). Therefore, a Marine Strong Wind event was not entered into Storm Data.
Widespread, gradient, strong, northwest winds in the wake of a cold front affected south-central and southeast Wisconsin for about a 21-hour period. The associated deep low pressure moved east across Ontario, Canada. Maximum gusts were in the 39 to 43 knot range (45 to 50 mph) in the Fond du Lac and Sheboygan area south to the Illinois border and in Sauk and Iowa counties. Elsewhere in south-central and southeast Wisconsin maximum wind gusts were in the 35 to 44 mph range while sustained winds were below 26 knots (30 mph). At least eight ASOS or AWOS reporting sites in this strong wind event had sustained wind speeds of 26 to 32 knots (30 to 37 mph) for one hour or more. Severe weather spotter reports and newspaper accounts indicated that scattered power-outages occurred in most of the affected counties due to broken tree branches falling on power-lines. Additionally, some large trees in Fond du Lac County were pushed over. However, a good estimation of damage losses was not possible with this event, therefore a nominal $5000 loss estimate (power-lines) was assigned to each county in this strong wind event. One concentrated area of power-outages stretched from the City of Waukesha and Delafield area on up into southern Washington County. Tree debris knocked a telephone line onto Interstate-94 just south of Delafield near CTH C at about 2020 CST September 27th. This resulted in the closure of the freeway for about 90 minutes. Along the Lake Michigan shoreline from Sheboygan south to the Illinois border, wind gusts of 31 to 36 knots were reported (36 to 45 mph). However, a Marine Strong Wind event was not logged in this issue of Storm Data for September, 2009, since there were no injuries, fatalities, or damage associated with these gusts.
Three rounds of thunderstorms produced wind damage and flash flooding during the afternoon, evening, and overnight hours of August 9th. The thunderstorms developed as a cold front trailing from low pressure over northeast Wisconsin moved into a hot, humid and unstable air mass in place over southern Wisconsin. Temperatures warmed to 85 and 90 degrees, with dew-points in the 70s. Strong unidirectional vertical wind shear produced bowing line segments that caused damaging wind gusts. The thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall as precipitable water values reached 1.8 to 2 inches. All together, in just southeast Wisconsin, at least 28,000 customers lost electrical power. It was reported that 140 power-lines came down due to tree debris, and at least a dozen or two utility poles snapped.
A warm front set up across far southern Wisconsin on the afternoon of June 18th as an upper level disturbance moved eastward into the Upper Midwest. A line of severe thunderstorms formed in an area of very warm, unstable air and moved through south-central and southeast Wisconsin overnight. With surface dewpoints near 70, MLCAPE values near 3000 J/kg, and strong wind shear, the storms produced damaging winds, large hail up to 2.75 inches in diameter, dangerous lightning, and a weak tornado. These thunderstorms also dumped very heavy rain up to 4 inches over a relatively short period of time, causing numerous reports of flash flooding across Dane, Waukesha, and Milwaukee counties. At the height of the storms, about 27,000 households were without electricity in southeastern Wisconsin due to damaged power-lines.
A convective thunderstorm complex that orginated over southern Minnesota moved east/southeast across southern Wisconsin and generated a line of strong to severe storms. Powerful thunderstorm winds gusting to hurricane-force, large hail, one tornado, and flash flooding were produced by the storms. Surface dewpoints were in the lower to mid 70s, and CAPE values were 3000 to 4000. Maximum afternoon temperatures were in the 85 to 90 range. At least 20,000 customers lost electrical power - 14,000 of them in Sheboygan County alone.
A cluster of storms developed over Jefferson County and moved east through Waukesha and Milwaukee Counties. Scattered reports of powerful downburst winds were received. The storms were associated with a short-wave trough at 500 MB moving east through Wisconsin, with a 30 knot low-level jet at 850 MB. Surface temperatures were in the lower to middle 70s with surface dewpoints around 70.
Clusters or short, bowing segments of lines of storms resulted in scattered reports of large hail up to 1 inch in diameter and powerful downburst winds to about 56 knots (65 mph) that toppled trees. The storms developed in a pre-frontal convergence zone ahead of a cold front. Air temperatures were in the lower to middle 80s with surface dewpoints in the upper 60s to lower 70s. CAPE values were 1500 to 2000.
Strong southwest winds gusting to 39 to 45 knots (45 to 52 mph) raked southeast Wisconsin. Scattered power outages occurred due to broken limbs falling on power lines. Synoptically, low pressure moved northeast through the western tip of Lake Superior. Behind the trailing cold front a tight, surface pressure gradient formed, resulting in strong surface winds. Up at the 850 mb level (roughly 5,000 feet above the ground), wind speeds increased to 45 knots (52 mph).
The first widespread severe weather outbreak to affect south-central and southeast Wisconsin occurred on April 25th. It consisted of mostly large hail up to 1.25 inches in diameter, a couple damaging, straight-line wind reports, two tornadoes in Columbia County, and scattered flash flooding due to heavy rains and traning thunderstorm cells. Additionally, lightning struck several buildings and started fires that left damage. Many power outages were reported thanks to tree branches snapping power lines, and up to 11,000 customers in southern Wisconsin lost power for varying time periods. Synoptically, low pressure over southeast Minnesota moved northeast with a trailing cold front. Just ahead of the cold front was found strong warm air advection and moisture advection associated with a low-level jet. Surface dewpoints poked into the mid to upper 60s ahead of the cold front while a favorable jet stream pattern existed aloft.
In the wake of a powerful winter storm, strong northwest winds and bitter cold air combined to generate low wind chill values across parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Air temperatures were in the -3F to -8F range and northwest winds were on the order of 10 to 18 knots (12 to 21 mph) with peak gusts of 20 to 27 knots (23 to 31 mph). Wind chill values dropped to -28F to -35F for 3 hours or more. However, Monroe in Green County did have a low chill value of -37 for one hour. Synoptically, a strong low pressure moved northeast through Minnesota while a strong cold front swept southeast through Wisconsin on the 29th. Another low pressure developed along the cold front while it was over northern Illinois on the 30th, which led to a tightening pressure gradient and stronger winds over southern Wisconsin.
A powerful winter storm raked south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the afternoon hours of January 29th into the pre-dawn hours of January 30th. The precipitation started off as rain and thunderstorms but then changed to freezing rain and sleet which then changed to snow and blowing snow with plunging temperatures. Peak sustained northwest winds were on the order of 26 to 33 knots (30 to 38 mph) with peak gusts of 39 to 49 knots (45 to 56 mph). There was one isolated peak gust of 54 knots (62 mph) at a Wisconsin DOT site on Interstate 94 west of the City of Racine. Visibilities were occasionally reduced to 1/4 to 1/2 mile in open areas. Dozens of vehicle accidents and slide-offs were noted by the media due to very slippery roads. Afternoon temperatures in the mid 30s to lower 40s quickly dropped through the 20s into the teens and then into the single digits by the evening hours, and eventually down to the -4F to -8F by the pre-dawn hours of the 30th. Although new snow amounts were only 1 to 3 inches, County Emergency Management Directors noted that this event was perceived as a winter storm due to the combination of thunderstorms, freezing rain, sleet, snow, blowing snow, strong winds, poor visibilities, and fast-falling temperatures. Synoptically, a strong low pressure moved northeast through Minnesota while a strong cold front swept southeast through Wisconsin. Another low pressure developed along the cold front while it was over northern Illinois, which led to a tightening pressure gradient and stronger winds over southern Wisconsin.
Powerful west to southwest winds reached sustained or peak gust threshold values for a high wind event in the counties of Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and Rock Counties in the pre-dawn hours of December 23rd. Peak measured gusts include 57 knots (66 mph) at a Wisconsin DOT instrument site on Interstate-94 about 3 miles west of Sturtevant (Racine Co.), 52 knots (60 mph) on the UW-Milwaukee campus and at a Sheboygan high school (Milwaukee TV-6 mesonet). Peak measured sustained winds include 38 knots (44 mph) at the Janesville Airport and at the CMAN coastal site near the harbor of Sheboygan, 37 knots (43 mph) at the Kenosha Airport, and 36 knots (41 mph) at Milwaukee Mitchell Field. Other gusts close to high wind value include 47 knots (55 mph) at the Kenosha Airport and 45 knots (52 mph) at Milwaukee Mitchell Field. The media reported that wind-broken tree branches fell on power-lines, resulting in scattered power outages. The high winds were the result of strong cold air advection and rising barometric rises behind a cold front. At least 2000 customers were without power for a few hours. Synoptically, low pressure deepened rapidly as it moved northeast through southeast Wisconsin on its way to the Upper Penesula of Michigan.
The first major winter storm of the 2007-08 winter season affected all of south-central and southeast Wisconsin with a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. The precipitation started off as snow (occasionally moderate to heavy) in the morning with accumulations eventually reaching around 2 inches near the Illinois border from Rock to Kenosha County, to 3 to 6 inches in the Madison to Milwaukee area, to 6 to 8 inches from Marquette County to Sheboygan County. Some thundersnow was reported. It then changed to sleet and then freezing rain from south to north across the area during the afternoon hours, and then freezing drizzle or light rain during the overnight hours. Ice accumulations ranged from 1/4 to 1/2 inch basically south of a line from Dodgeville to Madison to Milwaukee with the greatest amounts near the Illinois border.||A multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 90/94/39 near DeForest in northern Dane County resulted in one indirectly-related fatality. Another vehicle accident in the Town of Caledonia on STH 33 in Columbia County resulted in three indirectly-related fatalities. Otherwise, hundreds of spin-outs and accidents occurred across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Ice-covered tree branches broke and fell on power-lines due to southeast winds gusting to 30 to 39 knots (35 to 45 mph). As a result, scattered power outages occurred, and 12000 customers in south-central and southeast Wisconsin were without power for at least several hours. Dozens of airline flights at the Madison and Milwaukee airports were canceled. Hundreds of civic functions were canceled.||Specific snow and sleet accumulations include 8 at Howards Grove, 7 at West Bend, 6 to 6.5 inches in northern Marquette County, 6.2 inches at Madison Truax Field, 6 at Berlin, Lodi, Reedsburg, and Ashford (Fond du Lac Co.), 5.3 at Blanchardville, 5.1 at the NWS office southeast of Sullivan, 5 at Monroe, La Grange, Avoca, and far northwestern Ozaukee County, 4.9 inches at Brookfield, 4.5 at Brown Deer, 4 at Janesville, 3.5 inches at Milwaukee Mitchell Field and Waterford, and 2.2 at Paddock Lake.||Synoptically, a strong low-level jet of 60-70 knots pulled warm, moist air over colder air found at the surface resulting in a series of convective, moderate to heavy snow showers moving north through southern Wisconsin. A strong upstairs short-wave trough aided in vertical motion as the surface low pressure moved from the central plains northeast through southern Wisconsin.||Ultimately, many locations in the south-central and southeast counties of Wisconsin would have total snowfalls of 25 to 36 for the month of December, 2007. Normal snowfall for a December is 8 to 14. The image shown in this winter storm event depicts the snow amounts for December, 2007.
Strong, west to northwest winds behind a cold front gusted to 39 to 43 knots (45 to 49 mph) over three counties of southeastern Wisconsin. The maximum measured gust was 43 knots (49 mph) in St. Peter of the Town of Taycheedah, east of Fond du Lac. The media noted some scattered reports of broken tree limbs and power outages. Over the remainder of south-central and southeast Wisconsin maximum wind gusts were in the 30 to 38 knot range (35 to 44 mph). Synoptically, a low pressure moved up the Ohio River Valley, and deepened in the process.
Strong, post-cold-frontal, northwest winds gusting to 39 to 47 knots (45 to 54 mph) raked south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the daylight hours. They were accompanied by scattered rain/ice pellet/snow showers that briefly lowered visibilities to 1/2 to 1 mile. The media noted that wind-broken limbs fell on power-lines. Scattered power outages were the result. Additionally, about a dozen vehicles were damaged by the broken limbs. The strongest gusts were 47 knots (54 mph) at St. Roberts School in Milwaukee County (WITI TV-6 school network site), and 45 knots (52 mph) at Milwaukee Mitchell Field. Many of the strongest gusts occurred betwen 1100CST and 1400CST. Synoptically, a strong low pressure moved east across Lake Superior to Lake Huron while the trailing cold front swept southeast through Wisconsin.
During the afternoon and evening hours of August 22nd, the second round of storms for the calendar day moved east across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. The clusters or short lines of storms moved east at a speed of about 30 knots (35 mph), and generated damaging downburst straight-line winds that toppled trees and power-lines, and heavy rains that triggered flash flooding. Synoptically, a stationary front stretched from northern Iowa to Wisconsin/Illinois border. Warm, moist, unstable air flowed north over the front in association with an upper-level short-wave trough, resulting in thunderstorm generation. Hourly rainfall rates peaked around 2 inches.||By the end of August, 2007, many locations in south-central and southeast Wisconsin would establish new August rainfall records, and all-time/any month rainfall records. Many locations measured 10 to over 20 inches for the month of August, 2007, or about 200% to over 400% of normal. Normal August precipitation in southern Wisconsin is about 4 to 4.25 inches. Unofficially, about 25 inches fell at a location 2W of Barneveld, Iowa County. Specific August, 2007, monthly totals are listed in the various flash flood events of August 18-19th and August 22nd.
On June 18th small clusters of storms moved northeast through southeastern Wisconsin ahead of a cold front. Wet microbursts and macrobursts generated powerful wind gusts of 65 to 87 knots (75 to 100 mph) that toppled large trees, damaged power-lines and power-poles, and pushed over vehicles. Localized flash flooding was reported. Maximum afternoon air temperatures reached the mid to upper 80s with dewpoints in the mid to upper 60s. About 19,400 customers lost electrical service.
Strong south winds, gusting to around 39 knots (45 mph), raked parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on June 7th. These strong winds occurred ahead of a cold front that trailed behind a deep low pressure that moved northeast through the state of Minnesota. There were scattered reports of downed power-lines as the wind broke trees braches that then fell on the lines. At the top of the 15-story AOS Building on the UW-Madison campus, a 41 knot (47 mph) wind gust was measured at 0916CST.
Two lines of thunderstorms on June 7th, the first one pre-frontal and the second one along a cold front, moved east across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Some of the cells generated funnel clouds, powerful downburst winds that toppled large trees, and locally heavy rains (minor urban flooding).
Strong southwest winds ahead of a cold front gusted to 39 to 43 knots (45 to 49 mph) affected south-central and southeast Wisconsin for about 7 hours. Scattered tree damage was noted in the form of broken large tree branches. Scattered, minor, power outages were reported after broken tree branches landed on power-lines. The strong southwest winds were the result of a large pressure gradient ahead of a cold front moving west to east across Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, widespread, strong wind events usually occur behind cold fronts, rather than ahead of them.
