Flash Flooding and Flood in Wisconsin, June 27 to 28, 1998

A line of intense thunderstorms swept in from Minnesota and caused widespread straight-line wind damage to many areas of central and western Wisconsin. This was one of the worst storms to hit the region in over 25 years. There were two main paths of concentrated damage where winds gusted between 90 and 120 mph.The northern track of damage crossed the Mississippi River near Winona, MN and hit Arcadia, Ettrick, and northwest Monroe County hardest. Several buildings, chicken storage facilities, and grain bins in Arcadia were damaged or destroyed. There were trees down in many areas along with widespread property damage and prolonged power outages. Especially hit hard were areas of pine trees flattened between Melrose and Cataract where measured wind gusts of 101 mph were recorded before equipment failed. The damage path continued to the east-southeast crossing Interstate 90 near Tomah and knocking down wide swaths of trees.The southern track of intense damage crossed the Mississippi River near the La Crosse-Vernon County line creating widespread damage to Goose Island Campground and Chipmunk Coulee just south of La Crosse. Many campers were damaged and trees blown over in the campground. Barns were destroyed as well with large sections of trees sheared or blown over along the northern edge of Vernon County. In Grant County, numerous large trees and power lines were blown down.Ten counties in western Wisconsin were declared Federal Disaster areas, including Buffalo, Clark, Crawford, Grant, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Trempealeau, and Vernon. Damage estimates in Trempealeau County alone topped $4 Million with damages exceeding $1 Million in La Crosse, Vernon, and Jackson counties.