Strong Wind in Wisconsin, September 19, 2001

Name: Strong Wind in Wisconsin, September 19, 2001
Start: 2001-09-19T01:30
End: 2001-09-19T03:30
Location: Wisconsin

September 19, 2001 · NWS MKX · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

Strong, east-northeast winds gusting to 31 to 49 knots (36 to 57 mph), raked parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the pre-dawn morning hours on September 19, 2001. ) at 0220CST.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 10 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 10

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.

Strong, east-northeast winds gusting to 31 to 49 knots (36 to 57 mph), raked parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the pre-dawn morning hours on September 19, 2001. The majority of the gusts were in the 31 to 40 knot range (36 to 46 mph), however a gust of 49 knots (57 mph) was recorded at the NWS Forecast office southeast of Sullivan (Jefferson Co.) at 0220CST. A gust of 43 knots (49.5 mph) was noted at Carthage College on the northside of the city of Kenosha (Kenosha Co.), and a gust of 41 knots (47 mph) was recorded at Milwaukee Mitchell Field (Milwaukee Co.) at 0230CST. Law enforcement officials and newspaper accounts reported that small tree branches were knocked out of trees, resulting in scattered power outages. Synoptically, the strong winds were the result of a tight surface pressure gradient on the north side of a deepening low pressure that moved northeast through northern Illinois. The low moved through the northern part of the city of Chicago, IL, to the mid-point of Lake Michigan east of Milwaukee, WI. Surface observation stations recorded pressure falling rapidly as the wind gusts increased in magnitude.

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 Sep 18, 2:30 PM CST, 11 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 18, 2:30 PM CST, 11 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
330 PM CDT TUE SEP 18 2001

FORECAST FOCUS ON STRENGTH OF LOW AND RAINFALL AMOUNTS.

LOW PRESSURE CURRENTLY OVER WRN MO WITH 3 MB/3 HR PRES FALLS
NORTHEAST OF LOW. LARGE AREA OF RAIN OVER IA AND WRN IL WITHIN
REGION OF WAA AND DIFF CVA. EXPECT RAIN TO MOVE INTO SW ZONES
SHORTLY AFTER 5 PM.

ETA AND AVN HAVE SIMILAR TRACK OF LOW...BRINGING LOW THROUGH SRN TIP
OF LM AND THEN NEWD. AVN IS STRONGER AND FASTER AND STILL PRODUCING
2 INCH QPF AMOUNTS. AVN QPF IS NOT VERIFYING AND HIGH QPF LIKELY
FROM CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK. NGM IS TOO DRY AND FARTHER EAST. MAINLY
USED ETA FOR GUIDANCE.

MAIN UPPER TROUGH AXIS STILL OVER PLAINS AND PROGGED TO AMPLIFY AS
CYCLOGENESIS CONTINUES TONIGHT. SYSTEM TO BECOME VERTICALLY STACKED
BY 18Z WED WITH LOW OVER SRN LM. ETA OMEGA FIELDS AND ISENTROPIC LIFT
STRONGEST OVER SE WI WHERE BEST THETAE ADVECTION...DIFF CVA AND
LIFT FROM LT FNT QUAD WILL OCCUR. MIXING RATIOS OF 6 G/KG EXPECTED TO
ADVECT IN UP TO 700 MB WITH PWS INCREASING TO 1.4 INCHES. EXPECT SOME
RAINFALL TOTALS SLIGHTLY OVER AN INCH IN SE WI WITH TOTAL AMOUNTS OF
1/2 TO 1 INCH ELSEWHERE.

UPPER TROUGH AXIS PUSHES ACROSS CWA ON WED AND WILL SEE RAIN
DIMINISHING DURING THE DAY FROM WEST TO EAST. ETA AND NGM HANG ON TO
HI RH UNDER 700 MB AS SUBSIDENCE AND GOOD CAA IS LACKING. SO WILL
KEEP SKY CONDITIONS MO CLDY. ANOTHER ROBUST SHORTWAVE AND ASSOCIATED
JET STREAK WITHIN NW FLOW IS PROGGED TO AFFECT CWA THU NT. NOT A LOT
OF MOISTURE WITH MIXING RATIOS OF 4 G/KG UP TO 700 MB...BUT WITH
DECENT LIFT WILL GO WITH 50 POPS.

WENT WITH COOLER MAX TEMPS FOR WED WITH THE EXCEPTION OF FAR SE WI...
OTHERWISE GUIDANCE LOOKS GOOD.

.MKX...NONE.

MG

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Strong Wind, Dodge

When: September 19, 1:30 AM CST to 3:30 AM CST
Where: Dodge forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.416, -88.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Washington

When: September 19, 1:30 AM CST to 3:30 AM CST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.369, -88.231 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Ozaukee

When: September 19, 1:30 AM CST to 3:30 AM CST
Where: Ozaukee forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.403, -87.891 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Jefferson

When: September 19, 1:30 AM CST to 3:30 AM CST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.021, -88.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Waukesha

When: September 19, 1:30 AM CST to 3:30 AM CST
Where: Waukesha forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.018, -88.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Milwaukee

When: September 19, 1:30 AM CST to 3:30 AM CST
Where: Milwaukee forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Rock

When: September 19, 1:30 AM CST to 3:30 AM CST
Where: Rock forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.671, -89.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Walworth

When: September 19, 1:30 AM CST to 3:30 AM CST
Where: Walworth forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.669, -88.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Racine

When: September 19, 1:30 AM CST to 3:30 AM CST
Where: Racine forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Kenosha

When: September 19, 1:30 AM CST to 3:30 AM CST
Where: Kenosha forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.573, -87.840 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.

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, September 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: 5267932, 5267933, 5267934, 5267935, 5267936, 5267937, 5267938, 5267939, 5267940, 5267941.