Wisconsin, 2002

Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, June 21, 2002

June 21, 2002 · NWS MKX · 9 events in 4 counties and zones

Short lines or clusters of severe thunderstorms moved southeast across parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin, producing downbursts of straight-line winds and large hail. ), the powerful winds demolished a shed and blew it onto a road.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
9

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.

Short lines or clusters of severe thunderstorms moved southeast across parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin, producing downbursts of straight-line winds and large hail. Just west of Fox Lake (Dodge Co.), the powerful winds demolished a shed and blew it onto a road. Southwest of Fox Lake the winds blew down county road signs. On the Milwaukee-Sullivan WSR-88D Doppler radar system, a decent mesocyclone was evident with a thunderstorm that moved southeast across the far northwest part of Columbia County into northwest Dodge County. The lack of low level boundaries ahead of this storm may have played a part in diminishing the lower atmosphere's ability to spin up into a tornado.

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 Jun 21, 2:10 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 21, 2:10 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
310 PM CDT FRI JUN 21 2002

FCST FOCUS ON PCPN TONIGHT AND HEAT INDICES FOR WEEKEND.

WEAK SFC BNDRY ACRS NRN IL INTO NERN IA...BUT VERY UNSTBL CONDS...HAS
BEEN PRODUCING ISOLD PULSING TSTMS SO FAR THIS AFTN...WITH LARGER AND
MORE ORGANIZED TSTM COMPLEXES IN SRN MN AND WCNTRL WI CLOSER TO H850
BNDRY AND WHERE RUC HAS BEEN TRACKING A 19 UNIT VORT MAX. AT THIS
POINT PRECIP IN SRN WI STILL APPEARS TO BE CHANCEY DEAL WITH BEST
POPS ACRS NRN AND WRN CWA. BUT CERTAINLY CAN NOT DISMISS CONVERGENCE
AND LIFT PROVIDED BY SFC BDNRY AS IT LIFTS NWD TNGT. ANY STORMS WL BE
HVY RAIN PRODUCERS AND SLO MOVERS AS BUFKIT SHOWING STORM MOTION
AT 5 TO 10 KNOTS.

WITH SFC BNDRY N OF CWA BY 12Z SAT HAVE OPTED TO CONTINUE DRY FCST
TREND THRU THE WEEKEND...ALTHO CAPES SPIKE INTO THE 2000 J/KG DO NOT
SEE ANY KICKER ATTM. WITH SRN WI SQUARELY IN THE WARM SECTION OVER
THE WEEKEND WITH SUSTAINED SWRLY FLO HAVE CRANKED UP THE DEW POINTS
INTO THE LOWER 70S AND NUDGED UP THE TEMPS INTO THE LOWER 90S WHICH
HAVE HAD THE EFFECT OF RAISING HEAT INDICES INTO THE 95 TO 100 DEGREE
RANGE. HWO WAS UPDATED EARLIER THIS MRNG TO REFLECT THE HAZARD OF
HEAT AND HUMIDITY.

ALTHO THE AVN MODEL ATTEMPTS TO SAG BNDRY SWD INTO CWA MONDAY HAVE
DECIDED TO STAY WITH ETA MODEL TREND OF KEEPING IT FARTHER N. THIS
PUSHES THE NEXT CHANCE OF PRECIP BACK INTO TUE AND WED...THEN DRY
AGAIN FOR THU AND FRI IN XTNDD FCST. TEMPS ARE A MIX OF FMR AND MEX
GUID.

.MKX...NONE.

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:16 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Marquette

When
June 21, 4:15 PM CST
Where
Marquette County, 5 mi E of Endeavor
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
43.700, -89.367

Funnel Cloud, Columbia

When
June 21, 4:40 PM CST
Where
Columbia County, Marcellon
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.467, -89.334 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Sauk

When
June 21, 5:05 PM CST
Where
Sauk County, 4 mi NW of Rock Spgs
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.517, -89.967

Hail, Columbia

When
June 21, 5:05 PM CST
Where
Columbia County, 1 mi N of Friesland
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.600, -89.067

Hail, Dodge

When
June 21, 5:19 PM CST
Where
Dodge County, 2 mi W of Fox Lake
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
43.567, -88.933

Thunderstorm Wind, Dodge

When
June 21, 5:25 PM CST
Where
Dodge County, 1 mi W of Fox Lake
Measured
65 kt (75 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.567, -88.917

Thunderstorm Wind, Dodge

When
June 21, 5:45 PM CST
Where
Dodge County, 2 mi SW of Fox Lake
Measured
56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
43.550, -88.933

Hail, Sauk

When
June 21, 5:48 PM CST
Where
Sauk County, Rock Spgs
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
43.483, -89.917

Hail, Columbia

When
June 21, 6:10 PM CST
Where
Columbia County, 4 mi N of Pardeeville
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.583, -89.283

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Funnel Cloud
A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
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.

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, June 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: 5303000, 5303001, 5303002, 5303003, 5303004, 5303005, 5303006, 5303008, 5303007.