Strong Wind in Wisconsin, February 11 to 12, 2002

Name: Strong Wind in Wisconsin, February 11 to 12, 2002
Start: 2002-02-11T18:00
End: 2002-02-12T10:00
Location: Wisconsin

February 11 to 12, 2002 · NWS GRB · 22 events in 22 counties and zones

An intense low pressure system moved across southern Canada bringing colder air into Wisconsin. As colder air filtered into the state strong winds aloft mixed down to the surface.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 22 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 22

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 GRB wrote it up.

An intense low pressure system moved across southern Canada bringing colder air into Wisconsin. As colder air filtered into the state strong winds aloft mixed down to the surface. Gusts of 40 mph or higher were reported at several locations from the evening of the 11th into the morning hours of the 12th. The strongest gusts were 46 mph at Wausau (Marathon co.), 47 mph at Rhinelander (Oneida co.), 48 mph at Marshfield (Wood co.) and Mosinee (Marathon co.) and 51 mph at Presque Isle (Vilas co.) and Marinette (Marinette co.). Strong winds blew a light pole onto power lines in Green Bay, causing 2,600 customers to lose electrical service.

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 Green Bay, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 11, 3:15 PM CST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 11, 3:15 PM CST, 2 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
315 PM CST MON FEB 11 2002

MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE CENTERS ON WINDS WITH DEEPENING LOW PASSING
OVER SRN CANADA.

WINDS OVR CWA HV PICKED UP INTO THE 15 TO 30 MPH RANGE THIS AFTN
WITH HIGHER GUSTS AT SOME LOCALES. QUES IS IF THEY WL REACH ADVISORY
CRITERIA TNGT. CRNT OBS AND MODEL SOUNDING DATA INDC WNDS PICK UP
EVEN MORE NR AND BHND WSHFT LN ROLLING THRU PLAINS...WITH 50 KT WND
GUSTS ALREADY SHWG UP OUT THERE. FEELING IS AT THIS POINT THAT ADVY
IS JUSTIFIED.

SYSTEM OVERALL IS MSTR CHALLENGED...BUT ANTICIPATE CHC OF SOME
SNW WITH UPR TROF AXIS WITH VORT FIELD AND SFC BDRYS. CURRENT PCPN
MENTN IN ZONES LOOKS OK.

WINDS WILL HOLD TEMPS UP TNT AND HIGH TEMPS TUE SHUD BE NEARLY STEADY
AS CORE OF COLDEST AIR PASSES NORTH OF THE FCST AREA.

LOOKS LIKE THERE MAY BE A WINDOW FOR A FAVORABLE LAKE EFFECT SNOW
CHC IN VILAS COUNTY FOR TUE INTO TUE NGT. COORD WITH GRB FCSTRS
YIELDED EXCELLENT INPUT ON THE SUBJECT...WL FOLLOW THOSE SUGGESTIONS
CLOSELY.

.GRB...WIND ADVISORY TNGT ALL ZNS.

NJ
WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/GRB

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

22 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Strong Wind, Brown

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Brown forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.474, -87.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Marathon

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Marathon forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.898, -89.759 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Wood

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Wood forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.455, -90.042 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Oneida

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Oneida forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.706, -89.522 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Winnebago

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Winnebago forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.069, -88.645 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Vilas

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Vilas forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 46.053, -89.515 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Marinette

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Marinette forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 45.351, -88.002 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Outagamie

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Outagamie forecast zone
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 44.416, -88.465 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Portage

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Portage forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 44.476, -89.501 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Manitowoc

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Manitowoc forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.091, -87.700 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Waupaca

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Waupaca forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.470, -88.965 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Door

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Door forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.838, -87.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Shawano

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Shawano forecast zone
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 44.789, -88.765 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Forest

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Forest forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 45.667, -88.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Florence

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Florence forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 45.848, -88.398 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Lincoln

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Lincoln forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 45.338, -89.735 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Langlade

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Langlade forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 45.262, -89.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Menominee

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Menominee forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 45.004, -88.710 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Oconto

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Oconto forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 44.999, -88.221 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Kewaunee

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Kewaunee forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 44.483, -87.514 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Waushara

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Waushara forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 44.113, -89.243 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Calumet

When: February 11, 6:00 PM CST to February 12, 10:00 AM CST
Where: Calumet forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 44.082, -88.218 (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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, February 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: 5282259, 5282260, 5282261, 5282262, 5282263, 5282264, 5282265, 5282266, 5282267, 5282268, 5282269, 5282270, 5282271, 5282272, 5282273, 5282274, 5282275, 5282335, 5282336, 5282337, 5282338, 5282339.