A strong winter storm affected much of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on April 11th. Although heavy, wet snow accumulated to 3 to 8 inches, east-northeast winds gusting to around 30 to 42 knots (35 to 48 mph) created near-blizzard conditions (visibility of 1/4 to 1/2 mile for a couple hours) in open areas when convective bands of snow moved through. The maximum wind gust of 42 knots (48 mph) was measured at on the Kenosha city lakeshore. Some rain, freezing rain, and sleet were mixed in with the snow. With temperatures hovering around the freezing mark, some snowmelt occurred while it was snowing. The combination of ice accumulating on power lines, snow accumulations on trees and tree branches, and the gusty winds resulted in scattered power outages. About 10,000 customer lost electrical power in south-central Wisconsin and about 44,000 lost power in the southeastern counties. Newspaper articles indicated that there were numerous vehicle accidents due to slippery roads and poor visibilities. Many schools were closed. Milwaukee Mitchell Field (Milwaukee Co.) and Madison Truax Field (Dane Co.) both set new daily snowfall records of 7.0 and 5.3 inches, respectively. The old records were 3.2 and 3.8 inches, respectively; set back in 1997. Numerous airplane flights were delayed by up to 3 hour or more, or were cancelled at the Milwaukee and Madison airports. Other maximum county snowfall amounts, either measured or estimated, include 8 inches in southeast Marquette County, 8 inches in northcentral Columbia County, 8 inches in Hales Corner (Milwaukee Co.), 8 inches in Union Grove (Racine Co.), 8 inches in Delevan (Walworth Co.), 7 inches in Reedsburg (Sauk Co.), 7 inches in southwest Green Lake County, 7 inches in extreme northcentral Kenosha County, 7 inches in southeast Waukesha County, 6.9 inches in Mt. Horeb (Dane Co.), 6.5 inches in Clinton (Rock Co.), 6.5 inches in eastern Iowa County, 6.4 inches in Arygle (Lafayette Co.), 6.2 inches in Cedarburg (Ozaukee Co.) 6 inches in northwest Green County, 6 inches in western Dodge County, 6 inches in Jackson (Washington Co.), 6 inches in far northwest Jefferson County, and 5.5 to 6 inches in far northeast Fond du Lac County and far northwest Sheboygan Counties. On the low side, only 3 to 4 inches accumulated in a swath from Janesville to Watertown to Fond du Lac. At the start of the storm, a 17-year old boy died from the secondary effects (indirectly-related) of hypothermia/exposure near Busseyville in southwestern Jefferson County. He was found dead in a marshy location on Koshkonong Creek.
Strong northwest winds gusting to 45 knots (52 mph) raked the southeast Wisconsin counties near Lake Michigan mostly during the morning hours, as a deep low pressure moved east from Lake Huron. There were numerous reports of broken small tree branches, and overturned garbage cans and patio furniture. Scattered power outages occurred as broken branches impacted power lines. Measured maximum wind gusts include 45 knots (52 mph) just south of Waukesha (Waukesha Co.), 44 knots (51 mph) near Fond du Lac (Fond du Lac Co.), 42 knots (48 mph) at the Racine Airport (Racine Co.), 41 knots (47 mph) at the Kenosha Airport (Kenosha Co.). Other locations had gusts to 39 knots (45 mph).
A series of showers and thunderstorms, some with moderate to heavy rainfall rates, left behind rainfall totals of 1.5 almost 3 inches in a band from the Madison (Dane Co.) to Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.). This resulted in minor small stream/urban flooding in the Madison to Milwaukee corridor. Numerous roads were flooded at one time or another, but none were closed. Raw sewage was dumped into Lake Michigan after storm sewers/deep tunnel system filled up in the Milwaukee area. Specific rainfall totals include 1.84 inches at the UW-Charmany Farm on the southwest side of Madison, 1.80 inches at UW-Whitewater (Jefferson-Walworth county line), 2.48 inches in Elm Grove (Waukesha Co.), and 2.84 inches about 6 miles northwest of downtown Milwaukee. Most of the rain fell between 2100CST on April 2nd and 0600CST on April 3rd, although some minor road and stream flooding continued until about 1000CST on April 3rd. Additionally, lightning strikes were responsible for scattered power outages across south-central and southeast Wisconsin.
A blizzard event affected the counties of Milwaukee, Rock, and Walworth overnight from the 24th into the 25th. Convective bands of heavy snow, with hourly snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches moved through the area as east winds gusted to 30 to 38 knots (35 to 44 mph). Visibilities were reduced to 1/8 to 1/4 mile, and the blowing snow generated drifts of 1 to 4 feet in height. Thunder was heard. Snow accumulations include 9 to 10 inches in extreme northeast Rock County, 10 inches in Whitewater (Walworth Co.), 7 inches in Hales Corner (Milwaukee Co.), and 5.5 inches at Milwaukee Mitchell Field (Milwaukee Co.). Within a mile or so of the Lake Michigan shoreline in Milwaukee County the accumulations were only 1 to 3 inches due to the warming effects of Lake Michigan. Ultimately, about 11,000 customers lost electrical service due to the heavy wet snow accumulating on power-lines as the gusty winds pushed the lines around (mostly in the counties of Sheboygan, Washington, Waukesha, Milwaukee, and Racine). Many airplane flights were cancelled or delayed at Milwaukee Mitchell Field (Milwaukee Co.). Refer to related stories in the other blizzard and winter storm events in south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the period of February 23-25, 2007.|Starting during the overnight hours of the 25th, periods of leftover, wrap-around snow affected southern Wisconsin until about 0600CST on February 26th. This leftover snow accumulated another 1 to 4 inches. Consequently, the total new snowfall for the period of February 23-26, 2007 ranged from 8 to 12 inches near the Illinois border to 19 to 21 inches from Wisconsin Dells to the Fond du Lac area, with lesser amounts near the Lake Michigan shoreline.
Strong northwest winds gusting to 39 to 45 knots (45 to 52 mph) affected much of south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the pre-dawn hours of February 22nd. Many, small tree limbs were knocked down, with some of them hitting power lines. This resulted in scattered power outages. The highest two wind gusts were 45 knots (52 mph) at both Milwaukee Mitchell Field (Milwaukee Co.) and at a Milwaukee TV-6 school network site in Grafton (Ozaukee Co.). Otherwise all other maximum wind gusts were in the 39 to 42 knot range (45 to 48 mph).
A stagnant weather pattern on August 23rd and 24th resulted in waves of heavy rain and severe thunderstorms. A warm front pushed north during the afternoon of August 23rd. A very unstable airmass with moderate shear caused thunderstorms to break out during the afternoon and continue through most of the overnight as a warm front moved north through the area. Very large hail was the primary hazard with some of the supercell thunderstorms, although there were several reports of wind damage, one tornado 2 miles south-southeast of Leland, and torrential downpours with localized flooding. Incredibly, three separate supercells tracked southeast through Sauk County almost along the same path. Each supercell had a rotating wall cloud at its base, but only one supercell managed to spin up a brief tornado. After a brief respite of only 3 hours during the morning hours of August 24th, more storms developed during the late morning and afternoon hours. More heavy rain, large hail, damaging winds, and vivid lightning resulted from these storms. Urban flooding in Dane and Kenosha counties caused a few hundred thousand dollars in structural damage. Some two-day rainfall totals across Dane County include 5.70 inches in Oregon, 5.38 inches in Cottage Grove, 3.26 inches in Middleton, 2.77 inches at Beloit College, and 2.73 inches at Madison Truax Field. Roughly 12,000 customers lost electrical power due to downed power lines and lightning strikes.
Scattered clusters of thunderstorms developed during the mid-morning hours and moved southeast with time. These storms produced mainly damaging winds up to 61 knots (70 mph), and some isolated large hail. Vivid lightning was also noted. Lightning hit a tree in Racine around 0910CST causing it to fall onto and lightly damage a car. About 15,000 customers were without electrical power due to tree damage to power-lines.
During the pre-dawn early morning hours of July 20th, a severe squall line pushed into south-central and southeast Wisconsin from southern Minnesota. This squall line produced mainly damaging winds, some reports being "significant" (>65 knots or hurricane-force), and only a couple hail reports. One of the significant reports was at a location 4 miles northeast of Monona at 0140CST where a gust of 71 knots (82 mph) was measured, before the power went out. Hundreds of trees were knocked down in the Madison area, and there were dozens power-line damage reports. Up to 40,000 customers lost electrical power across southern Wisconsin, with 13,000 alone in the Madison area. The squall line weakened as it approached the corner of southeast Wisconsin due to weakening instability, despite still favorable deep layer shear. Toward dawn, more scattered thunderstorms developed across south-central Wisconsin as a northwest to southeast axis of instability redeveloped. A few of these storms pulsed up to produce only marginal severe hail and wind.
Numerous thunderstorms developed during the early morning hours of June 21st, producing mainly damaging straightline winds. Trees and power lines were reported down across many areas of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. A funnel cloud was also reported in Dane County and a hail report was received from Rock County. Synoptically, thunderstorms developed along a warm front that extended from northeast Iowa, into southern Wisconsin and across Lake Michigan into Lower Michigan. A layer of drier air aloft contributed to the cause for wind damaging thunderstorms.
As a shortwave approached southern Wisconsin during the afternoon, it interacted with unstable conditions to produce scattered clusters of severe thunderstorms that dumped large hail up to the size of golf balls, and produced isolated downburst winds that pulled down trees and power lines. Steep lapse rates and cold air aloft allowed for hail formation within the storms. A funnel cloud was observed near Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport (Milwaukee Co.) around 1501CST, and another one over the city of Racine (Racine Co.) around 1525CST.
Strong northwest wind gusts of 39 to 43 knots (45 to 50 mph) affected south-central and southeast Wisconsin on May 11th, in the wake of an abnormally strong low pressure that tracked from the Texas Panhandle into Lower Michigan. This resulted in scattered light tree damage and power outages. In addition, there were two indirectly-related vehicle accident deaths. In one case, a woman was killed as her son lost control of the vehicle on a wet road during a rain shower, which led to a head-on collision in the town of Grafton (Ozaukee Co.) around 0825CST (poor visibility and inattentiveness may have been factors, based on the police report). Elsewhere, a man died in Fitchburg (Dane Co.) around 1500CST when he lost control of his vehicle trying to swerve from a large tree limb on the road, and hit another tree. Some notable maximum wind gusts include 43 knots (50 mph) at Sheboygan North High School (Sheboygan Co. - Milwaukee TV-6 school net site), 42 knots at Madison Memorial High School (Dane Co. - Madison TV-15 school net site), and 41 knots (47 mph) at the ASOS units at both Milwaukee Mitchell Field (Milwaukee Co.) and the Sheboygan County Airport northwest of Sheboygan Falls. Last, but not least, temperatures fell to unseasonably cold levels in the 30s during the afternoon. A mix of rain and snow or all light snow resulted toward the tail end of a convective precipitation shield during the later afternoon and overnight hours. Snow accumulations up to 1 inch occurred on top of 1716-foot high Blue Mound in eastern Iowa County, as well as in the higher, grassy areas in parts of Sauk, Dane, Jefferson, Walworth, and Waukesha counties.
Wild weather occurred over parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on April 13, 2005. Wisconsin's most-costly hailstorm pummeled a large swath from around Mineral Point (Iowa Co.) to north of Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.), while hurricane-force thunderstorm winds raked parts of Fond du Lac and Sheboygan Counties. Here's what happened: scattered supercells developed in eastern Iowa during the late afternoon hours of April 13th and pushed east-northeastward through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois during the evening. Three main hailstorms affected southern Wisconsin. The first hailstorm left a swath of hail and hail damage from southern Iowa County (around 1945CST), through central Dane County, through northern Jefferson County, through northern Waukesha County, to northern Milwaukee County by 2151CST. This storm produced mainly 1 to 4 inch diameter hail, with a 4.25 inch hailstone reported by a State Trooper about 3 miles northwest of Lake Mills at 2055CST (larger hailstones of 4.5 to 5.7 inches in diameter have been reported in Wisconsin in previous years). A second hailstorm developed just south of the first storm and left a swath of hail and hail damage from northern Lafayette County (around 1956CST through northern Green County, through southeast Dane County., through central and southern Jefferson County, through central Waukesha County, to central Milwaukee County by 2210CST. This storm produced hailstones up to 1.5 inch in diameter. The third hailstorm developed in southern Dodge County around 2056CST, and pushed through southern Washington County into central Ozaukee County by 2139CST. This storm produced 1 to 2 inch diameter hail. Damage was widespread and extensive with the three hailstorms. Thousands of motor vehicles, residential homes, businesses, and farms sustained hail damage, but luckily, there were no reports of injuries or deaths. Vehicle damage consisted of broken windows and dented sheetmetal. Roofs, widows, and siding of buildings were damaged. Many water-birds were killed on several inland lakes. No crop losses were reported, given that the growing season had not started as of April 13th.Based on partial insurance company information and some estimation, the April 13th hailstorms resulted in total damage amounts of about $158.55 million. This makes the April 13th episode the most costly hailstorm to affect Wisconsin. Collectively in 9 counties, at least 23,500 vehicle claims, at least 18,650 residential claims, and at least 2,515 business/farm claims were filed with various insurance companies through June 30, 2006. These claims translated to at least $49.8 million in vehicle damage, at least $96.8 million in residential home damage, and at least $11.95 million in business/farm damage (new claims were still being filed as of June 28, 2006, therefore, these numbers may ultimately increase by 5 to 10%). Insurance company numbers, as provided to the Milwaukee/Sullivan WFO (monetary value of claims and number of claims), were not broken down by county. Therefore, estimated county-by-county breakdowns were derived - based on area affected in each county by hailstones 1.0 inches or larger, county population density, and relative sizes of the 20 largest insurance companies in Wisconsin. The estimated county monetary losses are: $66.59 million in Dane County, $22.2 million in both Iowa and Waukesha County, $17.44 million in Jefferson County, $7.93 million in both Milwaukee and Washington County, $6.34 million in Ozaukee County, $4.73 million in Lafayette County, and $3.17 million in Dodge County. These county numbers were then broken down and appropriated to the largest of the individual hail reports within each county (see header strips above).Last, but not least, a line of thunderstorms then pushed southeast out of Calumet and Manitowoc Counties through northeast Fond du Lac County and northern and eastern Sheboygan County between 2312CST and 2342CST. This line produced straight-line wind gusts up to an estimated 78 knots (90 mph) which caused extensive damage. Northeast Fond du Lac County was affected at 2315-2320CST, extending from 1.0 mile northwest of Marytown to 1.9 miles east southeast of Marytown. A dozen homes to sustain roof or siding damage, and on one farm a barn and a pole-shed were destroyed. Another farm had a barn and a garage destroyed and the nearby home was moved. Monetary damage amounts were estimated to be about $500,000 in Fond du Lac County. Sheboygan County was affected at 2325-2345CST, extending from Elkart Lake to 5 miles south of Sheboygan. In this area, 2 barns and 5 pole sheds were destroyed, trees and powerlines were pushed onto several cars, a roof was torn off of a home in the city of Plymouth, and a roof was torn off a garage in the Town of Plymouth. In addition, a cargo trailer in the city of Sheboygan was blown 60 to 70 feet and smashed into a building that housed several businesses. About 300 customers in the city of Plymouth were without power. The Sheboygan ASOS equipment at the Sheboygan airport northwest of the city of Sheboygan recorded a gust of 58 knots (67 mph). Monetary damage amounts were estimated to be about $400,000 in Sheboygan County. Synopically, a stationary front draped itself over southern Wisconsin during the afternoon and evening of April 13th. Temperatures climbed into the mid 70s across south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the afternoon. Moderate low-level instability, cold air aloft, and strong vertical wind-shear profiles with very steep lapse-rates caused storms to fire and produce giant hail.
Strong, gusty west-southwest winds affected parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin in the wake of a cold front. Maximum gusts peaked at 39 to 42 kts (45 to 48 mph). Scattered power outages were reported when broken tree branches hit power-lines.
A deep low pressure over Upper Michigan brought gusty, high winds in excess of 50 kts (58 mph) to four Wisconsin counties boardering Lake Michigan during the late morning to afternoon hours of March 13th. Maximum west-southwest gusts include 56 kts (64 mph) at a Milwaukee TV-6 school site in Kenosha (Kenosha Co.), 52 kts (60 mph) in Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.), and 51 kts (59 mph) in the cities of Racine (Racine Co.), and Sheboygan (Sheboygan Co.). The usual reports of scattered power outages due to broken tree branches were received.
Strong post, cold-frontal northwest winds, gusting to 39 to 44 knots (45 to 51 mph), affected south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Scattered power outages were noted due to broken tree branches hitting power-lines. Some of the broken tree branches littered road surfaces, and the usual garbage cans across the street idea prevailed.
