Power Outage in Oshkosh, WI

Thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees and power lines throughout Oshkosh. The time of this report is an estimate based on radar data.

High winds downed trees and power lines in Winnebago County. Peak winds of 58 mph were measured at the Oshkosh airport.

Thunderstorm winds downed a tree and power lines in Nekimi. The time of this event is an estimate based on radar data.

Thunderstorm winds knocked trees onto power lines in the Town of Black Wolf.

Strong winds caused power outages throughout Oshkosh.

A tornado developed and caused minor damage as it moved east near Shady Lane in rural northern Winnebago County. The weak tornado (EF0) caused two single wood power poles to partially lean in saturated soil (DI 24, DOD 1) and knocked over a few trees and limbs (DI 28, DOD 2 and 3). Swirl marks could be seen in a field of tall grass. The tornado was not in contact with the ground during the entire path length. Peak winds were estimated at 65 to 75 mph.

Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees and tree branches in Oshkosh. A power line was knocked down on Church Street.

A number of trees were knocked down throughout the county, creating scattered power outages.

Strong winds gusting to around 50 mph knocked over a semi-trailer near the intersection of Highways 10 and 45 near Winchester. Numerous trees and power lines were down across the county.

Wake low winds behind a departing thunderstorm complex downed trees in Portage County, Waushara County, and Calumet County where power was knocked out to the 911 call center. The strong winds damaged docks and a boat lift on Lake Poygan (Winnebago Co.).

A stalled front across central and east central Wisconsin was the focus for severe thunderstorms. Storms developed in southern Minnesota and a bow echo formed that made its way across Wisconsin south of Highway 29. The worst damage was around Stevens Point (Portage Co.) where thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees and power lines. Power was knocked out to 15,000 to 18,000 customers. The storms also brought torrential rainfall that caused flash flooding in Stevens Point and street flooding at several other locations in central and east central Wisconsin.

An intense low pressure system produced strong south-southwest winds across Wisconsin as it moved from the Plains, across northern Wisconsin, to Ontario. The strong winds caused isolated damage, downing some trees and knocking out power, across parts of central and east central Wisconsin. The strongest recorded gusts included 56 mph near Howard (Brown Co.), 54 mph at New Holstein (Calumet Co.), 53 mph at Chilton (Calumet Co.) and Oshkosh (Winnebago Co.), 52 mph near Plover (Portage Co.), and 50 mph near Zittau (Winnebago Co.).

A bow echo squall line moved through much of northeast Wisconsin on the afternoon of July 30th. Winds from the storms caused considerable damage, downing numerous trees and power lines. Some houses and cars were damaged when trees landed on them.||As many as 36,000 customers were without electricity at some time immediately after the storms passed. Wisconsin Public Service Corporation had to call in more than 100 employees and 50 contractors to help restore power.

Thunderstorms that developed in a strongly unstable air mass ahead of an approaching cold front produced damaging winds in east central Wisconsin. About 380 Wisconsin Public Service customers lost power due to the storms.

Thunderstorms that moved through northeast Wisconsin along with a cold front brought damaging straight-line winds and large hail. Golf ball size hail fell in Cleveland (Manitowoc co.), Baileys Harbor (Door co.) and near Kewaunee (Kewaunee co.). Hail as large as two inches in diameter fell in eastern Waushara county, around Poy Sippi, and in Manitowoc (Manitowoc co.).High winds caused extensive damage between Potter (Calumet co.) and Reedsville (Manitowoc co.) where trees were downed, the roof was ripped from a shed and a 100 foot by 60 foot barn was destroyed. In Manitowoc a 30-foot sign for a motel along Interstate 43 was blown down. Numerous trees and power lines were downed by the high winds. Dozens of large trees were snapped near a used car lot destroying 4 vehicles and damaging 4 more. A 3-foot diameter tree fell onto the front of a car, forcing the driver to exit through the back door and a large maple tree landed on another car and knocked down a utility pole. About 4,200 customers in Manitowoc and Calumet counties lost electricity due to the storms.

Thunderstorms, that developed in Minnesota north of a warm front, downed trees and power lines as they moved through central Wisconsin. The worst damage was in Portage county where wind gusts estimated as high as 75 mph downed numerous trees and power lines, destroyed solar panels on the roof of a building at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, toppled a tree onto a house in Stevens Point and overturned a boat, in a boat lift, on the Wisconsin River. A spotter in Plover recorded 1.02 inches of rain in ten minutes. Ten thousand customers lost power during the storm, including the Stevens Point Area YMCA where the power outage caused a check valve to malfunction, allowing 80,000 gallons of water from the swimming pool to flood the basement.

