Wisconsin, 2002

Flash Flooding in Wisconsin, August 21, 2002

August 21, 2002 · NWS MPX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
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 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 Aug 21, 9:15 AM CST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 9:15 AM CST, 5 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1015 AM CDT WED AUG 21 2002

UPDATED ZONES WILL PROLONG THE RAIN EVENT IN E CNTRAL MN BASED ON
TARDINESS OF 700MB TROF. BOTH NEW ETA AND RUC HOLD ON TO PCPN THRU
ABOUT 00Z AT MPX... AND CURRENT RADAR SUPPORTS THE CONTINUATION OF
PCPN THROUGH AFTN HOURS. REST  OF FCST WILL REMAIN AS IS UNTIL
COMPLETE LOOK AT 1Z MODELS IS ASSESSED. SATELLITE SHOWS SOME
CLEARING TAKING PLACE SW AND QUESTION REMAINS WHETHER 700 MB TROF
CAN EXCITE MORE SHWRS INTO EARLY AFTN.

.MSP...NOON
EDWARDS

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:46 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Eau Claire

When
August 21, 2:45 PM CST to 6:15 PM CST
Where
Eau Claire County, West Portion
Property damage
$100,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
44.727, -91.286 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Seven inches of rain fell during the day, capped with two to three inches within one hour in Eau Claire as the flooding commenced. Numerous roads were flooded making travel impossible. About ten vehicles in Eau Claire were stranded, and a few township roads east and south of Eau Claire were partially washed out. Evacuations took place at a trailer park and apartment complex in Eau Claire.

Flash Flood, Pepin

When
August 21, 2:45 PM CST to 6:15 PM CST
Where
Pepin County, Countywide
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
44.483, -92.150 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Four to six inches rain during the afternoon led to several roads under water.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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, August 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: 5314444, 5314445.