Powerful southwest to west winds gusts up to 55 knots (63 mph) raked parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin after a cold front had passed through the area. The usual reports of wind-broken tree branches falling on power lines were noted in newspapers. In Sheboygan County, a power outage was reported in Oostburg, and near the city of Sheboygan roof trusses on a new storage building were blown off. Also, in the city of Sheboygan, span-crete was blown off its supports at a high school, knocking down a portion of a wall under construction. It is estimated that monetary damage amounts in Sheboygan County may ahve reached $100,000. The estimated power-line damage in each of the other south-central and southeast counties was around $10,000. In the city of West Bend (Washington Co.), the wind gusts pushed over a basketball hoop which smashed a vehicle's front window. Specific peak wind gusts include 55 knots (63 mph) on the UW-Milwaukee campus (Milwaukee Co.), 54 knots (62 mph) at Madison TV-15's school network site in Lodi (Columbia Co.), 53 knots (61 mph) at Milwaukee TV-6's school network site in Racine (Racine Co.), 52 knots (60 mph) at Madison TV-15's school network site in Darlington (Lafayette Co.), and 51 knots (59 mph) at the following locations - Sheboygan ASOS site near the city of Sheboygan (Sheboygan Co.), Milwaukee TV-6's school network site in Jackson (Washington Co.), and at the home of a severe weather spotter near Taycheedah (Fond du Lac Co.). Otherwise, most of southern Wisconsin had peak gusts in the 39 to 49 knot range (45 to 57 mph).
A strong cold front pushed into an unseasonably hot and humid airmass over south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the afternoon and evening, resulting in severe storms with damaging straight-line winds. Temperatures ranged from the mid 80s across south central Wisconsin to near record highs in the lower 90s across southeast Wisconsin. There were primarily two areas that were affected by severe thunderstorms. A broken line of severe storms from Marquette to Dane County tracked east northeast into Dodge, Fond du Lac, Washington, and Sheboygan counties. This line produced damaging wind gusts from between 50 to 62 knots (58 mph to 71 mph). Tree and power line damage was reported across many areas affected by this line of storms. Another area affected by severe storms stretched from Rock county through Walworth, Waukesha, Milwaukee, and Ozaukee counties as one large supercell developed and tracked northeast along I-43. Several reports of damaging winds estimated in excess of 70 knots (80 mph) were collected from portions of Waukesha county. Widespread tree and power line damage was noted from Mukwonago through Brookfield. More sporatic tree and power line damage was reported across northern Milwaukee and southern Ozaukee counties.
Three different rounds of severe weather occurred between the afternoon of June 4th and the evening of June 5th. The second round of severe weather occurred during the late evening on June 4th through the early morning hours on June 5th. Clusters of severe thunderstorms, producing mainly large hail and damaging winds, crossed most of South-Central and Southeast Wisconsin. Golf-ball sized hail (1.75 inches) was measured at a location 3 miles east of Delavan at 2210CST and 1 mile west of Kenosha at 0315CST. Damaging winds caused tree and power line damage across Lafayette, Sauk, Iowa, Green, and Fond du Lac counties. A pontoon boat was overturned in Lafayette County which caused $5,000 in damage. Synoptically, an area of low pressure tracked across eastern South Dakota on June 4th and into northern Minnesota by late evening on June 5th. A warm front surged north across South-Central and Southeast Wisconsin during the evening on June 4th, causing thunderstorms to develop. The warm front stalled for a bit during the early morning hours on June 5th, allowing another round to develop and head east across the area. Finally, the warm front pushed into northern Wisconsin, allowing warm and humid air to flood into the region, fueling the final round along the cold front by late afternoon or early evening on June 5th.
An unusually early-season severe weather outbreak (first of the season), consisting of 3 rounds of widespread, severe storms, affected south-central and southeast Wisconsin on March 30, 2005. One brief tornado was documented, and there were numerous reports of large hail and damaging, straight-line, downburst, thunderstorm winds. Most of the larger hailstones consisted of clumps of soft hail of various sizes. The responsible surface low-pressure system developed in the Plains during the morning hours, and moved to northwest Wisconsin by the late evening hours. Meanwhile, an associated surface warm front surged north into central Wisconsin during the morning hours, bringing unseasonably warm air into the area. Maximum afternoon temperatures ranged from the upper 60s to mid 70s inland from Lake Michigan, with the highest reading of 77 in Janesville and 9NW Beloit.As instability increased during the morning, isolated thunderstorms developed across eastern part of the state of Iowa. These storms grew more intense and moved into south-central and southwest Wisconsin. The first round of severe thunderstorms occurred as an elongated supercell crossed the Illinois/Wisconsin border and into Lafayette and Iowa counties between 1130 and 1220CST. This storm produced .75 to 1.50 inch diameter hail before moving into Dane county where it split into two supercells. The northern most supercell briefly produced an F0 tornado just east of Waunakee. Both of these storms continued through Columbia, Dodge, and Fond du Lac counties where they produced funnel clouds, wind gusts to 56 knots (65 mph), and .75 to 1.25 inch diameter hail. As clouds began to decrease in the wake of these supercells, instability increased and scattered thunderstorms re-developed across south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the afternoon. These storms quickly pulsed to severe limits, producing wind gusts generally between 52 and 60 knots (60 to 70 mph) and 3/4 to 1 inch diameter hail. One thunderstorm's gust front produced a gustnado just northwest of St. Lawrence (Washington Co.) with estimated wind gusts to 65 knots (75 mph).The final round of severe thunderstorms (just ahead of a cold front) developed across northeast Illinois and pushed through southeast Wisconsin between 1700 and 1900CST. These storms produced 3/4 to 1 inch diameter hail, and wind gusts to around 52 knots (60 mph) across portions of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Walworth, Racine, and Kenosha counties. The damaging winds blew over a billboard in Kenosha county and parts of a roof and power lines were found on a roadway in Racine county.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed continuously throughout the day as a surface trough pushed into south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Several of these storms pulsed to severe levels and produced damaging winds and large hail. Trees and power lines were toppled by the powerful winds. In addtion, several funnel clouds were reported across Columbia, Jefferson, Dodge, Washington, and Fond du Lac county, and one weak tornado spun up 2.6 miles southwest of Wyocena and dissipated at 5.5 miles northeast of Poynette. Refer to the individual tornado report for more details. Numerous reports of trees damage were noted as a result from damaging winds from Sauk County, to Dane, Columbia, and Marquette counties. More damage resulted when hail pelted cars across parts of Sauk, Dane, Green, and Waukesha counties. Two to three inches of rain fell within a two hour timespan (WSR-88D estimate) resulting in urban flooding in the Middleton to Madison area. Brief water depths of 1 to 3 feet slowed traffic or stalled cars.
Two rounds of severe weather affected parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on June 23rd, with the second round featuring 8 tornadoes, large hail (up to golf-ball size), and powerful straight-line downburst winds. A warm front moving north through the area resulted in favorable vertical wind shear to allow for supercell development.The 1st round of severe weather was due to a broken line of intense thunderstorms moving across Walworth, Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties. Hail of up to 1 inch in diameter and torrential rainfall accompanied these storms before they moved over Lake Michigan and weakened. The 2nd round of severe weather was dominated by 2 cyclic supercells - one moved east/southeast through Marquette, Green Lake, Fond du Lac, and Washington Counties, spinning up 5 separate tornadoes, dumping hail stones up to 3 inches in diameter, and hurricane-force downburst winds. The large hail dented several vehicles. Two of these were rated F3. Refer to the individual tornado reports for more details. A more southerly supercell tracked across extreme southern Sauk County and then made a partial right turn and headed southeast through Dane County, spinning up 2 tornadoes in the process, as well as large hail and downburst winds. One powerful downburst wind in Madison (Dane Co.) blew equipment off the roof of a business at the Midvale Shopping Mall. A semi southwest of Ft. Atkinson was blown over by straight-line wind gusts. This southern supercell eventually spun up another tornado in south-central Jefferson County which moved into north-central Walworth County. Refer to the individual tornado reports for more details.Both supercells had downbursts that generated large hail and powerful, hurricane-force winds north and south of their tracks. Over all of Wisconsin, 16 tornadoes were documented on June 23rd, which is the 4th highest single-day total (record is 24 on May 8, 1988). For south-central and southeast Wisconsin, the 8 tornadoes on June 23rd was tied for the 4th highest single-day total (record is 11 on May 8, 1988).
Strong gradient winds affected south-central and southeast Wisconsin for many hours. Maximum wind gusts were generally in the 40 to 49 kt range (46 to 57 mph). There were numerous newspaper reports of broken tree branches hitting power lines with a resultant power outage. Strong cross winds may have been indirectly responsible for the death of a motorcyclist who lost control and crashed in a farm field in the Town of Yorkville of Racine County. In Sheboygan County near Glenbeulah the strong winds moved a silo off its foundation about 16 inches, ripped a door off a barn, and knocked down some large trees. In the city of Sheboygan the strong winds blew in several windows at a car dealership. Near the city of Oregon (Dane Co.) a home was damaged by a large, wind-toppled tree. Electrical companies estimated that about 20,000 customers in south-central and southeast Wisconsin lost power at one time or another.
Strong, gradient southwest winds were replaced with west to northwest winds after a cold front moved through south-central and southeast Wisconsin. There were numerous reports of broken tree limbs, with some of them downing power lines. A few vehicles sustained minor damage due to tree-branch debris.
Strong, gradient, west to northwest winds, on the back side of a low pressure system, raked parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the afternoon hours of March 7, 2004. Scattered snow showers were associated with the strong winds. Peak gusts were in the 35 to 49 kt range (40-57 mph), resulting in numerous reports of tree limbs knocked out of trees and/or pushed onto power lines. A few vehicles sustained minor damage due to tree-branch debris.
Strong west to northwest, post-cold-frontal winds occurred over parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Maximum wind gusts were generally in the 39 to 49 kts range (45 to 57 mph). Some large trees or large tree branches toppled onto some power lines, resulting in loss of commercial power for a couple hours. All counties had reports of downed power-lines. The gusts caused a construction crane to be pushed againt the wall of a hospital in Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.), resulting in window and trim damage. In the city of Waukesha (Waukesha Co.), the gusty winds pushed a tree onto a home, resulting minor roof damage. At least 6200 customers in southeast Wisconsin lost electrical power, but there were no serious fires, injuries, or deaths.
An upper low dropped into Wisconsin, which contributed to the development of thunderstorms across the south-central and southeast parts of the state. Strong thunderstorm winds up to an estimated 56 knots (65 mph) knocked down trees at scattered locations across the area. The powerful winds toppled large trees onto a truck in Richfield (Washington Co.), severely damaging the trailer. Up to 1.75" diameter hail wrecked havoc on several farms south to southeast of Edgerton (Rock Co.), damaging corn, soybean, and tobacco crops. A small tobacco plot on one farm was a "total loss." The damage swath was about 1 mile wide and 4 miles long. Lightning ignited a fire at the Mequon Office Park in Mequon (Ozaukee Co.) which severely damaged an office building, and destroyed a business's furniture and computers. Hail damage to several fruit farms was also noted in Mequon. Roughly 4,500 customers in southeast Wisconsin lost electrical power due to lightning strikes and/or tree debris hitting power lines. The hardest hit locations were Port Washington (Ozaukee Co.), West Bend (Washington Co.), and Menomonee Falls (Waukesha Co.).
A broken line of thunderstorms, some severe, moved east across south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the pre-dawn hours of July 4, 2003. This was the first of 5 consecutive days with some severe convection. In general, downburst, straight-line wind gusts of 50 to 60 knots (58 to 69 mph) were the cause of scattered reports of toppled large trees and power lines. All other locations had gusts to at least 39 to 48 knots (45 to 55 mph) as the storms moved east. In the city of Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.) a tree was pushed onto a home, resulting in minor damage. Likewise, southeast of Eagle (Waukesha Co.) the powerful thunderstorm winds pushed a tree onto a home's roof, resulting in minor damage. In addition, thunderstorm winds pushed a tree onto a home in Plain (Sauk Co.), resulting in minor damage. The storm moved east out over the Lake Michigan waters, but gradually weakened. Newspaper reports indicated that at least 45,000 customer in southeast Wisconsin lost power for several hours, while at least 9000 customers in south-central Wisconsin had a similar experience due to tree debris knocking down power-lines. A 26-year old mail died in the city of Milwaukee on July 2, 2004, due to a variety of causes, with heat being listed as a contributing cause (indirectly-related to heat). Maximum temperaures of 83 and 85 were observed at Milwaukee Mitchell Field on July 1st and 2nd, suggesting that a localized urban heat-island effect took place.
High winds gusting from the west-southwest up to 50 knots (58 mph) at the Kenosha Coast Guard Station, resulted in downed trees, tree branches, and power-lines in around around the city of Kenosha. One vehicle in the city of Kenosha was damaged after a tree fell on it. Elsewhere across south-central and southeast Wisconsin, wind gusts were in the 35 to 47 knots (40 to 54 mph), resulting in scattered reports of small tree limbs breaking from trees. A peak gust of 47 knots (54 mph) was measured at Milwaukee's Mitchell Field (Milwaukee Co.). Altogether, about 6000 customers lost electrical power in the counties of Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha due to tree branches falling onto power-lines. The widespread, strong to high winds were related to a deep low pressure moving east-northeast away from Wisconsin.
A mixture of freezing rain, sleet, and snow resulted in a slight galzing of ice and sleet. Ice accumulations were only about 1/8 inch. Toward the end of this event, 1 inch snow accumulations were reported. During the event, northeast winds were gusting to 26 to 30 knots (30 to 35 mph). There were some reports of minor tree and power line damage. Numerous vehicle accidents were noted in newspapers. One driver was critically injured in a vehicle accident near Oregon (Dane Co.). Many social events were cancelled, and some schools cancelled classes. Synoptically, low pressure moved east across central Illinois with a warm front ahead of it. Warm, moist, and somewhat unstable air was pulled north up and over a layer of cold air about 3 to 5,000 feet thick over Wisconsin.
