Power Outage in Waukesha, WI

Scattered trees, branches, and power lines down.

Multiple trees and power lines down from Vernon to the southern portion of Waukesha.

Multiple trees and power lines down from Vernon to the southern portion of Waukesha.

Some trees and power lines down in Lac La Belle.

Scattered trees and power lines down between Eagle and Dousman on highway 67.

Fallen trees and branches downing a power line and pole.

Westerly wind gusts 45 to 50 mph. Scattered tree limbs down and some power outages.

Several trees and branches down including two power lines on the west side of Lac La Belle.

Widespread tree branches and trees down. Power lines down.

Scattered downed trees and limbs across the county with some falling onto power lines. Two power poles were snapped in the Town of Brookfield.

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, and scaffolding blown into traffic in downtown Waukesha. A traffic light was blown down.

An EF1 tornado caused sporadic damage along its path. A metal building system had approximately 40 percent of its roof tore away. There was minor damage to the roofs of two residential homes. Five wooden power poles were knocked down. Many tree branches were snapped with some whole trees snapped.

Numerous branches and trees down across the county, most concentrated from Genesee to Mukwonago. In addition, a few 2 foot diameter trees downed and shingles blown off a home on North Island on Eagle Spring Lake. Power lines downed in Eagle, Ottawa, and Sussex. A tree fell on a van.

A swath of trees down, some large. Power lines down. Some roads blocked by fallen trees.

A swath of trees down, some large. Power lines down. Some roads blocked by fallen trees.

Sporadic coverage of trees and power lines down across the northern half of Waukesha County. A tree landed on a police car.

Sporadic coverage of trees and power lines down in west central Waukesha County.

Trees and power lines down.

Strong gradient winds downed tree branches and power lines, causing scattered power outages across Waukesha County.

The public reported trees downed by powerful thunderstorm winds 2 miles southwest of the city of Waukesha.

Large pine trees were reported to be blown down by powerful thunderstorm winds by the public in Stone Bank.

Law enforcement officials reported damage from severe thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 56 knots (65 mph) that downed two trees and two power lines and numerous branches in the township of Oconomowoc.

Several large trees were toppled and a couple power-lines sustained damage due to tree debris.

Powerful thunderstorm winds toppled large trees.

Powerful thunderstorm winds knocked large branches out of several trees.

Powerful thunderstorm wind gusts toppled several large trees and broke branches that brought down some power-lines.

Powerful thunderstorm wind gusts toppled several large trees and broke branches that brought down some power-lines.

Powerful thunderstorm winds toppled large trees and broken branches pulled some power-lines down.

Powerful thunderstorm winds gusts knocked down several large trees.

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

Powerful thunderstorm winds knocked down large trees.

Scattered thunderstorms produced lightning during the afternoon hours of April 9th and again during the early morning hours of April 10th, igniting 3 separate house fires. The lightning also stuck power lines that caused power outages affecting about 6300 customers in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The thunderstorms fired up as a low-level jet impinged along an 850 mb baroclinic zone that set up over the area ahead of a 500 mb short-wave, with additional forcing for deep vertical motions provided by a nearly-coupled upper jet.

A line of scattered to broken supercell thunderstorms formed along a cold front that was slicing into a very warm, unstable air mass over the Upper Midwest. The combination of wind shear and CAPE provided ideal conditions for the supercells to congeal into a bowing mesoscale convective system that roared west to east across southern Wisconsin during the late evening hours of July 25th and early overnight hours of July 26th. Damaging wind gusts from the severe thunderstorm complex produced numerous reports of downed trees, power lines and some property damage to homes and businesses.

Severe thunderstorms, part of a mesoscale convective system (MCS) that developed over Minnesota the night before on the nose of a low-level jet of 35 knots, brought hail up to 1 inch in diameter and damaging wind gusts estimated at up to 65 mph (57 knots) as they pushed into South Central Wisconsin during the morning hours of May 6th. Trees and power lines were brought down by the severe thunderstorms winds. In addition, there were several reports of minor street flooding with the heavy rains that accompanied the severe thunderstorm complex, as well as two reports of minor fires caused by lightning strikes.

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 Washington, Waukesha and Walworth Counties. Sustained winds reached 30 mph, with estimated gusts up to 45 mph. The persistent strong winds downed weak trees and tree limbs which then snapped power-lines, causing scattered power outages.

An ice storm affected a 25 to 30 mile wide area stretching from Janesville to Ft. Atkinson to Delafield to West Bend to Port Washington thanks to about 11 hours of freezing rain. Ice accumulations ranged from 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Some light snow was mixed in with the freezing rain at times. The resultant icy roads were a factor in a fatality (indirectly-related) that occurred in a 1-vehicle accident near Milton when the driver lost control of the vehicle. Many civic functions and businesses had closed ahead of the storm. Ponding of water also occurred on many streets thanks to melting snow and freezing rain accumulations. Scattered power outages occurred as falling branches snapped power lines. Hundreds of vehicle accidents were reported by the media as drivers found it nearly impossible to climb even slight grades. This ice storm was the fourth winter storm/ice storm combination during the 2007-08 winter season across south-central and southeast Wisconsin, and was assocated with a larger winter storm that dumped 6' to 12 of new snow across parts of south-central Wisconsin on January 17th. Normally, an ice storm occurs only about once every three years across southern Wisconsin.

