Tornado and Hail in Wisconsin, May 1, 2001

Name: Tornado and Hail in Wisconsin, May 1, 2001
Start: 2001-05-01T17:22
End: 2001-05-01T19:10
Location: Wisconsin

May 1, 2001 · NWS MPX · 17 events in 6 counties and zones

11 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $24 million
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 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 May 1, 12:40 PM CST, 4 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 1, 12:40 PM CST, 4 hours 42 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
140 PM CDT TUE MAY 1 2001

MAIN FCST CONCERN THIS AFTN IS WITH CONVECTION IN SHORT TERM. VERY
STRONG LOW AND MID LEVEL MID FIELDS COUPLING WITH STRONG UPPER JET
TO PRODUCT TREMENDOUS SHEAR PARAMETERS ACROSS FCST AREA. CAPES ARE
ALREADY AOA 2500 J/KG IN SRN FCST AREA. JUST WAITING TO OVERCOME
CINH...BUT BASED ON EARLIER SOUNDINGS...THIS SHOULD OCCUR BY
21Z. INITIAL SEVERE STORM DEVELOPMENT WILL LIKLEY LEAD TO EVENTUAL
MCS AS COLD POOLS MERGE. HOWEVER...WITH SFC LOW MOVG NWD AND
FILLING...WILL LIKELY BEGIN TO SEE EWD PROPAGATION SLOW AS STORMS
REACH WRN WI. THEREFORE...WILL KEEP MENTION OF PCPN THROUGH
EVENING THERE.

FRONTAL BOUNDARY THEN SHIFTS SEWD NEXT 36 HRS...WITH DRY HIGH
PRESSURE BUILDING ACRS MN. RIDGING SFC AND ALOFT WILL PRECLUDE
POPS THRU THURSDAY ALL AREAS. NEW AVN AND MRF HINTING AT WETTER
WEEKEND  COMING UP THAN PREVIOUSLY PREDICTED. SEVERAL WEAK WAVES
EJECT ALONG STNRY BOUNDARY TO OUR SOUTH. THEREFORE...HAVE UPDATED
EXTENDED FOR CHC SHRA/TSTMS.

.MSP...NONE
DAVIS

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 1, 5:00 PM CST, 22 minutes before

MNZ043-044-050-051-059-065>068-073>075-082-091-020000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
600 PM PM CDT TUE MAY 1 2001

...A PORTION OF TORNADO WATCHES 182 AND 184 BEING CANCELLED...

AREAS WEST OF ONAMIA...BUFFALO...WACONIA...LE SUEUR...AND FAIRMONT
ARE NO LONGER UNDER A TORNADO WATCH.   AT 600 PM THE LINE OF SEVERE
STORMS HAS MOVED EAST OF THESE AREAS.  THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER
SHOULD END AROUND 700 PM FOR MUCH OF THE REMAINDER OF EAST CENTRAL
AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA.  IT WILL LAST UNTIL AT LEAST 800 PM FOR
THE EAU CLAIRE AND LADYSMITH AREAS OF WISCONSIN.

PAULSON

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:22 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Polk

When: May 1, 5:22 PM CST
Where: Polk County, St Croix Falls
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.400, -92.650

Hail, Pierce

When: May 1, 5:30 PM CST
Where: Pierce County, River Falls
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.850, -92.633

Hail, St. Croix

When: May 1, 5:30 PM CST
Where: St. Croix County, River Falls
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 44.850, -92.633

Hail, Pierce

When: May 1, 5:33 PM CST
Where: Pierce County, Prescott
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.750, -92.817

Thunderstorm Wind, Pierce

When: May 1, 5:40 PM CST
Where: Pierce County, River Falls
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.850, -92.633

Measured at Rocky Branch School. Numerous trees down.

Hail, Pierce

When: May 1, 5:40 PM CST
Where: Pierce County, River Falls
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Property damage: $20 million
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.850, -92.633

Wind driven baseball size hail damaged houses and vehicles, and knocked out hundreds of windows on the south side of town. The local University was particularly hard hit, including a greenhouse that was destroyed.

Hail, St. Croix

When: May 1, 5:40 PM CST
Where: St. Croix County, River Falls
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $3.0 million
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 44.850, -92.633

Wind driven hail damaged numerous homes and vehicles on the north side of River Falls.

Thunderstorm Wind, St. Croix

When: May 1, 5:40 PM CST
Where: St. Croix County, River Falls
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 44.850, -92.633

Trees down.

Tornado, Pierce

When: May 1, 5:58 PM CST
Where: Pierce County, 1 mi N of Ellsworth
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 25 yd
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 44.750, -92.467

Dropped down onto farmland, no damage reported.

Hail, St. Croix

When: May 1, 6:04 PM CST
Where: St. Croix County, 7 mi S of Baldwin
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.867, -92.383

Hail, Dunn

When: May 1, 6:25 PM CST
Where: Dunn County, Weston
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 44.817, -92.067

Hail, Barron

When: May 1, 6:30 PM CST
Where: Barron County, 2 mi N of Rice Lake
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.533, -91.733

Hail, Dunn

When: May 1, 6:35 PM CST to 6:45 PM CST
Where: Dunn County, Menomonie
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 44.883, -91.917

Numerous cars damaged.

Thunderstorm Wind, Dunn

When: May 1, 6:40 PM CST
Where: Dunn County, 3 mi N of Menomonie
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.933, -91.917

Several 18 inch diameter trees down.

Hail, Dunn

When: May 1, 6:40 PM CST
Where: Dunn County, 3 mi N of Menomonie
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 44.933, -91.917

Thunderstorm Wind, Chippewa

When: May 1, 6:55 PM CST
Where: Chippewa County, 7 mi SW of Bloomer
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 45.033, -91.583

Several trees toppled over roads.

Thunderstorm Wind, Chippewa

When: May 1, 7:10 PM CST
Where: Chippewa County, Bloomer
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Property damage: $500,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 45.100, -91.483

Roof blown off Moose Lodge, numerous trees and power lines down.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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 The tornado archive for Wisconsin, 2001 Warnings in Wisconsin, May 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: 5249940, 5249941, 5249942, 5249943, 5249944, 5249945, 5249946, 5249947, 5250016, 5250017, 5250018, 5250019, 5250020, 5250021, 5250022, 5250023, 5250024.