Wisconsin, 2001

Hail and Damaging Wind in Wisconsin, May 15, 2001

May 15, 2001 · NWS MPX · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

2 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 15, 2:30 PM CST, 4 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 2:30 PM CST, 4 hours 48 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
330 PM CDT TUE MAY 15 2001

COLD FRONT ENTERING NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA WILL BE NEAR A LINE FROM
ALEXANDRIA TO GRANITE FALLS BY 01Z...AND MOVE TO NEAR A LINE FROM ST CLOUD
TO NEW ULM BY 04Z. MOST CONVECTION STILL EXPECTED NORTH OF THE WARM FRONTAL
BOUNDARY (JUST NORTH OF CWA)...AND ACROSS WEST CENTRAL
WISCONSIN...WHERE STRONG THETA E AXIS SETS UP BY 06Z. OTHERWISE LOOK
FOR BEST CHANCE FOR STORMS NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM HUTCHINSON...TO
MSP...TO LADYSMITH...ASSOCIATED WITH BEST FORCING PEGGED TO PASSING
COLD FRONT.

WEAK SURFACE RIDGE AND DRIER...COOLER AIR WILL BRING NEAR PERFECT DAY
TO OUR REGION ON WEDNESDAY. NEXT SYSTEM MOVING IN AT THE DOUBLE QUICK
ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT PROMISES BETTER CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
AS RIGHT REAR ENTRANCE REGION OF JET DEVELOPS ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL MN
INTO WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. MORE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WILL OCCUR PRIOR TO ASSOCIATED FRONTAL PASSAGE...EXPECTED BY MID DAY
ON THURSDAY ACROSS MN...AND LATE AFTERNOON IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN.

.MSP...NONE
AZ

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 15, 5:44 PM CST, 1 hour 34 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
644 PM CDT TUE MAY 15 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0605 PM    7 SW OGILVIE              MN   .75 INCH HAIL
05/15/01   KANABEC                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

0610 PM    3 NW DALBO                MN   .75 INCH HAIL
05/15/01   ISANTI                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:19 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Polk

When
May 15, 7:18 PM CST
Where
Polk County, Amery
Measured
55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
45.317, -92.367

A few trees down over road.

Hail, Polk

When
May 15, 7:25 PM CST
Where
Polk County, Amery
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
45.317, -92.367

Hail, Barron

When
May 15, 8:10 PM CST
Where
Barron County, 4 mi W of Chetek
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
45.300, -91.733

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.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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, 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: 5249724, 5249725, 5249726.