The severer weather and flooding that affected much of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on August 21, 2002, into the pre-dawn hours of the 22nd, was probably the most widespread and significant outbreak for the 2002 warm-season. Just about every type of weather phenomena was observed: a tornado; a funnel cloud; powerful, hurricane-force, downburst winds that uprooted trees and damaged buildings; torrential rains reducing visibilities to 100 feet; urban and small stream flooding; numerous lightning strikes - some that resulted in fire damage; and the early stages of a ground-based vortex that never made it to tornado status. Clusters and short lines of thunderstorms ahead of a cold front eventually merged into a single complex that moved west to east across southern Wisconsin. Surface dewpoints were in the lower 70s and maximum afternoon temperatures were in the mid to upper 80s. At least 56,000 customers in southeast Wisconsin lost electrical power thanks to lightning strikes, and tree damage to power lines. One of the worst lightning strikes was in Fox Point (Milwaukee Co.), where a lightning fire burned a home to the ground. In the city of Racine (Racine Co.), lightning blew a home's windows out. Near Rewey (Iowa Co.), the thunderstorm winds blew the roof of a building, and flattened a farm shed. Just southwest of Lamont (Lafayette Co.), the winds blew an attached garage off a home, demolished an old barn whose pieces were pushed onto a road, and leveled several large trees. North of Baraboo (Sauk Co.), the winds pushed a tree on to a home, and damaged siding and cables on another home. A weak F0 tornado spun up in the rural area north-northwest of Oakfield (Fond du Lac Co.), but damage was limited to vegetation. The discussion on this tornado can be found as a separate August 21, 2002 episode in this publication. About 3 miles southeast of Oakfield, a gustnado (Thunderstorm Wind event) with estimated wind speeds of 61 to 70 kts (70 to 80 mph) tore off a pole shed's roof, demolished yard furniture, and severely damaged another building. Some corn crop was also damaged. Based on WSWR-88D imagery, it appears that the convergence of two gust fronts initiated the gustnado. North-northeast of Monroe (Green Co.) a shed was blown onto a road and further northeast near Albany a farm wagon was blown on to a road. Partial roof damage occurred southwest of Albion (Dane Co.) as the storms moved through. A trained spotter on the west shore of Rock Lake in the city of Lake Mills (Jefferson Co.) observed a circulation whip up 3-foot tall waves with white caps on the lake while also observing a wall cloud above. This vortex never spun up to cloud base, which would have classified it a tornado. No damage was noted. A weak gustnado on a gust front, with estimated winds of 52 to 61 kts (60 to 70 mph) damaged some corn and trees just 1/4 mile to the west of the Milwaukee/Sullivan NWS office east of Rome. An incredibly powerful macroburst tore through the area from just northeast of the Waukesha County airport northeastward through Pewaukee to that part of Brookfield east of Capital Drive Airport. Estimated wind speeds reach 100 mph based on a measured gust of 98 mph at a home south of Green Rd. near Duplainville, in the Town of Brookfield. At the intersection of I-94 and Hwy T, the steel support posts for road signs were twisted by the winds. At least 8 homes southeast of Duplainville had damage ranging from blown-out windows and damaged chimneys to roof damage, toppled street lights, and a demolished garage. One house was slightly shifted off it foundation; obviously it wasn't well-anchored to its foundation. In the city of Brookfield there were two localized areas where large trees were uprooted: in the Camelot Park area and in the Beverly Hills Park area. A large tree fell onto a home's screened porch, resulting in severe damage. A couple other homes had some minor gutter, siding, and window damage as large tree branches scraped the sides while falling. The powerful winds also hit Milwaukee County hard. An estimated wind gust of at least 70 kts (80 mph) ripped a 100-foot long blimp from its mooring at Timmerman Field, allowing the blimp to fly about 6 blocks and damage 4 homes on impact. The winds blew water through the flaps that cover the edges of the retractable roof panels of Miller Park in Milwaukee, resulting in a saturated playing field, and some wet spectators. In Cudahy an eight-car garage's roof was removed by the winds, and 3 stalls collapsed, based on Amateur Radio reports. A picnic shelter and several other garages and businesses on College Ave. near Lake Michigan also sustained some damage. In the city of South Milwaukee, a business's sign and fence were destroyed by the winds. Another powerful hurricane-force microburst moved northeast through Sturtevant (Racine Co.) through the north side of the city of Racine to Wind Point. The roof of an apartment building in Racine was partially ripped off by the winds. In addition, large trees were uprooted and several other homes suffered slight damage from felled trees and tree branches. Farther west in the Waterford area, a 2-story tall grain bin was lifted off the ground and moved 15 feet by the winds, while nearby large trees were damaged.Torrential rainfalls up to the rate of 1 inch in 15 to 20 minutes were common with many of the storms, resulting in scattered areas of urban and small stream flooding. The rainfall rate at one location in the city of Milwaukee peaked at over 6 inches per hour! Combined late-afternoon and evening rainfall totals reached 1 to 3 inches across much of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. The southern part of Lafayette County near the Illinois border received up to 5 to 6 inches of rain (based on WSR-88D Doppler radar rainfall estimates) due to repeated rounds of thunderstorms moving west to east across that area. In Gratiot, 4.10 inches were measured, but this location was north of the area that had greater amounts. Just across the border in the northwestern Illinois counties of Jo Daviess and Stephenson spotters measured over 10 inches of rain! Luckily for Lafayette County, which has hilly terrain, the rains came in several rounds and resulted in only urban/small stream flooding, rather than flash flooding.
A series of thunderstorms with heavy rains repeatedly trained through a corridor from northwest of East Troy (Walworth Co.) to Waukesha (Waukesha Co.) to the Wauwatosa area (Milwaukee Co.), resulting in flash flooding damage. Area rivers and streams quickly rose about 1 foot above bankfull and many low-lying roads had fast-moving currents of water up to 4 feet deep flowing across them. Mud-slides and gravel shoulder washouts were noted, as well as several stalled vehicles. An Amateur Radio operator in the Waukesha city area measured a total of 7.8 inches of rain in about 4 hours. Other hams and volunteer spotters reported 5 to 7 inches back southwest into Walworth County. In Wauwatosa, a golf course along the Menomonee flooded over when that river exceeded its bank. Spotters noted that visibilities were reduced to below 1/4 mile in the heavy downpours. The combination of numerous lightning strikes and gusty winds of 35 to 39 kts (40 to 45 mph) across southeast Wisconsin left about 30,000 customers without electrical power; in some cases until the afternoon of the next day. The gusty winds broke small tree branches which then struck power lines. An Elm Grove (Waukesha Co.) home was struck by lightning which started a fire that gutted the 2nd floor. A lightning strike on the south side of Janesville knocked a substation out for almost 2 hours. Lightning struck a home east of Grafton (Ozaukee Co.) near Lake Michigan. An attic fire resulted in a small fire, and the home's electrical circuits were damaged. Outside the flash flood areas, rainfall amounts were generally in the 1 to 3 inch range, which signaled the end of the light to moderate drought that affected south-central and southeast Wisconsin since the end of June, 2002. Milwaukee Mitchell Field received 2.32 inches of rain for August 12th, a new daily record, breaking the old record of 1.30 inches set back in 1879.
A series of severe thunderstorms moved southeast through southeast Wisconsin wtih powerful winds that toppled trees and power lines, as well as damaging some structures. Damage to power lines resulted in the loss of electrical power to 12,000 customers in the Milwaukee area. Northwest of Beechwood (Sheboygan Co.), the winds destoyed one small metal shed, and rolled over a propane tank. Northeast of Ootsburg (Sheboygan Co.), the powerful winds toppled dozens of trees near Kohler/Andrea State Park, and damaged a couple homes. In Washington County, a car and boat in Hartford were damaged by toppled trees, and a shed near Jackson was blown down. Heavy rains associated with training thunderstorm cells created urban flooding in the city of Kenosha when .71 inches of rain fell in only 11 minutes (at the rate of 5.07 inches per hour). Likewise, urban flooding developed in the city of Sheboygan when 1.81 inches of rain fell in 70 minutes ending at 1910CST (...and 3.57 inches in past 5 hours). Synoptically, a mesoscale convective system moved southeast through Wisconsin overnight on the 7th and in the early morning hours of the 8th. The trailing edge of this system brushed Sheboygan county with isolated severe weather at mid-day. The outflow boundary left over from the MCS focused new thunderstorm development between Fond du Lac and Milwaukee as the low-level jet intensifed while a short-wave aloft moved through the area.
Scattered, evening, severe thunderstorms with damaging straight-line winds and large hail developed over parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. The powerful winds toppled trees which pulled down power lines. In addition, brief, torrential rainfalls resulted in urban floodiing on the southwest side of the city of Milwaukee around 76th and Oklahoma, where water was 10 inches deep on roads. About 4,000 homes in Jefferson and Milwaukee counties lost electrical power due to downed lines or lightning hits.
Three lines of severe thundrestorms moved east-southeast across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. The last line was the strongest of the three. Damaging, straightline winds were the most common type of severe weather, althought some large hail stones were spotted. Brief, torrential downpours accompanied some of the storms, especially in the counties of Dane, Racine and Kensoha. The toppled trees pulled down power lines near Fontana (Walworth Co.), and across much of Racine and Kenosha counties. The Racine Wastewater Treatment Plant registered a peak northwest wind gust of 58 kts (67 mph). In the cities of Sturtevant (Racine Co.) and Racine, 4 vehicles and 2 garages were damaged or destroyed due to felled trees. On another Racine home, the wind blew an old chimney down. At least another 4 homes in Racine had some gutter or siding damage. In Sturtevant, a flaf pole was bend 45 degrees, and a stored pontoon boat was flipped over. A covered wagon in Kansasville (Racine Co.) was damaged when the thunderstorm winds blew it over. Roof shingles were ripped off several homes in the city of Kenosha. One Kenosha home had a large tree fall on its roof, damaging the chimney, gutters, and wood trim. A large yacht was blown off its perch and into a fence near the Lake Michigan shoreline in downtown Kenosha, but sustained only minor damage. Lightning struck an apartment building in Stoughton (Dane Co.), starting a fire that left $20,000 in damage. In Fitchburg (Dane Co.), lightning struck a home and traveled down a pipe to the basement where a small fire started in a rubbish bin. Rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches generated some small stream flooding that pushed water over the roads in Sringfield Corners (Dane Co.). Up to 3.5 inches of rain fell in Menomonee Falls (Waukesha Co.) resulting in urban flooding, which extened east across northern Milwaukee County where 2 to 3 inches fell. Several roads in northern Milwaukee County had water up to 12 to 18 inches deep. Heavy rains in Racine County lead to hydroplaining problems on Interstate 94 where a semitrailer truck jack-knifed and rolled over at about 0730CST. A wake-low developed over southeastern Wisconsin on the west side of the 3rd line of storms, after it had moved east to over Lake Michigan. The pressure gradient between the thunderstorm-induced mesohigh over Lake Michigan and the wake low in the vicinity of Madison to Whitewater generated a high wind event over the eastern parts of the counties of Racine and Kenosha. Southeast winds gusted to 50 knots (58 mph) at the GLERL observation site on the shore of Lake Michigan in downtown Kenosha at 0900CST, and were equal to or greater than 35 kts (40 mph) betwen 0855 and 0955CST. Numerous trees were pushed down by the high winds, and a greenhouse on the UW-Parkside campus sustained window damage. Gusty southeast winds to 30 to 43 knots (35 to 50 mph) were noted over the remainder of southeast and south-central Wisconsin south of Interstate 94 and east of Interstate 90, resulting in many small branches breaking off of trees. The combination of severe thunderstorms followed by high winds resulted in 18,000 customers losing electrical power in the counties of Racine and Kenosha. About 200 lines were down either due to the winds or lightning.
Severe storms, with large hail and damaging, straight-line, downburst winds, developed ahead and along a cold front, which plowed east into an unseasonably warm, moist airmass over southern Wisconsin. Maximum afternoon temperatures were mostly in the 80s (about 30 to 35 degrees above normal) during the 4-day period of April 15-18. The hail stones ranged from 3/4 inch to 2 inches in diameter, resulting in several vehicles receiving dents (in Lafayette, Sauk, and Dane County). The damaging winds were mostly in the 60 to 70 mph range resulting in numerous reports of uprooted trees. Dozens of power lines were pulled down as broken tree branches fell on them. About 25,000 customers lost electrical power, based on utility company records. The areas with the largest amount of tree damage were: 1) from Graitiot to Woodford in Lafayette Co., 2) from northwest of Browntown to Monroe in Green Co., and 3) from Watertown to Mayville in Dodge Co. Otherwise, tree damage due to wet microbursts was scattered. A semi-trailer northeast of Beloit on Interstate 90 sustained damage when it was blown over by the powerful thunderstorm winds. Just west-southwest of Brodhead, a shed was blown down. In the area northwest of Browntown to Monroe, a barn was blown down, a shed was blown on to a home, and two residential roofs were damaged by broken tree limbs. A shed under construction at the Watertown High School in Dodge County was damaged by the powerful winds. A wind-toppled tree damaged a vehicle near Silver Lake (Kenosha Co.). Lightning started a 75 acre grass fire in the Horicon Marsh in Dodge County, a 1 acre grass fire south of Ft. Atkinson in Jefferson County, and a 5 acre grass fire south of Portage in Columbia County. Elsewhere, separate lightning strikes started fires which damaged the roof of two Madison (Dane Co.) homes. Several of the thunderstorms had mesocyclones,and cloud-base rotation was noted by severe weather spotters, however there were no tornado reports.
Strong, gradient, widespread winds from the south to southwest affected south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the afternoon and early evening hours of December 5, 2001. Sustained speeds were in the 22 to 26 kts range (25 to 30 mph), with gusts to 39 to 43 kts range (45 to 50 mph). Scattered power outages were noted due to the strong winds either breaking tree brances or pushing branches onto power lines. Some of the higher gusts were due to convective enhancement as a series of short lines or clusters to showers and thunderstorms moved west to east across southern Wisconsin. Individual thunderstorm cells moved northeast at 61 kts (70 mph)! The strong winds were related to a deep low pressure moving northeast through Minnesota to north of Lake Superior, with a trailing cold front moving east across Wisconsin. Daytime maximum temperatures ahead of the front were in the 60 to 70 degree range, or 28 to 35 degrees above average! Milwaukee's maximum of 68 set a new daily record for the 5th as well as a new all-time December maximum (old record was 64 on December 3, 1998). Madison's maximum of 64 set a new daily record for the 5th as well as a new all-time December maximum (old record was 62 on December 5, 1998). Janesville, Kenosha, West Allis, and Waukesha topped out at 70. Both Madison and Milwaukee tied or set new daily maximum temperatures and high mininum records on December 4, 2001, as well. Newspapers reported that golfers were still out on the links, some flowers were blooming, very little, if any, frost was in the ground, and inland lakes had no ice cover!
High winds gusting to 52 to 56 knots (60 to 65 mph) raked small parts of Milwaukee, Rock, and Kenosha counties, resulting in several damage reports. These high winds were associated with widespread, strong, west to southwest, post-cold-frontal winds gusting to 35 to 49 knots (40 to 57 mph) that affected the remainder of south-central and southeast Wisconsin for almost 24 hours on October 24-25, 2001. In Oak Creek (Milwaukee Co.) the high winds jarred an elevated restaurant sign loose, causing an exit ramp for Interstate-94 to be closed for several hours until repairs could be made. A gust of 56 knots (65 mph) was recorded at a school (belonging to a TV-station weather network) in Milton (Rock Co.). A TV-station observer in Salem (Kenosha Co.) reported a gust of 52 knots (60 mph). There were numerous reports of small tree branches breaking off and hitting power lines, resulting in scattered power outages. Additionally, there were reports of wind damage to traffic lights in several cities. Monetary damage amounts were not available. About 5000 customers, mostly in Waukesha, Milwaukee, Walworth, Racine, and Kenosha counties, were without electrical power at one time or another Synoptically, the strong winds were the result of deep low pressure which moved through northwest Wisconsin to over Lake Superior.
Strong, east-northeast winds gusting to 31 to 49 knots (36 to 57 mph), raked parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the pre-dawn morning hours on September 19, 2001. The majority of the gusts were in the 31 to 40 knot range (36 to 46 mph), however a gust of 49 knots (57 mph) was recorded at the NWS Forecast office southeast of Sullivan (Jefferson Co.) at 0220CST. A gust of 43 knots (49.5 mph) was noted at Carthage College on the northside of the city of Kenosha (Kenosha Co.), and a gust of 41 knots (47 mph) was recorded at Milwaukee Mitchell Field (Milwaukee Co.) at 0230CST. Law enforcement officials and newspaper accounts reported that small tree branches were knocked out of trees, resulting in scattered power outages. Synoptically, the strong winds were the result of a tight surface pressure gradient on the north side of a deepening low pressure that moved northeast through northern Illinois. The low moved through the northern part of the city of Chicago, IL, to the mid-point of Lake Michigan east of Milwaukee, WI. Surface observation stations recorded pressure falling rapidly as the wind gusts increased in magnitude.