Thunderstorms developed as a warm front lifted north through Wisconsin and interacted with moist and unstable air. The storms produced a short-lived waterspout, two brief tornado touchdowns and high winds that downed numerous trees and power lines. The waterspout formed on Lake Poygan (Winnebago co.) and the tornadoes touched down 4 miles west of Mosinee (Marathon co.) and 2 miles west of Clintonville (Waupaca co.).High winds downed trees throughout Shawano (Shawano co.), damaged the Post Office in Wittenberg (Shawano co.), overturned a camper at Redgranite (Waushara co.) and knocked a tree onto a house in Pickerel (Langlade co.).

Three to four inches of rain fell over Waushara county and the southern half of Winnebago county during the morning hours of the 11th. Many rivers in that part of the state were already swollen after weeks of much above normal rainfall. The torrential rainfall flooded streets and highways, including U.S. Highway 41 (the major highway through Winnebago co.). A bridge on the west side of Oshkosh (Winnebago co.) sustained damage, from the high waters of Sawyer Creek, and had to be closed until it could be inspected. Highways reopened to traffic by the afternoon of the 12th. Flooding of streets and numerous homes and businesses caused the closure of downtown Wautoma (Waushara co.). The eastern part of Waushara county experienced significant crop damage.Flooded basements were commonplace. Overburdened sewer systems caused raw sewage to backup into homes, mainly in Oshkosh. In some cases water and/or sewage was more than 5 feet deep. Many residences sustained damage, including foundation damage and collapsed basements, due to water and sewage flooding basements. Two homes were destroyed, 207 had major damage and 445 had minor damage.A middle school in Oshkosh was set up as an emergency shelter for residents whose gas or power had been disconnected for safety reasons.The overnight crew at a major home improvement retailer in Grand Chute (Outagamie co.) let customers, desperate to dry out their basements, into the store at 4 AM on the 11th to purchase pumps after the customers began beating on the doors of the store. One hardware store in Oshkosh had hundreds of calls in the morning requesting pumps. The store went through 3 truckloads of pumps and assorted fittings and hoses that were shipped from stores in other parts of the area that didn't experience flooding.

Strong winds developed across northern Wisconsin in the wake of a rapidly intensifying low pressure system that moved across Wisconsin and northern Lake Michigan. Scattered trees and power lines were downed by wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph that were recorded across much of northeast Wisconsin. Downed tree branches damaged vehicles in Manitowoc (Manitowoc co.), and downed power lines in Two Rivers (Manitowoc co.) and Manitowoc caused at least 500 customers to lose electrical service. The highest gust recorded was 78 mph at Northport Pier (Door co.) at 10:45 PM. Some other strong gusts included 52 mph at Manitowoc, 50 mph at Merrill (Lincoln co.), 48 mph at Sturgeon Bay (Door co.) and 47 mph at Rhinelander (Oneida co.) and Oshkosh (Winnebago co.). A downed tree caught fire in Antigo (Langlade co.) after it fell on a power line.Two teenage boys died after setting out in a boat on a duck hunting trip on Lake Winnebago (Winnebago co.). Waves as high as 6 feet were reported on the lake by the Winnebago county sheriff.

Thunderstorms developed across Wisconsin in unstable air ahead of an approaching cold front. One of the storms produced winds that downed trees and power lines in Oshkosh (Winnebago co.).

Thunderstorms developed along a strong cold front that moved through Wisconsin during the evening. Some of the storms produced hail to golf ball size and winds as high as 60 mph. The high winds downed trees and power line, knocking out power to about 3,100 customers, mainly around Wausau (Marathon co.).Two tornadoes developed from the storms. The first tornado briefly touched down about 5 miles west of Athens (Marathon co.) and caused minimal damage. The second tornado passed north of Wausau and stayed on the ground for about 5 miles, destroying two barns, a garage and a shed. It also snapped hundreds of trees, heavily damaged 6 homes and caused minor damage to 25 others. At least two vehicles traveling on Highway 51 were blown off the road. A trailer being towed by one of the vehicles was blown over and a large road sign hit the vehicle. The driver was injured and was transported to the hospital.

Severe thunderstorms, that developed on the northern edge of a thunderstorm complex over southern Wisconsin, moved through the central and east-central portions of the state during the evening, downing numerous trees and power lines. The storms damaged homes along Lake Dubay (Marathon co.) and knocked down a garage in Knowlton (Marathon co.). Part of a roof was blown from a shed in Brillion (Calumet co.). A house and a former grocery store in Neenah (Winnebago co.) also sustained roof damage from the storms.