Scattered severe thunderstorms developed during the mid to late morning hours on July 21st, across mainly southeast Wisconsin, in response to a disturbance riding along a quasi-stationary front. These storms produced primarily damaging winds that uprooted trees, and/or damaged power lines. The earliest cluster of severe storms affected northern Green County. A home in New Glarus was damaged after the powerful winds pushed a tree on its roof. One storm developed along Interstate-43 in Rock County and headed northeast through the central part of Waukesha County with winds of 56 to 61 knots (65 to 70 mph). From there it passed through Ozaukee County and out over Lake Michigan. Scattered areas of tree damage resulted from this storm, especially in the Waukesha and Brookfield areas of Waukesha County. Lightning also struck a home in Grafton (Ozaukee Co.) and set it on fire with this storm. Another storm produced a funnel cloud south of Beaver Dam (Dodge Co.).

A pre-frontal band of thunderstorms pulsed up to severe limits and produced powerful downburst winds up to an estimated 65 kts (75 mph) across part of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. In Green Lake County, a barn was blown down, and a tree fell on to a vehicle. In addition, several other large trees were uprooted in the Markesan area, and a lightning fire damaged a home near the village of Marquette. In Fond du Lac County, several barns, sheds, or silos were damaged, and large trees were uprooted. In addition, a lightning fire damaged a home near Lamartine. In Fox Lake (Dodge Co.), the window of a storm door was blown in and several large trees were uprooted. In Waukesha County, an old barn southwest of Oconomowoc was blown down. Over the remainder of south-central and southeast Wisconsin the thunderstorm winds were in the 35 to 43 kt range (40 to 50 mph).

Several short lines, or spokes of thunderstorms moved southeast across south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the afternoon and early evening hours. Powerful, downburst, straight-line winds estimated to 56 knots (65 mph) toppled large trees, power-lines, and in one case, leveled some crops. Large hail was also observed. In Fond du Lac County, corn and soybean crop damage occurred between State Highway 26 and County Trunk Highway TC, southwest of Ladoga. Synoptically, an upper-level low pressure moved southeast through Wisconsin. Afternoon heating with cool air aloft allowed for the development of strong updrafts that lead to some of the thunderstorm cells becoming severe.

Clusters or short lines of storms developed during the afternoon heating over southeastern Wisconsin. Some of them briefly reached severe weather limits. Powerful, downburst winds measured to 50 to 54 knots (58 to 62 mph) toppled some large trees in Watertown (Jefferson Co.) and in Elm Grove (Waukesha Co.). Training of back-building thunderstorm cells northeast of Wales (Waukesha Co.) resulted in WSR-88 Doppler radar rainfall estimates of 3 to 4 inches. Law enforcement reports indicated that water covered a couple low-lying roads in the area northeast of Wales. Likewise, a radar-estimated two to three inches of rain fell on the city of Sheboygan (Sheboygan Co.), resulting in water-over-the-curb, urban-type flooding.

Clusters or short lines of severe storms with powerful downburst winds and isolated tornadoes moved through parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on Labor Day September 2, 2002. Two tornadoes spun up in Fond du Lac County. Refer to those individual tornado events for details. Numerous large trees were toppled in some locations by the downburst winds, while broken tree branches snapped some power lines. Amateur radio operators in Waukesha County measured peak wind gust of 58 knots (67 mph). In West Bend (Washington Co.), a house trailer was blown over, and slightly damaged, by the powerful winds.

Gradient high winds raked parts of southeast Wisconsin for a short period of time. However, there were numerous reports of toppled trees, power poles, and power lines, as well as bent road signs. In addition, on County Trunk H in Jefferson County, a barn sustained minor to moderate damage. The highest measured wind gust was 58 knots (67 mph) at the home of a severe weather spotter near Dousman (Waukesha Co.). Other maximum gusts were in the 50 to 57 knot range (58 to 66 mph). A gust of 55 knots (63 mph) was recorded at the NWS Forecast Office near Sullivan (Jefferson Co.). Synoptically, a gravity wave with associated widespread rain showers moved northeast out of Illinois and across southeastern Wisconsin. Some of the strongest gusts occurred when rain showers were observed. The convection most likely contributed to the mixing and transfer of high-momentum air down to the surface. The VAD wind profile at the NWS Office near Sullivan depicted southwest winds of 50 to 60 knots between two and four thousand feet AGL.