Wisconsin, 1998

Dust Devil in Wisconsin, May 6, 1998

May 6, 1998 · NWS GRB · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong dust devil hit a garden center in Green Bay, damaging two greenhouses. The dust devil also threw plant pots and flowers around as it moved across the garden center.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 GRB wrote it up.

A strong dust devil hit a garden center in Green Bay, damaging two greenhouses. The dust devil also threw plant pots and flowers around as it moved across the garden center. When the whirlwind moved over the employee's lunch room, it sucked the time cards out of the card holder.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Devil, Brown

When
May 6, 1:40 PM CST to 1:41 PM CST
Where
Brown County, Green Bay
Property damage
$2,000
Coordinates
44.474, -87.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Dust Devil
A small rotating column of dust from surface heating that caused damage or injury.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Wisconsin in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, May 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: 5641063.