Wisconsin, 2002

Hail in Wisconsin, April 24, 2002

April 24, 2002 · NWS ARX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Dime size hail was reported by the public and law enforcement officials.

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
2

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 ARX wrote it up.

Dime size hail was reported by the public and law enforcement officials.

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 La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 24, 2:47 AM CST, 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 24, 2:47 AM CST, 48 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
347 AM CDT WED APR 24 2002

THE MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS IS THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER THIS
MORNING...AND THE WINDS THIS AFTERNOON.

AT 330 AM...A COLD FRONT WAS LOCATED FROM JUST WEST OF INTERNATIONAL
FALLS MINNESOTA...SOUTHWEST TO LINCOLN NEBRASKA. MEANWHILE...A
WARM FRONT WAS LOCATED SOUTH FROM INTERNATIONAL FALLS TO DECORAH
IOWA. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING ALONG AND AHEAD OF
THIS WARM FRONT NORTHEAST MINNESOTA...AND NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL
WISCONSIN. MEANWHILE...ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING
ALONG THE COLD FRONT OVER SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA. THE ETA MODEL
SOUNDINGS SHOW THAT THE AREA WILL SEE CAPES BETWEEN 500 AND
1000 J/KG. THIS ISNT THAT GREAT OF INSTABILITY...BUT CONSIDERING
THE STRONG DYNAMICS...STRONG WINDS ALOFT...AND DECENT SHEAR
IN THE 0-3KM LAYER. WE WILL HAVE TO WATCH THESE THUNDERSTORMS
CAREFULLY THIS MORNING. A FEW OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE
OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.

WITH STRONG WINDS ALOFT AND SUBSIDENCE BEHIND A SHORT WAVE THIS
AFTERNOON...THE WINDS WILL BECOME RATHER WINDY ACROSS THE AREA.
SUSTAINED WINDS WILL BE IN THE 20 TO 30 MPH...WITH WIND GUSTS AROUND
45 MPH. CONSIDERED ISSUING A WIND ADVISORY FOR TODAY...BUT WITH THE
LACK OF SUNSHINE AND BEST SUBSIDENCE OCCURRING LATE THIS AFTERNOON.
I FEEL THAT THE THREAT IS MARGINAL RIGHT NOW...BUT IT WILL HAVE TO
CLOSELY.

.LSE...NONE.

BOYNE

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 140 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:33 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Clark

When
April 24, 3:35 AM CST
Where
Clark County, 7 mi E of Owen
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
44.950, -90.417

Hail, Taylor

When
April 24, 3:40 AM CST
Where
Taylor County, 10 mi N of Medford
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
45.283, -90.350

What these are

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 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, April 2002

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: 5290089, 5290774.