Power Outage in Sheboygan, WI

Snow accumulation of 8-12 inches. Some branches and power lines down.

Sheboygan airport ASOS measured a 60 mph wind gust. Scattered trees, branches, and power lines down throughout the county.

A swath of large trees snapped or uprooted. Some trees fallen on houses and cars. Many power lines down.

A swath of large trees snapped or uprooted. Some trees fallen on houses and cars. Many power lines down.

Power poles broken and 3 inch diameter branches down.

Westerly wind gusts 45 to 51 mph. Scattered tree limbs down and some power outages.

Numerous trees down and some powerlines down.

Numerous trees down and some powerlines down.

Widespread tree damage with some power outages.

Gusty winds to near 60 mph combined with heavy snow to produce visibilities of 1/4 mile or less, as well as blowing and drifting snow. Snowfall totals ranged between 7 and 10 inches. Random Lake, Plymouth and Elkhart Lake all measured 10 inches of snow. A peak wind of 58 mph was recorded at the C-MAN station along the lake shore in Sheboygan, with the ASOS at the Sheboygan airport recording a 47 mph wind gust. Alliant Energy reported 1,300 customers without power in the county, with WE Energies reporting scattered outages across southern sections of the county. Law enforcement reported 50 reports of cars in ditches and minor accidents, with one minor injury.

Lightning struck and damaged an electrical overhead system on a line just south of the intersection of County Highways J and M. About 500 customers were without power for about 4 hours.

A line of severe storms moved west to east across Sheboygan County and generated widespread powerful winds that gusted to an estimated 61 to 70 knots (70 to 80 mph). In addition, a tornado spun up north of Sheboygan Falls at 1437 CST - see the tornado event write-up for deatils. The ASOS unit at the Sheboygan County Airport measured a gust of 53 knots (61 mph). Thousands of trees were snapped or toppled, and many power-lines were brought down by tree debris, mostly across the northern part of the county. An 81-year-old women in Plymouth was injured when the winds pushed a door of a store into her. She broke her arm and was hospitalized. Elsewhere in Plymouth, 2 vehicles were damaged by tree debris. North of Plymouth, 2 cabins at a camp ground were destroyed by toppled trees, and 3 other camp buldings were damaged. In Sheboygan Falls, at least 12 homes were damaged. In Kohler, a vehicle was crushed by a toppled tree. City and county 911 Communications Centers received thousands of calls within a 5 hour period. At least 14,000 homes in Sheboygan County lost electrical power.

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

Lightning struck a power-line voltage regulator, disrupting power to about 100 homes on CTH S.

Trees and power lines down.

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 produced strong gusty north to northeast winds over Sheboygan and Ozaukee Counties. Wind gusts reached 40 to 53 mph near the Lake Michigan shore. The persistent strong winds downed weak trees and tree limbs which then snapped power-lines, causing scattered power outages.

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 Sheboygan reported a 55 mph wind gust at 6 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 8 and 16 inches, with 16 inches of snow measured by a cooperative observer 1 mile southwest of West Bend (Washington County); 11.5 inches near Beaver Dam in the town of Westfield (Dodge County); 9.5 inches just southwest of the city of Sheboygan; 8.5 inches in Grafton (Ozaukee County); and 8 inches 2 miles southwest of Fond Du Lac. 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. Snow drifts of 3 to 10 feet were common, with reports of some drifts reaching 12 to 15 feet in open rural areas. Drifting snow closed county highways and roads 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. Dodge County law enforcement reported 174 vehicles were stuck in snow or had skidded off area roads. A Randolph (Dodge County) man injured his hand in a snow blower incident. At the height of the storm, WE Energies reported 5,200 customers were without power across Southeast Wisconsin.

In the wake of a powerful winter storm, strong northwest winds and bitter cold air combined to generate very low wind chill values across parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Air temperatures were in the -4F to -11F range and northwest winds were on the order of 13 to 20 knots (15 to 23 mph) with peak gusts of 22 to 30 knots (25 to 35 mph). Wind chill values dropped to -35F to -39F for 3 hours or more. 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 thunderstorm pulsed to minimal severe weather limits and toppled some large trees and power lines.

