Wisconsin, 2001

Flooding in Wisconsin, April 1 to 30, 2001

April 1 to 30, 2001 · NWS MPX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Heavy snow fall during winter remained on the ground through the end of March and then rapidly melted, resulting in river stages close to record levels along Wisconsin's western border. Water began to gush through drainage ditches, streams and into the mainstem rivers during midday April 1.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
4

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 MPX wrote it up.

Heavy snow fall during winter remained on the ground through the end of March and then rapidly melted, resulting in river stages close to record levels along Wisconsin's western border. Water began to gush through drainage ditches, streams and into the mainstem rivers during midday April 1. Two to four inches of rain April 7-9 prolonged the high water and also added about one foot to the crest during mid-April. Another two to three inches of rain April 22-23 caused a second crest in late April. Both the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers remained well above flood stage into May (see May 2001 Storm Data). The crest at Stillwater MN on the St. Croix River was the second highest crest, only 1.8 feet lower than in 1965. The crest at Hastings MN and Red Wing MN on the Mississippi River was the third highest level, lower only than during the floods of 1965 and 1969.A few homes and businesses in Durand (Pepin County) and Prescott (Pierce County) had water in basements, and one office building in Hudson (St. Croix County) was engulfed by the St. Croix River. Numerous county roads and bridges were under water, and the St. Croix River crossing between Houlton (St. Croix County) and Stillwater MN was closed from April 10th into the month of May. Kennedy Mills dam on the Apple River near St. Croix Falls (Polk County) was clogged by debris, causing an adjoining embankment to collapse. A section of another dam 10 miles east of St. Croix Falls also began eroding. Both dams were shored up and did not collapse.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 1, 9:45 AM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 1, 9:45 AM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1045 AM CDT SUN APR 1 2001

CLOUDINESS ASSOCIATED WITH COLD UPPER CIRCULATION HAS STAYED ON NRN
FRINGE OF THE FORECAST AREA.  SHORT TERM MODELS INDICATE THAT THE
DEFORMATION FIELD WILL BE SUCH THAT CLOUDS WILL STAY IN THE NRN
ZONES...SOME CIRRUS ASSOCIATED WITH DEVELOPING WRN SYSTEM SHOULD WORK
INTO SWRN ZONES.  THE EARLY MORNING FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE WITH ONoLY
MINOR ADJUSTMENT TO WINDS.

.MSP...NONE
 SCOTT

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Pepin

When
April 1, 12:00 PM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Pepin forecast zone
Property damage
$10 million
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
44.483, -92.150 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Pierce

When
April 1, 12:00 PM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Pierce forecast zone
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
44.720, -92.422 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Polk

When
April 1, 12:00 PM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
Polk forecast zone
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
45.461, -92.441 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, St. Croix

When
April 1, 12:00 PM CST to April 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where
St. Croix forecast zone
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
45.034, -92.453 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, April 2001

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: 5242094, 5242095, 5242096, 5242097.