Flash Flood, Sawyer
- When
- July 18, 2:20 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Sawyer County, Hayward
- Coordinates
- 45.880, -91.145 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Wisconsin, July 18, 1996
Thunderstorms repeatedly formed and moved across northern Sawyer County in a "train effect", producing rainfall rates up to 2 inches per hour, as estimated by doppler radar. S.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS DLH wrote it up.
Thunderstorms repeatedly formed and moved across northern Sawyer County in a "train effect", producing rainfall rates up to 2 inches per hour, as estimated by doppler radar. Sawyer County law enforcement officials reported State Highway 27 and U.S. Highway 63 were closed due to high water up to the headlights of cars.
The radar
The Duluth radar (KDLH), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:19 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornado in Wisconsin, July 18, 1996
- Tornado in Wisconsin, July 18, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Michigan, July 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in Wisconsin, July 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in Indiana, July 18, 1996
- Tornado in Wisconsin, July 18, 1996
- Hail in Nebraska, July 18, 1996
- Tornado in Wisconsin, July 18, 1996
- Heat in Missouri, July 18 to 20, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Ohio, July 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in Wisconsin, July 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, July 18 to 19, 1996
More
Every storm in Wisconsin in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, July 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5583550.