High Wind and Seiche in Wisconsin, June 27 to 28, 1998

Strong winds, which developed as a result of a strong pressure difference in the wake of a departing thunderstorm complex, produced damage across parts of central and east-central Wisconsin. Trees and power lines were knocked down in many locations. The strongest winds occurred in southern Outagamie and northern Winnebago counties, where gusts were clocked to 70 mph in Little Chute (Outagamie co.) and 65 mph in Menasha (Winnebago co.). Significant wind damage to structures appeared to be limited to Outagamie and Brown counties. In Outagamie county, trees fell onto a house and an apartment, and a shed was blown onto a road. In West De Pere (Brown co.), a storage building collapsed and the roof was taken off about half of another storage building. A tree fell onto a house in De Pere (Brown co.), crashing through a bedroom window. Other measured wind gusts included 55 mph in Green Bay (Brown co.) 50 mph in Hortonville (Outagamie co.), 46 mph in Manitowoc (Manitowoc co.), and 41 mph in Antigo (Langlade co.).The strong pressure difference created a large wave on Lake Winnebago, known as a seiche. The water rose four feet in 15 minutes on the western shores of the lake. The wave damaged boats, piers and boat lifts from Menahsa to Oshkosh. At least $100,000 in damage occurred along the lakeshore due to the seiche.