Scattered clusters of thunderstorms, some severe, moved east-southeast through south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the late afternoon and early evening hours. They eventually merged into a line of storms as they moved into Racine and Kenosha Counties. Damaging straight-line winds, gusting to an estimated 50 to 56 knots (58 to 65 mph), toppled large trees and/or power lines and poles near Waldo (Sheboygan Co.), east of Spring Prairie (Walworth Co.), near Richmond (Walworth Co.), in the Burlington to Racine area (Racine Co.), around the city of Kenosha (Kenosha Co.), just northwest of Hartford (Washington Co.), from West Allis into Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.), from the UW-Madison campus to the Capital Square in Madison (Dane Co.), in the city of Waukesha (Waukesha Co.), and in/near Orfordville (Rock Co.). One person was injured at the State Fair Park in West Allis when the powerful thunderstorm winds blew a fence onto that person's head. Two homes and several vehicles in the city of Milwaukee sustained tree damage. In Orfordville, two buildings were damaged by toppled trees. Utility companies reported that nearly 40,000 customers lost electrical power as the storms passed through, 19,000 of them in Milwaukee County alone. Very heavy rains of 1 to 2 inches accompanied the storms, resulting in urban flooding in the city of Milwaukee. Manhole covers popped in the city and there were reports of 6 inches of water covering some of the city's streets.
A powerful squall line plowed through most of south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the late evening hours of June 11, 2001, resulting in widespread damage to trees, power lines, and power poles. There were many reports of damage to residential homes, businesses, and motor vehicles, caused by falling trees/branches. Maximum wind gusts were in the 64 to 78 knot range (74 to 90 mph) in parts of Sheboygan, Dodge, and Washington counties, and 50 to 63 knots (58 to 73 mph) elsewhere. In addition, three (3) tornadoes formed in a meso low-pressure on the left side of a pronounced down-burst located on the leading edge of the squall line. One of the tornadoes, rated F0, briefly affected the area southwest of the village of Marquette (Green Lake Co.). Later on, the same meso-low-pressure/down-burst couplet generated a F1 tornado that affected the area north and east of Fox Lake (Dodge Co.). The last tornado (F1) spun up near Rubicon (Dodge Co.) and moved southeast into Washington County, giving the city of Waterford a glancing blow. Refer to individual narratives on these 3 tornadoes under the tornado events for June 11th. Significant county reports follow.Marquette County: A tree fell on and damaged a home in Packwaukee. Near Westfield, ten (10) calf pens were destroyed.Green Lake County: A brief tornado (F0) damaged a home, barn, and several trees about 3 miles southwest of Marquette. In addition, near Dalton, two (2) barns were severely damaged by down-burst winds.Fond du Lac County: a boat in the Fond du Lac harbor sustained wind damage.Sheboygan County: Hurricane-force winds over-turned a barn four (4) miles north of Beechwood.Dodge County: A F1 tornado traveled from a point 4 miles north of Fox Lake to 4 miles east of Fox Lake. A tornado spun up near Rubicon and then moved southeast into Washington County just north of State Highway 60. Along its path in Dodge County, only F0 damage was observed. Elsewhere, in the village of Neosho, a residential home was damaged by felled trees. In a rural area near Hustisford, the roof of a home was partially ripped off and several farm outbuildings were damaged.Washington County: The tornado that spun up near Rubicon (Dodge Co.) intensified to a F1 rating as it moved southeast through the southwest part of Hartford, before dissipating southeast of the city. This tornado inflicted wind or tree damage to more than 250 residential homes and business. Waukesha County: Down-burst winds pushed over a barn near the village of Lannon. Most of the tree and power-line damage was noted in the Oconomowoc to Waukesha area, and in the North Prairie to Eagle area.Milwaukee County: tree/power-line damage across much of county. Several cars sustained damaged from felled trees. Mitchell Field had a measured maximum wind gust of 60 knots (69 mph). Lightning struck a Wauwatosa home, resulting in a roof/attic fire.As the squall line moved through south-central and southeast Wisconsin, heavy rains reduced visibilities to 100-200 feet at some locations. Total rainfall for the event was impressive, and exceeded 2 inches in some spots. West Allis (Milwaukee Co.) registered 2.70 inches, Watertown (Jefferson Co.) and Janesville (Rock Co.) measured 2.64 inches, Madison's Truax Field came in with 1.94 inches, and Milwaukee Mitchell Field recorded 1.75 inches. Most small streams reached near-bankfull stages, and the Fox River at New Munster, in western Kenosha County, eventually exceeded its 10 foot flood stage by 2.25 feet early at 0000CST on June 14, 2001.The squall line was the tail extension of an intense bow-echo that struck the east-central Wisconsin counties of Waushara, Winnebago, Calumet, and Manitowoc with hurricane-force, down-burst winds. Twenty-four hours earlier, the bow-echo/squall line was a cluster of thunderstorms over eastern Montana. Synpotically, a warm front extended from central Minnesota to southwest Wisconsin to just south of Chicago. Aloft, a 500mb short-wave trough moved east across North Dakota and then moved southeast across Minnesota and Wisconsin. Strong warm-air advection between 850 and 700mb fueled the thunderstorm complex.
Several clusters of severe thunderstorms moved southeast through parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the late morning and early afternoon hours. They produced predominately damaging, large hail stones, ranging in diameter from 3/4 inch on up to an incredible 3.75 inches! Most reports indicated that hailstones were in the 1 to 2 inch diameter range, and at many locations the hailstones left the ground white. Isolated wind damage was noted in Columbia County where large trees and some power lines were toppled near Friesland.The city of Watertown, which straddles the Dodge and Jefferson County line, sustained the worst hail damage. Hail fell for about 10 to 15 minutes, with the largest stones of 2.50 to 3.75 inches falling for about 1 to 2 minutes. One person was injured when the large hail stones landed on their head. Roughly 7500 motor vehicles were damaged - namely broken windows and numerous dents in the sheet metal. It was noted that some of the hood dents looked as if a person had driven their fist into the sheet metal! Seven (7) greenhouses belonging to a city florist received serious glass damage, as well as plant damage. In addition, many skylight windows in residential homes and businesses were shattered. On the north side of Watertown, the large hail stripped bark off trees. Local residents mentioned that they had never seen anything like this hailstorm. The ground was white, and the hail didn't melt completely for several hours. Many motor vehicles in the Waterford area of western Racine County sustained hail damage. In the city of Brookfield, a moving car was struck by lightning. The driver was unhurt, but the vehicle's electrical system was fried, a rear window was shattered, the two rears tires were left in shreds, and holes 6 inches deep and 3 feet wide were blown in the pavement. Small stream and urban flooding was noted in the city of Kenosha. Pike Creek flowed over its banks in Washington Park. Rainfall totals of 1 to 2 inches in 1 hour were noted across parts of southeast Wisconsin as the storms rolled southeastward.Synoptically, low pressure moved southeast from the South Dakota-North Dakota border, with a warm front extending southeast through southern Wisconsin to northern Indiana. A strong low-level jet pumped warm, moist, unstable air directly into southern Wisconsin up over the warm front position. Upper level lapse rates became steep as colder air moved in from the northwest. No thunderstorm activity was noted west of a line from Portage (Columbia Co.) to Waterloo (Jefferson Co.) to Delevan (Walworth Co.).
High winds, gusting to around 60 mph out of the southwest, raked Milwaukee and Green Counties. Peak gusts of 60 mph were measured at a couple commercial TV stations in Milwaukee County (and at couple schools in their weather networks). In addition, a peak gust of 58 mph was measured at Milwaukee Mitchell Field. Several large trees and power lines were toppled in Milwaukee County. In Green County, the powerful winds got underneath and lifted the rubber roof of a City of Monticello administrative building. The roof was partially damaged, and several nearby large trees were toppled. Elsewhere across south-central and southeast Wisconsin, peak wind gusts of 40 to 55 mph were noted during the period of 0500CST through 1000CST. There were numerous reports of small tree branches knocked out of trees. These strong southwest winds were associated with a deep low pressure which moved northeast through Minnesota through northwestern Wisconsin to Lake Superior.
Heavy rains, in some cases, setting new daily records across south-central and southeast Wisconsin, resulted in most rivers reaching or exceeding flood stage. Thunderstorms and cloud-to-ground lightning were reported across the southeastern counties. In addition, the heavy rains and partial snow melt of a 7 to 12 inch snow pack led to widespread flooding of farm fields, road side ditches, and other low spots. Consequently, water covered or flowed across many roads. Backed-up sewers and ice-jamming/damming made the situation worse in Milwaukee and Ozaukee Counties where water backed up into many basements and backyards. For the calendar day of the 9th, Milwaukee Mitchell Field measured 1.09 inches, breaking the old record of .83 inches. Likewise, Madison's Truax Field (Dane Co.) set a new daily record of 1.29 inches. The 2-day total for the 8th and 9th came to 1.75 inches in Madison and 2.33 inches in Milwaukee. In Waterford (Racine Co.), the 2-day total was 2.48 inches.Commuting times for workers during the morning hours of the 9th were substantially increased and dozens of schools were closed. The heavy rains damaged an electrical substation insulator that caused power failures in Burlington (Racine Co.), Greenfield (Milwaukee Co.), and Memomonee Falls (Waukesha Co.). About 1100 customers were without power for several hours. During the afternoon hours of the 9th, colder air pushed in, changing the rain to freezing rain and then snow. Gusty northwest winds to 30 mph resulted in blowing snow and reduced visibilities. Many icy patches developed on water-covered roads, resulting in at least 400 vehicle accidents. About a dozen people were treated for injuries in area hospitals (indirect injuries). Mainstream flooding was the worst along the Fox River in Kenosha County, and the Root River Canal near Raymond in Racine County. The Fox River near New Munster (Kenosha Co.) went above its 10 foot flood stage at 0800CST on the 9th and remained above flood stage until 1230CST on Feb 24th. It crested at 11.92 feet at 0500CST on Feb 16th. The Root River Canal near Raymond went above its 9 foot flood stage at 0600CST on the 9th and remained above flood stage until 0300CST on Feb 12th. It crested at 11.11 feet at 1015CST on Feb 10th. Once again, many homes along these rivers had water in their basements as well as backyards, etc.Synoptically, a strong low pressure moved from the southern Rockies through the southern plains and then through Minnesota on Feb 9th. Ahead of the low, southerly winds pulled warm, moist air into southern Wisconsin, as temperatures maxed out in the 35 to 48 degree range.
Three rounds of severe thunderstorms affected parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on September 11, 2000:1) The 1st round consisted of a cluster of storms that produced damaging straight-line winds in Walworth County. Several reports of toppled large trees originated from the Whitewater to La Grange area down to the Richmond area.2) The second round started off as a cluster of storms over northeast Iowa which moved into southwest Wisconsin. This cluster transformed into a solid line of storms, some severe, as it moved east through south-central Wisconsin. Eventually this line extended from northern Dane County south to the Illinois border as it moved east. A well-defined outflow boundary/gust front, marked at cloud base by a dramatic shelf cloud, developed about 5 to 15 miles out ahead of the line of storms. Peak winds were in the 26 to 44 knot (30 to 50 mph) range in the area behind the surface gust front position, while damaging winds in excess of 50 knots (58 mph) were found near and behind the most intense rainfalls. The storms produced damaging straight-line winds which toppled many trees and a few power lines, large hail stones up to 1.50 inches in diameter, intense lightning strikes, and torrential rainfalls of 2 to 4 inches, which resulted in flooding, flash flooding, or urban/small stream flooding. Interestingly, the downburst winds on the back (west) side of the most intense cells peaked in the 58 to 64 knot range (58 to 74 mph) in isolated spots, one of them being Madison's Truax Field. The peak gust at that location was from the southeast (150 degrees). Torrential downpours, estimated at 3 to 4 inches within 1 to 2 hours based on WSR-88D Doppler radar, caused a flash flood, and resultant mudslide, a few miles north of Argyle (Lafayette Co.) on Highway 78 just outside of Blanchardville, temporarily closing that road. Similar amounts fell across Green County just to the east. Scattered flash flooding was reported in Green County which resulted in gravel shoulder washouts on some roads, and significant flooding of low-lying roads, basements, and businesses, especially in and around Monroe. Amateur Radio operators (Hams) measured 3.60 inches of rain in Brodhead, and 3.56 inches in New Glarus, both in Green County. As the solid line of storms moved east, it produced additional flash flooding in and around the city of Waukesha (Waukesha Co.). Water depths on roads reached 2 to 4 feet, and gravel shoulder washouts were noted, especially from north of the city to the southwest side. Further east in Milwaukee County, flash flooding stranded numerous motor vehicles, especially around 92nd and Hampton in Milwaukee. Residential home and city park landscaping were damaged by the flood waters. The Menomonee River in Wauwatosa crested 1.71 feet above the 11 foot flood stage at 2130CST. There were reports of 2 to 4 feet water depths on some roads in northern Milwaukee County. A Ham at 82nd and Congress in the city of Milwaukee measured a rainfall of 2.76 inches. Several other mainstream rivers in south-central and southeast Wisconsin rose to bankfull or exceeded flood stage by 1 foot or less.Besides some large trees toppled by thunderstorm winds in the city of Kenosha (Kenosha Co.), the hail that fell in the city covered the ground white. Lightning struck and killed 14 beef cattle on Meyer Road near the South Wayne village limits (Lafayette Co.). Lightning also struck a residental home just west of the village of Walworth (Walworth Co.), resulting in a fire that damaged the roof and attic. The same thing happened to a city of Milwaukee home on 97th Ave. In Racine County on Interstate-94, the torrential rains reduced visibility to less than 50 yards, forcing motor vehicles to pull to the side of the road.Madison (Dane Co.) registered 1.71 inches of rain on the 11th, breaking the old daily precipitation record of 1.57 incheds set in 1879. Likewise, Milwaukee measured 2.96 inches of rain, breaking the old daily precipitation record of 1.73 inches set in 1933.3) The 3rd round of severe storms affect the counties of Marquette and Green Lake. Isolated, damaging staight-line winds and some large hail were produced by a solid line of thunderstorms which diminished in strength and broke up as they moved into Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties.Synoptically, a surface low pressure over Sioux Falls, SD in the early morning hours moved east/northeast to near Green Bay by 2200CST. South winds ahead of the low pressure pulled moist air, with surface dewpoints in the lower 70s, into southern Wisconsin. The unstable air (CAPES 2500 and LI's -6 to -8) and right rear quadrant region of the jet streak led to the pre-cold-frontal thunderstorms during the afternoon hours. A trailing cold front then pushed east during the evening hours reaching a Green Bay to Madison line by 2200CST.
Scattered severe storms with downburst winds gusting to around 52 knots (60 mph), resulting in large trees being pushed over or tree branches knocked down. The felled trees blocked a trailer park near Johnson Creek for several hours until cleanup crews could clear the debris. A lightning bolt started an attic fire in a Pewaukee home (Waukesha Co.). This fire would ultimately spread and cause considerable damage before being pt out. Rainfall amounts of 1.50 to 1.90 inches were reported within 1 to 3 hours in Wales and just south of Dousman (Waukesha Co.). However, no flooding was noted. Several lightning strikes in and around Milwaukee County knocked out some power transformers or other lines which resulted in the lose of power to about 10,000 customers. A common emergency communications line serving the cities of Delafield, Hartland, Chenequa, Pewaukee, Nashotah, Merten, Stone bank, and North Lake was struck by lightning and knocked out of service. Repair bills were about $10,000. Synoptically, a surface trough and an upper level short-wave moved southeast through Wisconsin, setting the stage for the cluster of storms to pass through.
