Wisconsin, 2000

Flash Flooding and Hail in Wisconsin, May 31, 2000

May 31, 2000 · NWS MKX · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

An isolated severe thunderstorm, dumped large hail in Lafayette County. However, several additional clusters of thunderstorms trained east/southeast across Lafayette and Green Counties, resulting in flash flooding.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
$150,000
Crop damage
$150,000
Events
3

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 MKX wrote it up.

An isolated severe thunderstorm, dumped large hail in Lafayette County. However, several additional clusters of thunderstorms trained east/southeast across Lafayette and Green Counties, resulting in flash flooding. Many roads in these counties were covered with fast flowing water 1 to 3 feet deep that washed out gravel road shoulders. Also, many homes had basement flooding, and there were many reports of stranded vehicles which sustained flood damage. Both coop rain observations and WSR-88D Doppler radar estimated placed rainfall amounts generally in the 3 to 5 inch range during the evening hours. Browntown, in southwest Green County, picked up 5.5 inches while New Glarus registered 4.0 inches. Synoptically, a low pressure moved east along a quasi-stationary front over northern Illinois on th 31st. Meanwhile, moisture south of the front was pulled northward to fuel the storms.

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 122 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:37 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Lafayette

When
May 31, 8:30 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Lafayette County, South Portion
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$50,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
42.661, -90.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Green

When
May 31, 8:30 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Green County, Countywide
Property damage
$100,000
Crop damage
$100,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
42.680, -89.602 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Lafayette

When
May 31, 8:40 PM CST
Where
Lafayette County, 2 mi W of Darlington
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.683, -90.150

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2000Every state in 2000This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, May 2000

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: 5144329, 5144330, 5144328.