Wisconsin, 2001

Dense Fog in Wisconsin, February 24 to 25, 2001

February 24 to 25, 2001 · NWS MKX · 17 events in 17 counties and zones

Moist southeast winds and recent snow melt combined to develop dense fog across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Visibilities were reduced to 1/8 to 1/4 mile, resulting in about 100 vehicle accidents, and delays in dozens of flight arrivals and departures at airports.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 17 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
17

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.

Moist southeast winds and recent snow melt combined to develop dense fog across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Visibilities were reduced to 1/8 to 1/4 mile, resulting in about 100 vehicle accidents, and delays in dozens of flight arrivals and departures at airports. On the weather map, a warm front was moving north through northern Illinois.

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 Milwaukee, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 24, 6:54 PM CST, 2 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 24, 6:54 PM CST, 2 hours 36 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

17 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, Marquette

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Marquette forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.820, -89.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Green Lake

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Green Lake forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.800, -89.045 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Fond du Lac

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Fond du Lac forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.754, -88.488 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Sheboygan

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Sheboygan forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.756, -87.800 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Sauk

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Sauk forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.427, -89.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Columbia

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Columbia forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.467, -89.334 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Dodge

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Dodge forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.416, -88.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Washington

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Washington forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.369, -88.231 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Ozaukee

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Ozaukee forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.403, -87.891 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Dane

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Dane forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.067, -89.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Jefferson

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.021, -88.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Waukesha

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Waukesha forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.018, -88.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Milwaukee

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Milwaukee forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Rock

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Rock forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
42.671, -89.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Walworth

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Walworth forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
42.669, -88.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Racine

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Racine forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Kenosha

When
February 24, 9:30 PM CST to February 25, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Kenosha forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
42.573, -87.840 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Dense Fog
Fog reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less, filed where it caused accidents or disruption.

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, February 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5232340, 5232341, 5232342, 5232343, 5232344, 5232345, 5232346, 5232347, 5232348, 5232349, 5232350, 5232351, 5232452, 5232453, 5232454, 5232455, 5232456.