This summer's most powerful downburst wind event to affect south-central and southeast Wisconsin pummeled portions of Dane, Green, and Rock counties with damaging hurricane-force winds, large hail, and urban-flood rains. As the 35 mile long line of thunderstorms moved southeast through Dane, northern Green, and Rock Counties, it increased in strength, ultimately producing straight-line winds estimated up to 100 knots (115 mph), heavy rains at a rate of 1 to 3 inches per hour, and hail stones 1 inch in diameter. Due to downed power lines and poles, ultimately about 18,000 customers had electrical power disrupted for 1 to 2 days. Descriptions of weather-related events follow in a county-by-county breakdown.Dane County:Powerful thunderstorm winds, estimated at 56 knots (65 mph), toppled several large trees in and near the city of Belleville. There were no reports of injuries or deaths. Minor urban-type flooding was noted due to intense rain accompanying the storm.Green County:The squall-line intensified as it clipped the northeast quarter of Green County. Based on inflicted damage, winds gusts were estimated to be 74 knots (85 mph). The worst-hit area extended from a subdivision west of the village of Dayton (Town of Exeter), east/southeast to the county line. About 50 homes sustained varying amounts of damage caused by felled trees, tree branches, or the wind outright. Damage to home siding and roofs was also noted. Hundreds of trees were toppled, about 2 dozen farm buildings were damaged or destroyed, several silos were damaged, and two semi-tractor trailers were overturned. Many power lines were either blown over or knocked down by tree debris.Rock County:This county bore the brunt of the storm as its straight-line winds intensified to an estimated 100 knots (115 mph). The macroburst damage path was 3 to 6 miles wide, extending from southwest of Evansville in the Town of Magnolia (Highway 59 and A) east/southeast through the city of Janesville to southeast of Avalon near Caver Roehl Park. A newspaper headline nicely stated the effects: Rain! Wind! Wow! The powerful winds leveled thousands of trees (some 200 years old); tore roofs off homes; businesses, and farm buildings; blew tops of silos off, flipped over vehicles; blew in windows; damaged or peeled off home siding; knocked over billboards and road signs; closed many roads due to debris, and flattened corn and soybean fields. Based on newspaper photographs and eyewitness accounts, maximum wind gusts were estimated to be in the 87 to 100 knots range (100 -115 mph). The worst of the damage appeared to be equivalent to that caused by tornado winds of about 115 mph, or at the bottom of the F2 category. Many people noted that the sky grew very dark as the storm blew in with a wall of white rain mixed with tree leaves and branches. The city of Janesville was at ground zero, as a 3.7 square mile looked like a bomb had hit its downtown area and the near east and west sides. A roof was torn off one business, and bricks were pealed off another business. It took at least 2 weeks to remove the tree debris from city streets, sidewalks, and backyards. Dozens of vehicles were damaged by felled trees and branches. It is estimated that 400 to 500 city homes sustained some degree of damage (6 destroyed). Traxler and Bond Parks looked like disaster areas and were closed. About 50 electrical poles were snapped by tree debris or the winds. One person in the city was injured when a tree fell on their pickup truck. Just north of Janesville on Interstate-90, another person was injured when their SUV was flipped over by the winds. In addition, 5 semi-tractor trailers were overturned on I-90 in the same vicinity. A new sub-division 3 miles south of Janesville experienced extensive roof or siding damage due to the winds or tree debris. Several vehicles were damaged as well. Just to the south of the city, the wastewater treatment plant recorded 1.48 inches of rain as the storms moved through, resulting in urban flooding. There were other unofficial reports of 2 to 3 inches in the city area.The civil Town of Magnolia, in the western part of the county, was also hard hit by the macroburst, especially near and along Highway 59 and County Trunk Highway A. About 40 power poles in this Town were toppled by the winds or tree debris.A little further north on Croft Road, just southwest of Evansville, a local resident noted this sequence of events: the initial, powerful winds and blinding rains lasted for about 5 minutes and were followed by hailstones up to 1 inch in diameter. Then the rain and hail stopped. After a couple minutes he noticed across the road in a field a ground-based vortex pulling corn stalks up to about 200 feet above the ground, while above it at cloud base was a funnel cloud. This weak vortex then hit a barn and caused slight damage before dissipating. Shortly thereafter, another round of rain, and gusty, but much weaker winds occurred. Based on this resident's account, and their prior experiences with tornadoes while living in Texas, this vortex was classified as a tornado. The macroburst continued to inflict wind damage to a point about 3 miles east/southeast of the Janesville city limits along Highway 14, at which point it weakened. However, the thunderstorms briefly intensified once again southeast of the village of Avalon near Carver Roehl Park. At this location, a barn's roof was lifted and dropped by powerful winds, resulting in a collapsed structure which trapped 40 steer. Fifteen of the steer died from injuries, and some of the hay bales were destroyed. Collectively across Rock County, about 4500 acres of corn and soybean crops were badly damaged or destroyed. Thirty-five farm buildings had minor damage, 8 had major damage, and 19 were destroyed by the winds. Walworth County:The remains of the squall-line generated downburst winds which leveled large trees in and near the city of East Troy.Racine County:The remains of the squall-line generated downburst winds which leveled large trees west of Waterford.Kenosha County:The remains of the squall-line generated downburst winds which leveled large trees southwest of the village of Twin Lakes.Milwaukee County:The remains of the thunderstorms dumped rain amounts of 2.25 to 3.1 inches across Milwaukee County based on Ham reports. Moderate urban flooding resulted. A West Allis motorist was rescued from their stalled vehicle due to water depths of 1.5 to 3 feet in low spots on roads. Similar water depths on strees were noted elsewhere in the county, especially in the southern half. No damage was reported. Synoptically, an upper level trough was moving across Wisconsin on August 5th, with a weak vorticity maxima over the southern part of the state moving east/southeast. The south winds of a low-level jet fed the storms as west-northwest flow at 18,000 feet intensified to 60 knots based on profiler data. Thunderstorm echo tops were 40 to 42,000 feet.
Severe weather in the form of a tornado, damaging straight-line downburst winds, large hail, and flash flooding hammered a small piece of south-central and much of southeast Wisconsin during the late afternoon and evening hours. The most significant cluster of thunderstorms developed over southern Columbia county and proceded to move east/southeast through Dodge, Jefferson, Waukesha, Milwaukee, and Racine counties. A supercell on the west end of this cluster, with a well-defined mesocyclone, produced some damaging straight-line winds and large hail up to 2.25 inches in diameter in Jefferson County, but could only generate a rotating wall cloud at its base in that county. This supercell continued to dump large hail as it moved across Waukesha County, but once it moved over the city of Franklin in southwestern Milwaukee County, it spawned a tornado at 1730CST about 3/4 of a mile northwest of the intersection of Highways 41 and 100 (27th St. & Ryan Rd, or about 5.4 miles southwest of Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport). This tornado tore east/southeast through Oak Creek, and then exited Milwaukee County at 706 pm, where Highway 32 goes south into Racine County (or about 7 miles south/southeast of Mitchell Field). The tornado continued for about .2 miles into Racine County, just east of Highway 32, before dissipating about 2.9 miles northeast of Husher. Luckily, no one was injured or killed by the tornado that traveled through Franklin and Oak Creek into Racine County. It intensified to a F1 rating as it damaged buildings, and turned over several semi-tractor trailers at a truck stop at the intersection of I-94 and Ryan Rd. This tornado damaged at least a dozen homes in Franklin and Oak Creek, as well as one business and one utility building. Hundreds of trees were uprooted and blown over, but luckily many of them fell between buildings! Sixty power poles were snapped by the tornadic winds in Oak Creek. In Franklin, a 40-foot TV antenna was pushed over into a neighboring home, and a 20-foot camper was severely damaged. Eyewitness reports indicate that this tornado was rain-wrapped and was multi-vortex at times. Just south of the Ryan Rd. and 27th St intersection, a spotter indicated that sustained winds were greater than 40 mph for 15 minutes as the tornado passed just to the north of their position. In Racine County, the tornado uprooted trees as it weakened.The area from Johnson Creek to the Rome and Sullivan in Jefferson county sustained considerable hail and wind damage. Several vehicles on Interstate 94 near Johnson Creek, and in the Rome to Sullivan area, had windows broken by the large hailstones up to 2.25 inches in diameter. In addition, a few large trees were uprooted. Some of the corn crop in this swath had leaves stripped off. NWS employees at the NWS office southeast of Sullivan identified a rotating wall cloud about 3 or 4 miles west of their location.Waukesha County was raked by four rounds of severe storms. The 1st round possessed hurricane-force winds gusting to 68 knots (78 mph) at the Waukesha Airport near I-94. The city of Brookfield sustained tree and power line damage from this wet macroburst. The Jefferson County supercell constituted round #2 as it raked an area from Dousman to North Prairie (Waukesha Co.) with large hail and powerful downburst winds gusting to a measured 61 knots (70 mph). Hundreds of trees were uprooted and many power lines were downed. In North Prairie, 2 homes and a car sustained tree-inflicted damage. As this supercell moved east/southeast across Waukesha County, its strength pulsed upwards again and the Brookfield to New Berlin area experienced powerful downburst winds (round #3) that leveled more trees and power lines. A roof on an apartment complex in New Berlin was partially ripped off by the winds, but luckily no one was injured. Later in the evening, the 4th round of severe storms hit the Delafield to City of Waukesha area. Hail stones of almost an inch in diameter fell and powerful winds pushed over some trees.Racine County residents suffered the effect of 2 rounds of severe storms. Many trees and power-line poles were leveled in both rounds. At least 60 power-line poles were pushed over. At least 50 homes and 3 farm buildings in eastern Racine County were damaged by the powerful winds, or by felled trees. Scattered severe storms also produced large hail and/or damaging winds which leveled trees in Madison (Dane County), and southern Washington County (Richfield and Germantown).Collectively, about 70 thousand customers were without power at one time or another during the afternoon and evening hours on July 2nd due to downed power lines or lightning strikes to transformers. Twenty-five thousand of these were in Franklin and Oak Creek alone.Minor urban/small stream flooding affected parts of Waukesha and Racine Counties, as well as much of Milwaukee County after the 1st round of storms moved through and dumped rainfall of 1 to 2 inches. Water depths on roads were reported to be 6 to 12 inches. As with previous episodes of severe weather across southern Wisconsin during May and June, flash flooding occurred later in the evening on July 2nd, as additional rounds of storms, some severe, moved across the area. Torrential downpours, sometimes reaching an inch or more within 15 minutes, produced flash flooding across the southern half of Milwaukee County, the area from Hartland and Waukesha to Brookfield and Elm Grove in Waukesha County, and in/near the city of Racine (Racine Co.). Water depths on roads in these areas reached 1 to 4 feet. The flood waters resulted in gravel shoulder washouts on roads, structural damage to basements, damage to basement contents, and culvert damage. In the city of Franklin (Milwaukee Co.), a home's basement walls collapsed due to the pressure of the flood waters. Most small streams and creeks in Waukesha, southern Milwaukee, and eastern Racine County quickly exceeded flood stage by 1 to 2 feet due to the intense rainfall.The Root River in Franklin, the Root River Canal at Raymond (Racine Co.), Oak Creek in South Milwaukee, and the Menomonee River in Wauwatosa all crested between 2115CST on July 2nd and 0315CST the next morning. Homes and businesses near these locations sustained the worst flood damage. Collectively, the Milwaukee County flash flooding damaged 6974 residential homes, 38 businesses, 1 utility building, and 9 agricultural buildings. About 600 acres of farm land in southern Milwaukee County sustained crop damage. In Racine County, 429 residential buildings were damaged by flash flood waters, and about 2800 acres of farm land had crop damage or soil erosion.Urban/small stream flooding was reported in the city of Madison, in Sullivan, and around Richmond (Walworth Co.) due to the heavy rainfalls. Water depths on roads were in the 6 to 18 inch range. The Madison area picked up 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rainfall (Madison Truax Field had 1.89" for the day), the Sullivan area picked up an estimated 2.5 to 3.0 inches, and 3.7 inches fell in Richmond on the 2nd. No flood damage was reported from these locations.Two separate lightning strikes in Franklin started fires that damaged a car and a home's garage. Twenty-four hour rainfall amounts (mostly in the late afternoon and evening hours on July 2nd) ending 0600CST on July 3rd across southeast Wisconsin were impressive:Waukesha County...7.00" in Elm Grove, 5.06" at Carroll College, 4.27"in HartlandMilwaukee County...6.50" in Greenfield, 5.05" south side of Milwaukee, 4.75" in West Allis, 4 to 6" in Franklin, 4.22" at Milwaukee Mitchell International AirportRacine County...5.76" at Raymond, 3.99" in the city of RacineThe 4.42 inches of rain recorded at Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport on July 2nd, set a new record for the day and a new daily record for any day in July. This was also the 6th wettest day for Milwaukee going back to the start of documentation in 1871. Milwaukee would finish the month of July 2000 with 7.12 inches of rain, the 3rd wettest July on record.Synoptically, an old frontal boundary sagged south across southern Wisconsin as low pressure moved east along it. A short-wave aloft was also moving east across the region. Moist, unstable air, drawn north into the frontal boundary, fueled the storms.
