Flooding and Hail in Wisconsin, February 11, 1999

Severe thunderstorms, ahead and along a strong cold front, struck parts of southcentral and southeast Wisconsin during the afternoon hours. The characteristic of the severe storms, extremely rare for February, transformed from large hail to damaging winds as clusters changed into short lines of storms moving rapidly east/northeast at 43 knots (50 mph), or more. All-time record February warmth (temperatures in the 60s) along with surface dewpoints in the 50s fueled the storms which also dumped rainfall amounts of 1/2 to 1 inch in 15 to 30 minutes. Thanks to the intense rainfall rate and still frozen ground, urban flooding was reported in Dane (a mudslide was reported on the UW-Madison campus), Waukesha, and Milwaukee counties. Hundreds of trees were uprooted. Probably 200 to 300 power poles toppled over due to powerful gusts to around 61 knots (70 mph), or were brought down by felled trees. In southcentral Wisconsin, 16,000 customers were without electical power at one time or another, while about 4,000 customers in southeast Wisconsin lost power. Near Shullsburg (Lafayette Co.), the winds destroyed a corn crib and scattered its remains across State Hwy 11. Also near Shullsburg, a large tree was pushed over on top of a pickup truck. Large trees were also uprooted in the Albany to Brodhead area of Green County. In Dane County, a wind damage swath extended from near Belleville northeast through southwest Madison to the east side of Madison around the Beltline. Trees and powerlines were pushed over in this area. The roof of a building on a golf driving range was ripped off, and sheet metal was torn off the siding of a couple other businesses in the Paoli area. East of Madison near Cottage Grove, a semi was blown over, allowing 100 gallons of fuel to spill on I-94. In Janesville (Rock Co.), lightning struck a school building's chimney, resulting in damage, but luckily no fire. In Jefferson County, wind damage was noted from Lake Mills to Watertown. Besides many toppled trees, several construction sites in Watertown reported damage to scaffolding. Tree damage was also noted just south of Palmyra. In Walworth County, the powerful winds knocked over 2 construction trailers and 3 semi's near the village of Walworth. Large trees were also pushed over by the winds east/southeast of Whitwater. The southern part of the city of Milwaukee in Milwaukee County was raked by powerful winds. Many trees and power poles were pushed over. A van was blown over, injuring two people. Also in Milwaukee, a women was injured when the winds knocked her down. It was the nearly the same story in Cudahy which reported damage to several homes, businesses, and vehicles. In Racine County, the winds toppled trees and power lines in a swath from Rochester east to the city of Racine. In the city of Racine, a man was injured when a large tree branch knocked him out of his wheel chair. Wind damage in Waukesha County occurred in the area from Hartland to Pewaukee. Besides damage to trees and powerline, a shed in Pewaukee was destroyed. The shed's wind-driven debris then damaged a nearby car. Further northwest in Dodge County, the powerful winds near Beaver Dam ripped off a barn's roof. In Fond du Lac county, the winds toppled trees and power poles/lines from Fond du Lac northeast to Taycheedah.