Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, June 24 to 25, 1998

Numerous thunderstorms packing winds over 60 mph swept across much of central and east-central Wisconsin late on June 24 and into the early morning hours of June 25. Door county was particularly hard hit, as thunderstorms hit a park and campground west and south of Sturgeon Bay. Three people suffered minor injuries at a camping resort south of Sturgeon Bay as winds at least 75 mph knocked over camping trailers and trees. Another person was injured at Potawatomi State Park as a tree fell on his tent. Three barns were destroyed, over 20 houses sustained damage, and the grandstand at Door County Fair Park was damaged. A little later in the morning, lightning struck a house in the town of Gardner. Total damage in Door county alone topped $150,000.The town of Rudolph (Wood co.) was hard hit, too, as winds reached over 70 mph, damaging buildings and uprooting or splitting trees. A roof was torn off of a trailer home, a barn was flattened, a silo was damaged and many trees were knocked down. The same storm produced damage at a camp in Rosholt (Portage co.), toppling over 500 trees on the 440-acre campus. Several of the trees damaged roofs of buildings. None of the 150 campers and 60 counselors were injured. A storm that hit Wien (Marathon co.) blew a 115 foot wooden steeple off a church.Lightning struck a storage building in Cassel township (Marathon co.), causing damage to the building's contents. In Oconto county, the steeple of a church in Klondike was struck by lightning and set on fire. Lightning started two fires in Brown county. One occurred at a tubing plant in De Pere; another lightning strike hit a residence near Holland, causing damage to a wall in the house. In Outagamie county, lightning struck a 100-year old school, damaging the cupola and roof.