One would be hard pressed to find another day like June 1, 2000 in terms of depth and range of severe, convective weather events across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Tornadoes, widespread and localized flash flooding, funnel clouds, damaging hurricane-force, straight-line winds associated with a wicked squall-line, large hail stones, urban/small flooding, lightning strikes, and significant mainstem river flooding were reported. As in the preceding weeks, a quasi-stationary front over northern Illinois served as a boundary for warm, moist, unstable air to be pulled north over the cooler air over Wisconsin. Leftover flooding (from the evening of May 31, 2000) and isolated severe thunderstorms were noted during the pre-dawn to mid morning hours. However a powerful squall-line formed along the Mississippi River in the La Crosse area by mid-afternoon, and pushed into south-central Wisconsin by late afternoon with "all hell breaking loose." After the squall line moved into the southeast part of the state, it was followed by widespread showers and thunderstorms that triggered additional flooding problems. The east/southeast moving storms would not end until around 2300CST. As a result of the wild weather events, a State of Emergency was declared in Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Lafayette, Rock, and Sauk counties. Numerous power lines were knocked down by felled trees or wind gusts outright, resulting in the lose of power to 20,000 customers. Significant storm and flooding events will be summarized below county by county.Marquette Co: 6 homes were damaged and trees uprooted by powerful winds estimated at 70 knots (80 mph) in Briggsville. Urban flooding in Briggsville was also noted with water 6 inches deep.Green Lake Co: powerful winds knocked down trees in both Kingston and Markesan, and large hail was noted.Fond du Lac Co: a brief, F0 tornado spun up in the rural area southeast of Oak Center. Only some hay crop was damaged. Elsewhere, urban flooding and large hail was noted. Between 1700 and 1900CST, 1.71 inches of rain fell in the city of Fond du Lac.Sheboygan Co: powerful thunderstorm winds pushed over trees in the southern portions. Sauk Co: powerful winds blew over large trees in the Reedsburg to Baraboo area as well as around Prairie du Sac. Then the heavens oped up as 3.75 inches of rain fell between 1600 and 1645CST in North Freedom. There were other reports of up to 6 inches of rain falling in 2 hours. Flash flooding developed along Narrows Creek which left mud marks 8 feet high on some buildings. So much water came down Narrows Creek that it temporarily backed up the water of the Baraboo River! The Baraboo River flooded homes, and other creeks tore pieces of Highways 12 and 113 away. Road beds and parking lots were ripped away on the south side of Baraboo. Some railroad beds and many drainage culverts across the county were washed away. Severe erosion was noted on the cliffs overlooking the north shore of Devils Lake, whose water level rose about 3 feet due to runoff. All together, 153 residential homes were damaged, 17 businesses reported water damage, and 220,000 acres of farm land sustained water or erosion damage. The flooding was more widespread and worse than the 1993 flood, based on newspaper accounts. The Baraboo River near Baraboo crested at 22.04 feet on June 2nd, or 6.04 feet above flood stage (moderate flooding), after rising above flood stage at 0400CST on the 1st. Upriver at Rock Springs, the flood stage of 18.5 feet was exceeded at 1630CST on the 1st, and the crest was 21.71 feet at 0750CST on the 2nd (major flooding). Columbia Co: powerful winds uprooted large trees in and around Portage. In addition, a garage was damaged, several vehicles were blown into roadside ditches quickly reached a depth of 1 to 3 feet over portions of Highway 12 around Portage, and on Highway 73 in the southeast corner where residents were evacuated. Gravel road shoulder and culvert washouts were reported on some roads. Agricultural crop damage and soil erosion were also noted.Dodge Co: the main event was a long-lived tornado that spun up just south of Highway S about 4 miles south of Horicon, just southwest of the intersection of Highways S and E. Eyewitness accounts suggested that this tornado was a rain-wrapped and multi-vortex as it hopped-skipped east/southeast through the heart of the village of Iron Ridge (F2 at this time, 140-50 mph wind), before exiting the county on Highway S. All together, this F2 tornado destroyed 6 homes, and damaged 26 other homes, 6 businesses, 2 barns, 1 silo, semi-tractor trailer, a green house, and many cars. It destroyed 5 agricultural buildings. No one was injured or killed by this early-warned tornado. Five other barns were damaged in the county by the powerful straight-line winds associated with the squall-line. In addition, large hail up to walnut size was noted. Flash flooding was reported in the southeast part of the county when 1.5 inches of rain fell in a short period of time. Soil erosion and shoulder washouts were reported near the intersection of Highways 60 and P, south of Rubicon.Washington Co: the Dodge County tornado continued into Washington County for about 1.5 miles near and along Highway S. It damaged a barn and silo and uprooted more trees before dissipating. The tornado in this county had winds estimated at 80 mph, or F1 strength. No one was injured or killed. Flash flooding was reported south of Hartford where soil erosion and gravel shoulder washouts occurred due to swirling flood waters. Otherwise, large hail and tree-uprooting winds were noted in Germantown.Iowa Co: Pre-dawn flash flooding occurred across the northern portion of Iowa County due to leftover thunderstorms that hit the county on May 31st. Morrey Creek overflowed it banks in the village of Avoca, damaging 35 homes and eroding surrounding landscaping. In Dodge State Park near Dodgeville, 50 miles of trails were closed after several bridges were washed out by flooding waters. In addition, gravel road shoulder and culvert washouts were noted on several roads. Another round of flash flooding occurred across the northern portion of the county thanks to torrential rains of 2 to 4 inches in 1 to 2 hours in the late afternoon and early evening hours. An estimated 10,250 acres sustained major soil erosion and many roads had water depths of 1 to 3 feet as water currents washed away gravel shoulders. Crop damage was extensive. Dane Co: pre-dawn severe storms dumped large hail and knocked down many tree limbs in the Madison area. During the same storm, lightning struck a west-side Madison hotel, resulting in damage to its electrical system. Urban/small stream flooding was noted in the pre-dawn hours across the northern part of the county with water covering low spots on Highways 12, 73, and 113. A couple streets were flooded and closed in the village of Mazomanie due to high water levels on the Black Earth Creek. Sandbagging was needed to protect about a dozen homes in Mazomanie. Powerful thunderstorm winds uprooted trees which then damaged many vehicles in the Madison to Cottage Grove area during the evening. At least 60 trees blocked various roads in the Madison area, and 18 power lines were reported down. Roof tiles were also removed from some homes as the winds gusted to an estimated 70 knots (80 mph). An expensive gazebo was destroyed by uprooted trees in the city of Monona. Shortly thereafter, flash-flood producing rains hit much of the county. Madison streets were rivers as 27 cars were stranded or pushed around. It was the worst flooding the city during the past 15 years. Sandbagging commenced in Monona to protect homes. Many roads across the county were damaged by flood waters, with most damage in the northwest part of the county. In the village of Oregon, 1.90 inches of rain was measured in just 45 minutes ending at 1830CST. Additional soil erosion and ponding of water resulted in extensive, severe crop damage across the county. Collectively, wind and/or flood damage occurred to at least 646 residential homes in the county, and to 3 businesses. Probably 30,000 acres of farm land had significant crop damage. A new daily rainfall record of 3.46 inches was set at Madison's Traux Field, breaking the old record of 1.33 inches set back in 1892. Runoff from this rainfall eventually pushed Lake Mendota to 31.5 inches above its normal summer level on June 5th, which was the highest reading since the beginning of records in 1916. In response to the high lake levels in Dane county, many nearby homes were sandbagged, and public beach and boat docks were closed.Jefferson Co: an early morning, severe thunderstorm dumped large hail on Lake Mills. Another storm's lightning struck a Ft. Atkinson church steeple, resulting in structural and water damage. The evening storms generated damaging winds that uprooted large trees. Lightning started a minor fire on a Lake Mills home's roof. Heavy rains of 2 to 3 inches during the evening generated scattered flash flooding across the county, mostly in the form of gravel shoulder washouts of several roads. Roads near the Rock River in Ft. Atkinson were closed due to the swirling waters. Soil erosion and crop washouts were noted across the county. Rainfall totals of 2.39 inches and 2.72 inches were noted in Ft. Atkinson and Jefferson, respectively. The heavy rains forced the Crawfish River at Milford to exceed the flood stage of 7 feet on June 2nd , and crest at 8.38 feet on June 7th (moderate flooding). Waukesha Co: powerful thunderstorm winds uprooted trees in the Genesee area.Milwaukee Co: large hail was reported in the city of Milwaukee. Torrential rains of around 2 inches in 1 to 2 hours in the city of Fox Point resulted in flash flooding in that city. Landscaping damage and some road damage was noted due to swift water currents.Lafayette Co: a brief tornado occurred north of Calamine. It damaged 2 large pole sheds and uprooted many trees along its short path. Several calves were injured as they were pushed across the road. Eyewitness accounts suggest this F1 tornado (winds about 100 mph) was rain-wrapped. Otherwise, the squall line's powerful winds uprooted trees and over-turned a car-trailer combo east of Belmont. Similar to other counties, flash-flood producing rains followed the winds. Across the county, all mainstem river, stream, creeks, and other low spots experienced flash flooding. Bridge under-cutting was noted on Highway K outside of Gratiot, on Highway H in Jenkynsville, and Highway G in the northwest corner. Moderate to severe damage to road shoulders and washed out driveways was noted countywide. Twenty-one roads were closed at one time or another. At least 75 residential homes and 5 businesses reported flood damage, while 2 private utility buildings suffered damage. Two farm buildings were destroyed by the flood waters, and 15 others damaged. About 7000 acres of farm land were severely damaged. The Pecatonica River in Darlington closed down Highway 23 from the south. The river at this location exceeded the flood stage of 11 feet late on May 31st, and crested at 15.77 feet at 0730CST on June 1st (moderate flooding). Near South Wayne, lightning started a minor house fire.Green Co: pre-dawn and morning urban/small stream flooding occurred countywide due to rainfall that started on May 31st. The rains ended by sunrise. Up to 5 inches of rain fell overnight in the southwest part of the county. Many streams were 5 to 10 feet wide, resulting in water covering low-lying roads to a depth of 1 foot. Several cars were swept into roadside ditches. Urban basements had minor flood damage. Additional heavy rains followed the evening squall line which resulted in a new round of flash flooding across much of the county. Eight miles of the 24 mile long Sugar River State Trail were closed from near Monticello to near Albany due to washed out bridges and undercut paths. Five homes sustained significant damage. Numerous roads were closed due to high water levels and dozens of vehicles were stranded or pushed into roadside ditches. Gravel road shoulder and culvert washouts were noted countywide. Water levels in the city of Brodhead were the highest in many years. Legion Park in Albany was closed after the adjacent Sugar River exceeded flood stage. Moderate to severe soil erosion was noted to 5000 acres of farm fields. The Pecatonica River at Martintown exceeded the flood stage of 13.5 feet at 0000CST on June 1st, and crested at 18.51 feet on June 4th (moderate flooding).Rock Co: powerful thunderstorm winds downed large trees in scattered parts of the county. However, flash-flood producing rains hit during the evening hours. Most mainstem and nearly all streams and creeks jumped their banks. Nine roads along Lake Koshkonong sustained washout damage due to swift water currents. At least 100 homes outside of the major cities sustained damage. Many Beloit and Janesville homes in low spots reported landscape flood damage as well as basement flooding. Flash flood waters also tore through farm fields, leaving moderate to severe soil erosion and crop damage to at least 20,000 acres. Flood waters from the Sugar River in the southwest corner of the county closed roads west of the village of Avon.Walworth Co: no damage reports.Kenosha Co: several rounds of heavy rains during the evening on top of previously saturated soils and high river levels resulted in flash flooding scattered across the county. Several roads had fast-flowing waters 1 to 3 feet deep which resulted in shoulder washouts and cars being swept into roadside ditches. At least 75 homes sustained significant flood damage in the Wheatland, Salem, and Silver Lake areas. About 47,000 acres of farm land had serious soil erosion, and washed or flooded crops. Due to rainfall totals during the evening of 2 to 3 inches, the Fox River at New Munster continued to rise and would eventually crest at 12.76 feet early on June 3rd, or 2.76 feet above flood stage. Three homes Silver Lake homes were evacuated.
Leftover thunderstorms from the evening of May 17th eventually moved through Kenosha County during the pre-dawn hours on the 18th, and left in their wake flash flooding conditions around Somers. WSR-88D Doppler radar estimated that 2 to 3 inches fell in about 1.5 hours on top of saturated soils. Flood waters quickly reached 2 to 4 feet over roads resulting in gravel shoulder washouts. Eight families had to be evacuated by boat from their mobile homes as a nearby river quickly spilled out of its banks. Many vehicles were stranded in the high water levels, and many homes sustained significant flood damage to landscaping and interior home contents. In the western part of Kenosha County, at New Munster, the Fox River rose above flood stage at 1230CST on the 18th, crested at 12.31 feet on May 20th, and remained above the 10 foot flood stage into June, 2000. Up river at Pewaukee in Waukesha Co., the Fox River rose above flood stage on May 19th at 0000CST, crested at 11.71 feet on May 20th, and went below flood stage of 10 feet on May 22nd. Other mainstem rivers in southeast Wisconsin also went .5 to 1.5 feet above flood stage due to the heavy rains of May 17-18.The flash flooding over Kenosha County was a prelude to another series of severe thunderstorms that pounded south-central and southeast Wisconsin with damaging straight-line winds and large, damaging hail. Normally this part of Wisconsin doesn't experience so many thunderstorms that dump large hail. A supercell thunderstorm moved east/northeast across Iowa County. Hailstones up to 2.00 inches in diameter pelted and damaged many vehicles and home sidings, while stripping some of the corn and soybean crops. This storm then headed east into Dane County where it unleashed damaging straight-line winds in addition to large hail. Winds were estimated to reach hurricane-force level as the storm tore through Fitchburg where a home's garage was blown over. The storm then hit Madison with powerful winds and golfball size hail. A Madison home's roof was torn off by the winds, and many large trees were felled. At least 200 vehicles sustained moderate to severe hail damage in Dane County. Torrential rains dumped 1 to 2 inches of rain that resulted in urban flooding in Waunakee (Dane Co.). Milwaukee Mitchell Field set a new 24-hour rainfall record for May 18th with 1.53 inches, breaking the old record of .88 inches set back in 1968. Likewise, Madison Truax Field set a new record of 2.09 inches. After pounding Dane County the cluster of severe storms moved east all the way east to Lake Michigan by late morning, dumping large hail 1 to 2 inches in diameter in scattered locations. Once again, many vehicles were dented by the large hail. In fact, as in the Madison area, the ground was covered white by the hailstones in the Cedarburg/Grafton (Ozaukee Co.) and Kenosha (Kenosha Co.) area. The Black Earth Creek flooded after a 2-day rainfall of 6 to 8 inches over northwest Dane County. Soil erosion and minor damage to residential landscaping, including basement flooding, was noted along the stretch of this creek from Mazomanie to Black Earth to Cross Plains.Lightning strikes and tree branches brushing power lines left about 7000 customers over southeast Wisconsin without electrical power on the 18th. Additional scattered severe thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours and dumped large hail stones as the Nebraska low which moved into eastern Iowa during the morning hours moved to northern Illinois by late afternoon. Southeast of the low air temperatures were in the 80s and surface dewpoints were in the 70s.
The second round of adverse weather on the 17th started off as a large hail and damaging wind event in Sauk County, but quickly changed to a heavy rain and flash flooding event as individual cells became more numerous and clusters moved east/southeast. Training echos were common which led to flash flooding. Damaging straight-line winds toppled large trees in Sauk and Columbia Counties while hail up to 1.00 inch in diameter also fell. However, from then on the storms became prolific rain-producers: Watertown (Jefferson Co.) had 2.52 inches of rain in 1.5 hours, Grafton (Ozaukee Co.) had 1.75 inches in one hour. WSR-88D Doppler radar estimated a total of 3 to 3.8 inches fell from southeast of Portage (Columbia Co.) to the Watertown area from 1800 to 2030CST on the 17th, and 2 to 3 inches east into northern Milwaukee County. About 2000 customers in southeast Wisconsin lost electrical power due to either downed power lines or lightning strikes.Throughout the areas that experienced flash flooding it was noted that water levels rose to 1 to 3 feet over many roads (urban and rural) leading to numerous reports of gravel shoulder washouts, blocked roads, stranded/damaged vehicles, flooded basements, and clogged sewers. In Brown Deer (Milwaukee Co.) water was up to 4 feet deep on some roads and there were reports of mudslides. Fortunately, there were no injuries or deaths, possibly due to timely warnings.For the calendar day of May 17th, Milwaukee Mitchell Field (Milwaukee Co.) picked up 1.70 inches of rain, breaking the old record of 1.20 set back in 1889. Madison's Truax Field (Dane Co.) set a new daily record of 2.58 inches. On the weather map the Colorado low had moved to eastern Nebraska by the end of the 17th while the west-east frontal boundary had moved north to the Wisconsin/Illinois border. Southern Wisconsin during the time of the flooding had northeast winds and temperatures around 60.
A second round of severe weather struck south-central and southeast Wisconsin overnight from the 11th into 12th. Some of the thunderstorms developed supercell characteristic resulting in large damaging hail, downburst straight-line winds, and torrential rainfalls. Nearly all of the severe storms in this round of activity leveled large trees and power lines. The worst damage was reported in the Allentown to West Bend area of Washington County, with two pole sheds and two residential garages sustaining considerable damage. Large hail up to golf ball size also occurred with the hurricane-force winds in Washington County. Milwaukee and Waukesha counties also experienced the same type of damage due to hurricane-force thunderstorm winds. Two Brookfield (Waukesha Co.) homes were damaged when large trees were pushed on them. In Cudahy (Milwaukee Co.), where a trained spotter's wind anemometer was blown away at 70 mph...the still-increasing winds pushed his home slightly off its foundation.Torrential rains coming down at the rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour in the more intense storms resulted in urban flooding as well. Many reports indicated that water was briefly 6 inches to almost 2 feet deep on some low-lying roads or underpasses. A peak rain of 3.6 inches in one hour was reported near the city of Racine! Due to the toppled power lines, about 25,000 customers were without power at one time or another. Synoptically, a warm front, that was over northern Illinois on the 11th, moved into southern Wisconsin during the overnight hours. This front served as a focus for the thunderstorm activity.
The second round of scattered severe thunderstorms on May 8th featured large hail stones. In addition, lightning bolts started fires in the roof/attic area of two homes, and struck a power transformer in Milwaukee. There was a brief appearance of a funnel cloud.
