High Wind, Milwaukee
- When
- February 25, 8:00 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
- Where
- Milwaukee forecast zone
- Property damage
- $75,000
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in Wisconsin, February 25, 2001
High winds, gusting to around 60 mph out of the southwest, raked Milwaukee and Green Counties. Peak gusts of 60 mph were measured at a couple commercial TV stations in Milwaukee County (and at couple schools in their weather networks).
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $82,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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.
High winds, gusting to around 60 mph out of the southwest, raked Milwaukee and Green Counties. Peak gusts of 60 mph were measured at a couple commercial TV stations in Milwaukee County (and at couple schools in their weather networks). In addition, a peak gust of 58 mph was measured at Milwaukee Mitchell Field. Several large trees and power lines were toppled in Milwaukee County. In Green County, the powerful winds got underneath and lifted the rubber roof of a City of Monticello administrative building. The roof was partially damaged, and several nearby large trees were toppled. Elsewhere across south-central and southeast Wisconsin, peak wind gusts of 40 to 55 mph were noted during the period of 0500CST through 1000CST. There were numerous reports of small tree branches knocked out of trees. These strong southwest winds were associated with a deep low pressure which moved northeast through Minnesota through northwestern Wisconsin to Lake Superior.
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 25, 3:30 AM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 25, 3:30 AM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 330 AM CST SUN FEB 25 2001 FCST CHALLENGE ON WINDS AND TEMPS. DEEP SFC LOW OVR SE MN MOVES QUICKLY INTO NE WI SHORTLY AFTER 12Z. FROPA AT KMSN ABOUT 12Z AND KMKE ABOUT 14Z. MILD TEMPS AHEAD OF THE FRONT IN THE MID 40S... FALLING INTO THE 30S THEN 20S IN ITS WAKE. EXPECT 20S TO REACH MUCH OF CWA BY LATE AFTERNOON. FWC MOS LOOKS BETTER IN THIS RESPECT VS THE MAV MOS. ETA...AS USUAL...MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH THE CAA...BUT CAN/T RULE IT OUT COMPLETELY GIVEN VERY STRONG WNW WINDS MOVING IN. ONE LAST BATCH OF PCPN TO DEAL WITH BEFORE WE CAN PUT THAT TO REST. TAIL OF S/W HAS A BATCH OF SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH IT. THESE SHOWERS SHOULD STAY OUT AHEAD OF THE FRONT AND WILL USE THE FRONTAL TIMING FOR ENDING THE SHOWERS. DOESN/T LOOK LIKE WE WILL SEE ANY TRANSITIONS TO SNOW AS POST FRONTAL AIRMASS WILL BE DRY. LOTS OF SUBSIDENCE IN WAKE OF FRONT. SOUNDINGS SHOW THE FIRST FEW THOUSAND FEET GO SUPERADIABATIC BY ABOUT 15Z AND CONTINUES THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. THE TOP OF THIS LAYER REACHES INTO WINDS OF 50KTS OR BETTER. GIVEN EASE OF MIXING IN THAT SHALLOW UNSTABLE LAYER WOULD EXPECT SOME OF THIS MOMENTUM TO TRANSFER TO THE SFC. WILL HOIST THE WIND ADVISORY FLAG FOR THE ENTIRE CWA TODAY. WINDS TO FALL OFF FROM WEST TO EAST THIS AFTERNOON. SOME CLEARING ALSO LIKELY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND WILL INCLUDE THIS. QUIET THEN INTO MONDAY. MODELS SHOW A WEAK WAVE COMING THROUGH THE NW FLOW...BUT ONLY EXPECT SOME CLOUDS WITH IT ON MONDAY...CLEARING OUT AGAIN MONDAY NIGHT. .MKX...NONE. 0...0...0...0...0 DAVIS
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Green
- When
- February 25, 8:00 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
- Where
- Green forecast zone
- Property damage
- $7,000
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 42.680, -89.602 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Avalanche in Colorado, February 25, 2001
- High Wind in Ohio, February 25, 2001
- High Wind in New York, February 25 to 26, 2001
- Blizzard in Iowa, February 25, 2001
- High Wind in Missouri, February 25, 2001
- High Wind in Pennsylvania, February 25, 2001
- Winter Weather in Vermont, February 25, 2001
- High Wind in Ohio, February 25, 2001
- High Wind in West Virginia, February 25, 2001
- Winter Weather in New York, February 25, 2001
- High Wind in Pennsylvania, February 25, 2001
- High Wind in West Virginia, February 25, 2001
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5232457, 5232458.