Flood and Hail in Wisconsin, June 18, 1998

Name: Flood and Hail in Wisconsin, June 18, 1998
Start: 1998-06-18T11:00
End: 1998-06-18T19:59
Location: Wisconsin

June 18, 1998 · NWS MKX · 36 events in 16 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 5
Property damage: $1.4 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 36

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 MKX wrote it up.

Scattered thunderstorms developing around the noon hour became more numerous and intensified to severe levels over southern Wisconsin by evening. Hardest hit was Rock County where two gustnadoes roared through the Clinton area producing winds estimated at 70 to 80 mph, toppling trees and power lines, and causing damage to 15 homes. Residents of Beloit and Janesville, also in Rock County, were left without electricity overnight due to widespread tree and power line damage from thunderstorm winds. Elsewhere, scattered tree and power line damage was reported with numerous wind gusts between 60 and 70 mph raking southcentral and southeast Wisconsin. A great financial and historical loss was suffered at Taliesin (Iowa Co.) where a 220 year old oak tree crashed into the studio wing of the architectural landmark. So many trees were toppled in Tower Hill State park near Taliesin that the park was closed to the public for several days. Lightning and torrential rains played havoc in isolated areas with a home fire reported in Nashotah of Waukesha county and 5 people incurring temporary electrical shock in Janesville of Rock county. A few rainfall totals included 2.6 inches near Cuba city in Lafayette county and 2.67 inches measured at the Madison's Dane County Regional Airport. At one point 4 inches of standing water was reported in the streets of Madison that evening.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

30 thunderstorm wind, 4 lightning, 1 hail, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Iowa

When: June 18, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Iowa County, Helena to 3 mi SW of Helena
Property damage: $9,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 43.130, -89.970

Hail, Dane

When: June 18, 11:45 AM CST
Where: Dane County, Verona
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.980, -89.530

Thunderstorm Wind, Sauk

When: June 18, 11:45 AM CST
Where: Sauk County, Lake Delton
Property damage: $200
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.580, -89.780

Thunderstorm Wind, Green

When: June 18, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Green County, Browntown
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: UTILITY COMPANY
Coordinates: 42.580, -89.820

Thunderstorm Wind, Columbia

When: June 18, 12:10 PM CST
Where: Columbia County, Portage
Property damage: $4,000
Reported by: UTILITY COMPANY
Coordinates: 43.550, -89.450

Thunderstorm Wind, Sauk

When: June 18, 12:26 PM CST
Where: Sauk County, Baraboo
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.470, -89.730

Thunderstorm Wind, Green Lake

When: June 18, 12:30 PM CST
Where: Green Lake County, Green Lake
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 43.830, -88.950

Lightning, Dane

When: June 18, 12:45 PM CST
Where: Dane County, Madison
Property damage: $700
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 43.067, -89.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Marquette

When: June 18, 12:50 PM CST
Where: Marquette County, Oxford
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.780, -89.570

Thunderstorm Wind, Rock

When: June 18, 3:15 PM CST
Where: Rock County, Clinton
Property damage: $57,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.570, -88.870

Thunderstorm Wind, Rock

When: June 18, 3:30 PM CST
Where: Rock County, Edgerton
Property damage: $11,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.830, -89.070

Thunderstorm Wind, Walworth

When: June 18, 3:30 PM CST
Where: Walworth County, 2 mi N of Darien
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.620, -88.700

Thunderstorm Wind, Walworth

When: June 18, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Walworth County, 3 mi N of Elkhorn
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.700, -88.550

Thunderstorm Wind, Sauk

When: June 18, 4:05 PM CST
Where: Sauk County, Reedsburg
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.530, -90.000

Lightning, Waukesha

When: June 18, 4:30 PM CST
Where: Waukesha County, Nashotah
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 43.018, -88.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Lafayette

When: June 18, 4:30 PM CST
Where: Lafayette County, 1 mi N of Benton
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 42.580, -90.380

Thunderstorm Wind, Iowa

When: June 18, 4:30 PM CST
Where: Iowa County, 3 mi SW of Helena
Property damage: $950,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 43.130, -90.070

Thunderstorm Wind, Iowa

When: June 18, 4:35 PM CST to 4:40 PM CST
Where: Iowa County, Montfort Jct to 1 mi of Cobb
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.970, -90.380

Thunderstorm Wind, Iowa

When: June 18, 4:40 PM CST
Where: Iowa County, 1 mi E of Montfort Jct
Property damage: $4,000
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
Coordinates: 42.970, -90.380

Thunderstorm Wind, Iowa

When: June 18, 4:55 PM CST to 5:00 PM CST
Where: Iowa County, Clyde
Property damage: $7,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.120, -90.220

Thunderstorm Wind, Sauk

When: June 18, 4:58 PM CST to 5:05 PM CST
Where: Sauk County, La Valle to Reedsburg
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Property damage: $40,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 43.580, -90.130

Thunderstorm Wind, Rock

When: June 18, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Rock County, Janesville
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Property damage: $19,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.680, -89.020

Thunderstorm Wind, Dane

When: June 18, 5:15 PM CST to 5:20 PM CST
Where: Dane County, Middleton to Fitchburg
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 43.100, -89.500

Flood, Lafayette

When: June 18, 5:30 PM CST
Where: Lafayette County, Elk Grove
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.661, -90.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: June 18, 5:50 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County, Jefferson to Ft Atkinson
Property damage: $6,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 43.000, -88.800

Thunderstorm Wind, Washington

When: June 18, 6:02 PM CST
Where: Washington County, West Bend
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.420, -88.180

Thunderstorm Wind, Waukesha

When: June 18, 6:25 PM CST to 6:55 PM CST
Where: Waukesha County, Dousman to 4 mi of Waukesha
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 43.020, -88.530

Thunderstorm Wind, Walworth

When: June 18, 6:30 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Walworth County, Countywide
Property damage: $27,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 42.670, -88.530

Thunderstorm Wind, Rock

When: June 18, 6:35 PM CST
Where: Rock County, Footville
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.670, -89.200

Lightning, Rock

When: June 18, 6:57 PM CST
Where: Rock County, Janesville
Injuries: 5 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 42.671, -89.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Washington

When: June 18, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Washington County, Slinger
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.330, -88.280

Thunderstorm Wind, Milwaukee

When: June 18, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Milwaukee County, Milwaukee
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.030, -87.970

Thunderstorm Wind, Kenosha

When: June 18, 7:15 PM CST
Where: Kenosha County, Trevor
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.520, -88.120

Lightning, Milwaukee

When: June 18, 7:15 PM CST
Where: Milwaukee County, Fox Pt
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Sheboygan

When: June 18, 7:30 PM CST
Where: Sheboygan County, Sheboygan
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.750, -87.720

Thunderstorm Wind, Sheboygan

When: June 18, 7:59 PM CST
Where: Sheboygan County, Sheboygan
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.750, -87.720

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wisconsin in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, June 1998

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: 5656128, 5656030, 5656106, 5656105, 5656031, 5656107, 5656109, 5656125, 5656108, 5656112, 5656110, 5656113, 5656111, 5656116, 5656129, 5656130, 5656135, 5656114, 5656115, 5656117, 5656136, 5656119, 5656131, 5656137, 5656120, 5656138, 5656133, 5656132, 5656118, 5656126, 5656121, 5656122, 5656127, 5656134, 5656123, 5656124.