After several days of record-breaking warmth, the stage was set for an out-of-season severe weather outbreak across southcentral and southeast Wisconsin. The city of Milwaukee recorded it's earliest tornado ever (just before sunset), and an extremely large number of reports of large hail from 3/4 to 1.75 inches in diameter were relayed to the NWS Sullivan office. Most of the thunderstorms developed gusty winds on the order of 30 to 50 mph, but one managed to generate a gust of 58 knots (67 mph) at the TV-4 station on the north side of Milwaukee. The thunderstorm which dumped large hail 7 N of Portage also had winds that uprooted some trees and blew a car off of Inerstate 39. An earlier thunderstorm that affected the west side of the city of Portage left the ground white with golf-ball size hail that also shattered several vehicle windshields. The thunderstorm that affected Wisconsin Dells also left the ground white with hail. The Milwaukee tornado spun up about 1/2 mile east/northeast of the terminal building of General Mitchell International Airport, just east of Runway 19, moved northeast and crossed East Layton Avenue just east of South Pennsylvania Avenue in Cudahy, continued northeast through St. Francis, and dissipated over the northwest corner of Nathanael Greene Park. Apparently the tornado wasn't strong enough to cause any damage on the airport grounds, but it did cause considerable damage in Cudahy and St. Francis. Fifty-three (53) residental homes sustained minor damage and eleven (11) had major damage. Eight (8) businesses sustained major damage. Many motor vehicles were over-turned, several roofs were partially peeled off of homes, power lines and trees were toppled, and gas leaks were reported. Sixteen (16) people were injured enough to require medical treatment (lacerations), but there were no fatilities. Most of the people who were injured were in their vehicles. Based on this damage, it is estimated that maximum wind speeds of this tornado were 105 to 110 mph. The airport terminal building and control tower went on emergency power after commercial power was disrupted. Airport control tower officials were able to divert airplane traffic, consequently there were no aircraft mishaps. Preceding the tornado, there were reports of large hail and some tree damage in the forward flank downdraft of the parent thunderstorm over St. Francis and the southern part of the city of Milwaukee. The tornado was extensively photographed and captured on video tape. It briefly displayed multiple-vortex characterisitics. The last time a tornado was documented in Milwaukee County was in May, 1989.NWS Sullivan meteorologists speculate that an outflow boundary was pushed northwest to the airport area from a thunderstorm that earlier moved through the southeast corner of Milwaukee County. This outflow boundary may have focused low-level vorticity that helped generate the tornado. The parent thunderstorm possessed a mesocyclone. Synoptically, a deep low pressure was moving northeast through central Iowa toward northern Wisconsin. This movement put southern Wisconsin in a "dry slot" associated with strong jet stream winds aloft. The combination of surface dewpoints in the lower to mid 50s, strong speed shear between surface winds out of the south and southwest mid-level winds, sufficient instability due to daytime heating/temperatures in the 70s, and cold air aloft allowed thunderstorms to grow to 40,000 feet. Several thunderstorms had supercell characturistics, but only one was assoicated with a tornado, and another with a funnel cloud. Thunderstorm movement was northeast at 50 to 60 mph (about 47 to 51 knots).
News
Things to know for the Nov. 8 midterm election in Wisconsin Share on Facebook Email This Link Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn
Voters in Wisconsin will choose a governor and a U.S. Senator. Polls indicate the big races are going to be very close.
Marquette Business to host Marquette Sustainability 2.0 Conference, Oct. 26-27 // News Center // Marquette University
Power outages follow tornado warnings; residents caught off guard
In Waukesha County, a power outage forced the cancelation of a 400-person fundraiser. We Energies showed more than 20,000 outages at one time.
Tracking power outages across southeastern Wisconsin
Severe weather left thousands throughout southeastern Wisconsin without power on Wednesday.
Behind the blackout triggered by Hurricane Fiona is a long-embattled history of Puerto Rico's weak and outdated electrical grid
CBS 58 is your local source for the Milwaukee news, Milwaukee weather, and Milwaukee sports.
Wisconsin provides hurricane relief to Florida | WLUK
(WLUK) -- As Florida residents are dealing with Hurricane Ian, people in northeast Wisconsin are springing into action.Many organizations are doing their part t
Strong storms knock out power, damage trees across Milwaukee area
A cluster of strong thunderstorms are moving across central and into southeastern Wisconsin Sunday evening, according to the National Weather Service.
A squirrel in a substation caused a power outage for over 10,000 Virginians
CBS 58 is your local source for the Milwaukee news, Milwaukee weather, and Milwaukee sports.
Pewaukee School District on 2-hour delay due to power outage
CBS 58 is your local source for the Milwaukee news, Milwaukee weather, and Milwaukee sports.
Power outages reported across Southeast Wisconsin
Widespread flooding and storms are impacting power for more than 10,000 WeEnergies customers in the Milwaukee area Monday morning.
User Comments…
Are you affected? Leave your comment below.
Related Tweets
Tweets from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Racine residents wake up under blanket of ice and power outages https://t.co/yl5uoOThmJ
@SenTedCruz You forgot about the power outage already, didn’t ya?
Wisconsin power outages: Icing on power lines is causing outages https://t.co/wFfSoQYd9e
8,000+ customers affected by Kenosha power outages https://t.co/yxHVWl0ShU
Power outage with middle schoolers. #wawmproud https://t.co/h1z07MY3FR
Live Updates: Power Outages and Bitter Cold Grip Eastern U.S. https://t.co/OVvn9Z4gBA
The first snowfall of the year is beautiful even when it causes power outages and internet issues
Good thing there wasn’t a power outage. https://t.co/ppiBrqQaCy
Power outages, damage reported after tornado warnings in Wisconsin https://t.co/27URhFNadQ
power outage maps for Wisconsin https://t.co/J2DQDtK6c9 https://t.co/Jvrns1sfUM
What to do if you're in the middle of a power outage https://t.co/OpQBV8KFXZ
@LMindish 9 miles inland should be ok. Just likely power outages and very strong winds.
A power outage during Week 1 NFL Sunday is a sadness I wasn't prepared for.
@KristenWeather @Tim_Vetscher @tmj4 Power outages in parts of Tosa. Your tracking was superb!
@Amethyst_osrs We also had a pretty bad power outage by me that lasted most of the day
@MJP_OC They have a power outage number that updates every 5 minutes
Power outages are weird. I keep forgetting and looking at the clock or trying to turn on the lights
Huh. Power outage. Crossing my fingers that it’s short. What if I have to read a book?
*CANCELLED* Boys Youth Night (Power Outage) - https://t.co/Gy2uaCb9ZX
@pdubsRN This is not the type of event that creates massive power outages
Not a great sign to have my internet go out without a power outage
@BenVerlander Cal Ripken is a fraud. He caused a power outage to keep his streak alive!
20 schools in, around Milwaukee go virtual after power outages https://t.co/IonSl2KISu
@big_business_ @Raiders Man need that power outage to hit right about now
Did anyone on Maple Street ever consider it was a POWER OUTAGE? #TwilightZoneMarathon
@waterquis Lmao he there right now. Called me talkin bout “it’s a power outage in this mf”
Winds are a-howlin' tonight! Power outages expected. Should be a fun night!
Already seeing power outages in western Wisconsin. https://t.co/HtfnSFsWgA
@scherrer_noah I doubt it unless there are power outages at a school.
Power outage at our house..... so let's stack coke cans. https://t.co/r6vFVP1h9n
@snydaho @mollysny Hang in there! Nothing sucks like power outages
Power outage. Don’t think I’ve seen that in an outdoor stadium. #Oklahoma #Kansas
Nearly a Week Without Power, New Orleans Is Facing a ‘Race With the Clock’ https://t.co/8dBiIaprVw
Thousands of people experiencing power outages in Eau Claire County. ⬇️ https://t.co/hSrUecFUDZ
Milwaukee small business loses $20K+ after power outage, owner says https://t.co/wgnuInQyU4
New Berlin offers dump site for food damaged during power outages https://t.co/zP0FQLrIiR
Terrible consequence to this weeks storms and power outages. So much waste… https://t.co/IO7E6QOixa
@Liz76188097 You can also call our dedicated Power Outage line at 1-800-662-4797.
1k in medication about to be lost over a power outage. I hate it here.
Power outage Barbies. This is what I get when I ask my daughter to smile. https://t.co/qjQRrfy4wL
Unstable weather with a chance of thunderstorms is expected for Father's Day https://t.co/LH1E38mBrw
@mase007 I still haven’t been able to beat the first boss after the great power outage of 2021
People with generators wish for bad weather or power outages... I’m people with generator lol
@frontrowjon Dude, it was call ins... no shows. Broken trucks. Power outages... It was trash
Can’t believe I’m manifesting a power outage instead of a snowstorm to get out of class lol
Why every state is vulnerable to a Texas-style power crisis https://t.co/MTFwHYbpFr via @voxdotcom
Power outage across south Milwaukee, even the traffic signals are out
The mid day power outage is really shortening the work week.
There’s a first: had to cancel virtual class because of a power outage.
Texas family forced to ration baby's oxygen tanks amid power outage https://t.co/luukUYntv6
@DearAuntCrabby A meat processing plant after a 7 day power outage.
I can't figure out how big of a generator I might need for the coming power outages.
Power Outages Hit Manhattan and Queens as Utilities Face Storm Damage https://t.co/GKOPU9qQIk
@we_energies Power outage on Stowell Ave in Shorewood. When will we have power again??
Power outage for the last two hours. Hoping we energies get this fixed quickly.
Power outage and house is HOT. Have to invest in power generator?♂️?
Spotr 1 miles N of WAUWATOSA, WI @ 03:58 UTC Damage>-Power outage
The outages extended from West Bend to Madison to Racine. https://t.co/lnG3X6txhV
Thousands lose power as thunderstorms roll through southeast Wisconsin https://t.co/ETtcCNomHK
Heavy snow hits northern Wisconsin; high winds forecast for Monday https://t.co/P3ySiR9bk3
@CBS58Drew I've had candles lit 24/7 since I've been home. I'm ready for a power outage ??
So I’m thinking power outages are the new snow days for college students?
RT @SwaggyJP15: Nothing unites GB students to act wild like a power outage, ya love to see it ??
Well pc is totally fried need to get a new one cant afford it power outage destroyed it ???
You know what's shitty? Having a power outage until just after the #Patriots get eliminated!
Power outage in the office this morning. Nothing is more motivating than the sound of the UPS alarm.
Power Outage Closes Potawatomi Casino Wednesday https://t.co/jaubkjJSEX https://t.co/XCvDOdTYnB
Potawatomi Casino evacuated due to power outage https://t.co/0VJU5ehbJ8 https://t.co/ha8LXNixIb
Potawatomi Casino closed due to power outage https://t.co/oH8PydriU5 https://t.co/GWrnWx6m7I
BREAKING NEWS: Potawatomi Casino (@paysbig) is CLOSED due to a power outage.
Gas leak forces evacuations near downtown Milwaukee https://t.co/2pcgMLatK9 https://t.co/STj36BIOAP
Portions of Mayfair Mall and the surrounding area lost power around 6 p.m. https://t.co/NhRAPGgdUw
Portions of Mayfair Mall and the surrounding area lost power around 6 p.m. https://t.co/ZuzJjjpg4A
What's taking @we_energies so long to figure out the power outages in Wauwatosa & Milwaukee ?
Power outages threaten Thanksgiving dinner for some https://t.co/orrSJBlQtK https://t.co/s3K0235WT1
Power outages threaten Thanksgiving dinner for some https://t.co/2eReQ01wkK https://t.co/HsMpdTIZPh
Power outages threaten Thanksgiving dinner for some https://t.co/XVLs7Qh1gu https://t.co/69JmmdIwGT
See. Nothing ever goes right in Detroit. Power outage and the Bears are losing? What a world.
Love when there is a power outage at work for a few moments at least.
Dawg that power outage messed me up i got 12 new hires starting Monday ?
California power outages could boost Generac sales by $50 million this year. https://t.co/38yeK2YfKA
Smoke And Power Outages Near California Wildfires Hit Farmworkers Hard https://t.co/mwLXzuGroi
Nearly a million in California facing power outages to prevent wildfires https://t.co/cKd1Atc0r9
Milwaukee Job Center closed Monday and Tuesday due to power outage https://t.co/Kc8ZiIRq1r
@followmeanddie1 I went out to eat and got hit with a power outage
12:25am: Power outages reported in Walworth Co. Specifically Pell Lake and Genoa City.
Just caught about insomnia cookies handing out their cookie supply cause of the power outage
T-Ratts are making it happen today despite a power outage. https://t.co/8TETiPdVPi
#GreenBay We Energies, WPS power outages could last days https://t.co/pXYmuB3zx3
Thursday Storms Cause Power Outages https://t.co/aXu7i45bUe
Finally, a power outage I can actually root for later. https://t.co/e9HXuxmAfn
RT @tmj4: Thousands are currently without power. https://t.co/aHHeDjfI03
RT @VEEdotMARIE: Another power outage at work would be cool right now. Lol ??♀️
Another power outage at work would be cool right now. Lol ??♀️
Several power outages reported across southeast Wisconsin https://t.co/37OFC1gV6h
I wonder if our smart grid can be hacked and turned off? Rhetorical. https://t.co/jAlRezIWMd
Isnt there a Squad five-o song about this??? https://t.co/Pz6ILIXRQb
Nothing like a power outage at work to make day before a long weekend interesting
https://t.co/1XcMkuHD8i slight power outage but I’m back join up https://t.co/1XcMkuHD8i
As of 8am, 11,862 customers affected by power outages. #wiwx #swiwx #skywarn https://t.co/bWDCLFW1yK
I’m looking at generators online cause this power outage ain’t it!
Been sleep for barely two hours and wake up to a damn power outage ?
I’m so sad my college classes got cancelled this morning cause of a power outage... just kidding
Bout to have a mf heat stroke messing with Rust and this power outage... this shit is a joke
What are people hearing about the apparent widespread power outages? @we_energies
High wind creating power outages, here are some tips to deal with the dark: https://t.co/yAFYeMwvEz
RT @UWM: #UWM is aware of a power outage. We are currently investigating the situation.
Lol the one day we don’t have a snow day...there’s a power outage. I cannot with this semester
there’s a power outage across campus and I still have lab ???
#UWM is aware of a power outage. We are currently investigating the situation.
#UWM is aware of a power outage. We are currently investigating the situation.
. @PressSec is hoping for a Nationwide power outage. https://t.co/caNvqpvSqS
Tf is this 1890? Why are we having power outages and unshoveled sidewalks
Power outage causes Dane County Airport to close https://t.co/qsnBl63mA1
Power Outage FAQs
What is Power Outage?
Power outage (also called a power cut, a power blackout, power failure or a blackout) is a short-term or a long-term loss of the electric power to a particular area.
What Causes Power Outages?
- Severe weather (high winds, lightning, winter storms, heat waves, rain or flooding can cause damage to power lines or equipment);
- Other damage to electric transmission lines (vehicle accidents, trees, and animals can cause damage to power lines or equipment);
- Repairing, maintenance or upgrades on power lines and equipment.
What are the Top Outage Safety Tips?
- Stay away from the downed power lines, park vehicles in protected areas;
- Unplug appliances and electronics, limit cell phone use to conserve battery life;
- Use portable generators outdoors only, well away from open windows and doors;
- Pack perishable foods into a cooler, keep refrigerator and freezer doors shut as much as possible.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| City | Milwaukee |
| County | Milwaukee |
| State | Wisconsin (WI) |
| Country | United States |
| Zip Codes | 53201, 53202, 53203, 53204, 53205, 53206, 53207, 53208, 53209, 53210 |
53209 Power went out around 7AM on Friday 10 MAR on Milwaukee River PKWY between Hampton and Silver Spring. Unable to report outage using WE online tool. Nothing but error messages. Now in hold queue...
53221 has been out since 8:30 pm
53211 POWER OUT!
53207 Outage.
Power out.