Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, July 22, 2001

Name: Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, July 22, 2001
Start: 2001-07-22T13:40
End: 2001-07-22T14:43
Location: Wisconsin

July 22, 2001 · NWS MKX · 5 events in 4 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: 4
Property damage: $60,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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.

Scattered severe thunderstorms rumbled through southeast Wisconsin during a very warm and muggy afternoon. Powerful, downburst , straight-line winds (estimated around 60 mph /52 knots/) accompanied the storms, resulting in toppled trees, power lines, and power poles. In addition, 4 people were injured when lightning struck tent support poles at the Country Thunder music festival near Twin Lakes in western Kenosha County. They were holding the poles as they waited out the powerful thunderstorm winds affecting that area. About 11,200 customers across the southern parts of Washington and Ozaukee Counties lost electrical power due to the toppled trees and power lines.

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 Jul 22, 1:22 AM CST, 12 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 1:22 AM CST, 12 hours 18 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
222 AM CDT SUN JUL 22 2001

FCST FOCUS IS ON HEAT...HI DEWPOINTS AND TSTM COMPLEX TONIGHT.

ON THE SHORT TERM...ANOTHER HOT MUGGY DAY....GIVEN THAT THERE WILL
BE NO FRONTS MOVING THRU. SOME CLOUD DEBRIS SHOULD MOVE IN FROM
CURRENT TSTM COMPLEX OVER ERN SD. WIL GO PARTLY SUNNY AFTER SOME
MORNING PATCHY FOG. EXPECT LAKE BREEZE TO DEVELOP ONCE AGAIN. GIVEN
THAT AIRMASS IS SO JUICY...ANY HICKUP WILL RESULT IN SCATTERED
TSTMS. SO WILL KEEP 30 POPS GOING FOR TODAY ALONG WITH EXCESSIVE
HEAT WARNING WITH HEAT INDICES AROUND 105.

NGM MODEL HAS BEST HANDLE ON CURRENT TSTM COMPLEX IN ERN SD. THIS
ACTIVITY IS AT NOSE OF LOW-LEVEL JET /LLJ/ WHERE MOISTURE HAS POOLED
IN 850 BAROCLINIC ZONE. THIS MODEL FLOPS LLJ OVER INTO SRN MN TNT
AND THEN POINTS IT TOWARD SRN WI BY 12Z MON. FAIRLY DECENT SHORTWAVE
AT 500MB ALSO PROGGED BY NGM AND OTHER MODELS TO MOVE ACROSS MN
TONIGHT AND THRU WI BY 12Z MON. MODEL EVIDENCE AT 500MB SUPPORTS
INDICATES THAT ZERO RELATIVE VORTICITY LINE MAINTAINS ITSELF TONIGHT
AS WELL. SO I EXPECT THE CURRENT ERN SD TSTM COMPLEX TO MOVE EAST
TODAY...WEAKEN IN THE MORNING HOURS...AND REGENERATE TONIGHT INTO A
SYSTEM MORE ELONGATED N-S...MAINTAINING ITS PRE-FRONTAL IDENTITY.
WILL BE PLENTY OF MOISTURE TO FEED OFF...NGM SHOWS 850MB DEWPOINTS OF
16C POOLING/ADVECTING INTO WI BY 12Z MONDAY. GIVEN THAT FREEZING
LEVEL IS AT 14-15K AND WET BULB ZERO AT 12-13K...AND UPPER LEVEL
WINDS ONLY 20-30 KNOTS FROM SW/W...WOULD EXPECT MAIN THREAT TONIGHT
TO BE HEAVY RAINS/LOCAL URBAN-SMALL STREAM FLOODING. ALSO POTENTIAL
FOR WET MICROBURSTS/STRONG WINDS...BUT NOT MUCH IN THE WAY OF HAIL.

ON THE LONG TERM...ON MONDAY...INITIAL SHORTWAVE PROGGED TO MOVE
EAST OUT OF WISCONSIN...LEAVING UPPER LEVEL FLOW MORE ZONAL WITH
SERIES OF WEAK RIPPLES ALOFT. SURFACE TROUGH ALSO MOVES THROUGH
ALLOWING WINDS TO BECOME MORE SOUTHWEST. MODELS SUGGEST SECONDARY
SURFACE TROUGH MOVING THRU MONDAY AFTERNOON. ATMOSPHERE SHOULD
RECOVER WITH DAYTIME HEATING TO ALLOW FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF
SCATTERED TSTMS MONDAY AFTERNOON WITH SECONDARY TROUGH.

COORD...ARX GRB

.MKX...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING FOR CWA TODAY UNTIL MIDNIGHT...
HEAT INDEX AROUND 105...ZNS 46..47..51..52..56>60..62>72.

KAPELA

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Washington

When: July 22, 1:40 PM CST to 2:05 PM CST
Where: Washington County, Hartford
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.317, -88.383

Thunderstorm Wind, Ozaukee

When: July 22, 2:05 PM CST to 2:15 PM CST
Where: Ozaukee County, 2 mi W of Cedarburg
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.283, -88.017

Thunderstorm Wind, Walworth

When: July 22, 2:35 PM CST
Where: Walworth County, 2 mi E of Zenda
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.517, -88.450

Thunderstorm Wind, Kenosha

When: July 22, 2:40 PM CST
Where: Kenosha County, Twin Lakes
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.533, -88.250

Lightning, Kenosha

When: July 22, 2:43 PM CST
Where: Kenosha County, Twin Lakes
Injuries: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.573, -87.840 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, July 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: 5259453, 5259454, 5259455, 5259456, 5259457.