Periods of freezing rain, initially with some convective showers, resulted in an Ice Storm with ice accumulations of 1/4 to 1/2 inch. sleet and thundersnow were also observed. 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 many reports of tree and power line damage, especially in Sheboygan County. Numerous vehicle accidents were noted in newspapers. Two separate rollover accidents resulted in two seriously injured drivers (indirectly-related) in the area northwest of the city of Fond du Lac. 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.

A short line of severe thunderstorms rolled southeast through the county of Sheboygan. Accompanying powerful downburst winds, estimated to be 50 to 56 knots (58 to 65 mph), toppled large trees across most of the county, especially in the area from Elkhart Lake to Cedar Grove. Some power lines sustained tree damage, mainly in the Plymouth area, and also in the city of Sheboygan. Brief heavy rains of 1 to 1.5 inches resulted in minor urban flooding in the city of Sheboygan, where 4 inch water depths on some roads were reported, and water got into some buildings.

Scattered severe thunderstorms, with powerful, straight-line, down-burst winds, affected parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. There were many reports of large trees pushed over by the winds. In Green Lake County, a larg tree fell on, and slightly damaged, a bar/restaurant near the village of Marquette, and a pontoon boat was flipped over on Green Lake.

Intense rainfall up to 2.10 inches in only 2 hours generated widespread small stream and urban flooding across the eastern half of Sheboygan County. Water depths on low roads ranged from 6 inches to 2 feet. Dozens of motor vehicles stalled or became stranded. Part of State Highway 32 was blocked between 1600 and 1730CST. There were numerous reports of minor basement flooding, but not as damaging as the 1998 flooding, due to mitigation efforts made since that event. In Howards Grove, Pigeon Creek swelled 100 feet out of it's bank to flood nearby fields and backyards. Associated lightning strikes in scattered thunderstorms across south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the afternoon hours left 23,000 customers with electrical power during the afternoon and early evening hours.

A mesoscale convective system (MCS) moved east across southern Wisconsin and generated scattered severe downburst winds, flood-producing rains, and intense lightning strikes. The powerful winds leveled some trees in the Brandon area, with one tree falling on and damaging a vehicle. A separate wet microburst struck the city of Ripon (Fond du Lac Co.) with winds estimated to 56 knots (65 mph), resulting in some downed trees or tree limbs. In addition, unofficial heavy rains of 3.5 to 4.5 inches fell in about 1 to 1.5 hours in Ripon, resulting in flash flooding. Water depths quickly reached 1 to 3 feet in and around Ripon. Manhole covers popped and damaged a vehicle in the city, and a railroad bed was washed out by the flood waters. Several cars stalled in the deep water. The severe storms moved east through the Fond du Lac city area, where their winds pushed over more trees. Urban flooding affect much of the city due to the heavy rains. Some cars were pushed down a flooded road in the central part of the city where water depths were 1 to 2 feet. Several intense lightning strikes knocked power transformers out of service in and around the city of Fond du Lac. This resulted in the loss of electrical power to 3,833 customers. A funnel cloud was spotted east of Eden. The thunderstorms then moved east into Sheboygan County where flash flooding affected the Plymouth to Sheboygan Falls area. Water depths on roads in this area reached 1 to 3 feet, and gravel shoulder washouts were noted. Downburst winds pushed over some trees north of Elkhart Lake. Urban flooding was reported in the city of Sheboygan.Synoptically, a low pressure was found over western Kansas with a warm front east through southern Iowa to central Illinois. A secondary surface trough extended northeast through Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties. Aloft, a vorticity maxima moved across southern Minnesota through southern Wisconsin. Radar imagery clearly showed the embedded MCS to have Neddy-Eddy characteristics (counter-clockwise rotation). The comma-head portion of the MCS moved over Fond du Lac and Sheboygan counties, resulting in many echoes training over the same spot. South of the warm front one could find surface dewpoints in the 70 to 75 range.