Flash Flood, Buffalo
- When
- August 23, 7:45 PM CST to 9:50 PM CST
- Where
- Buffalo County, Fountain City
- Property damage
- $35,000
- Coordinates
- 44.380, -91.754 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flooding in Wisconsin, August 23, 1997
3 to 4 inches of rain in two hours caused flooding of basements and streets with rock and mudslides occurring as well.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
- $85,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 ARX wrote it up.
3 to 4 inches of rain in two hours caused flooding of basements and streets with rock and mudslides occurring as well.
The radar
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:42 UTC.
Event by event
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, La Crosse
- When
- August 23, 7:45 PM CST to 9:50 PM CST
- Where
- La Crosse County, La Crosse
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Coordinates
- 43.907, -91.115 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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 and Hail in Iowa, August 23, 1997
- Tornado and Hail in Minnesota, August 23, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Wisconsin, August 23, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Texas, August 23, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, August 23, 1997
- Flash Flood in Minnesota, August 23, 1997
- Lightning Strike in New Mexico, August 23, 1997
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Florida, August 23, 1997
- Hail in Wisconsin, August 23, 1997
- Hail in Minnesota, August 23, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Minnesota, August 23, 1997
- High Wind in Idaho, August 23, 1997
More
Every storm in Wisconsin in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, August 1997
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: 5610026, 5610027.