Wisconsin, 2001

Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, May 3, 2001

May 3, 2001 · NWS MKX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Scattered severe thunderstorms affected a small part of south-central and southeast Wisconsin with damaging straightline winds and large hail. In northeast Green County, the powerful thunderstorm winds blew a barn down.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$100,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
4

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 affected a small part of south-central and southeast Wisconsin with damaging straightline winds and large hail. In northeast Green County, the powerful thunderstorm winds blew a barn down. In northwest Rock County near Evansville, large trees were toppled by the thunderstorm winds.

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 May 3, 1:54 PM CST, 3 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 3, 1:54 PM CST, 3 hours 56 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
254 PM CDT THU MAY 3 2001

FCST FOCUS TNGT ON PCPN LOCATION.

MOST PCPN TDY MOVD ALONG H8 BARO ZN...HELPED ALONG BY SERIES OF WK
V/MAX WHICH ETA AND MESOETA ID. ALSO...A NARROW BAND PCPN WAS ASSOC
WITH VRY SHALLOW SFC FNT...NOW SOMEWHERE ACRS FAR SERN CWA. A BROADER
INVERTED TROF COVERS MUCH OF SRN HLF WI ATTM. LACK OF ORGANIZED
PCPN ACRS CWA ATTM SHLD FILL IN WITH SCT SHRA/TSRA BY ERLY EVNG.
SAT LOOP INDCTS SUBSIDENCE HOLE ACRS MUCH OF CWA PROD BY EXITING
V/MAX IN NE. HWVR...AMS ACRS CWA IS DESTABLIZING...DWN TO -4/-5 WITH
1600 CAPES. NEXT V/MAX SHOWING UP IN IA ATTM INDICTD BY SAT ENHNCMT
AND DVLPG PCPN...18Z MESOETA HAS THIS TRACKING ACRS CWA THIS EVNG.
ALSO...H8 BARO ZN FCST TO SAG SWD THIS EVNG...WHICH SHLD ACT AS
ADDITIONAL FOCUS FOR PCPN. ALL MODELS FCST BANDS PCPN REDVLPG ACRS
CWA THIS EVNG...AND LAST UNTIL AFT MIDNIGHT.

SFC TROF XPCTD TO SAG INTO NRN IL FRI MRNG ALNG WITH H8 BARO ZN. SFC
RDG WL CONT TO BLD INTO CWA BHND TROF. MODELS INDCT VRY LTL DYNAMICS
RMNG AFT 12Z FRI...AND EVEN LESS AFT 18Z...AS UPR RDG DVLPS AND SFC
RDG BLDS IN. WL MNTN SCT SHRA ERLY FRIDAY...BUT THEN PCPN SHLD END BY
AFTN. LOTS OF MID LVL RH LINGERS HWVR...SO WL KEEP THE CLOUDS ARND.
WL GO WITH A BLEND OF NGM/AVN MOS FOR HIGHS FRI.

LOOKS QUIET FRI NGT AND SAT WITH DRY SFC RDG DOMINATING. ACTIVITY
WL SHIFT TO PLAINS...CLOSE TO UPR SYS.

MK

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:50 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Thunderstorm Wind, Rock

When
May 3, 5:50 PM CST
Where
Rock County, 2 mi NW of Evansville
Measured
51 kt (59 mph)
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
42.800, -89.317

Hail, Dane

When
May 3, 6:00 PM CST
Where
Dane County, 3 mi S of Stoughton
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.867, -89.217

Thunderstorm Wind, Green

When
May 3, 6:00 PM CST
Where
Green County, 3 mi E of Dayton
Measured
51 kt (59 mph)
Property damage
$100,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
42.817, -89.433

Hail, Jefferson

When
May 3, 6:40 PM CST
Where
Jefferson County, 2 mi NW of Palmyra
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.900, -88.617

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: 5248129, 5248130, 5248131, 5248132.