Hail and Damaging Wind in Wisconsin, July 20, 2003

Name: Hail and Damaging Wind in Wisconsin, July 20, 2003
Start: 2003-07-20T18:45
End: 2003-07-20T20:02
Location: Wisconsin

July 20, 2003 · NWS DLH · 4 events in 2 counties and zones

3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: 4

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 Duluth, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 20, 12:10 PM CST, 6 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 12:10 PM CST, 6 hours 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
110 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 2003

FORECAST FOCUS WILL BE THUNDERSTORM CHANCES TONIGHT AND SHOWERS
TOMORROW.

MODELS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH CANADIAN SYSTEM HEADED OUR
WAY...ETA FASTER AND A BIT WEAKER THAN GFS...BUT FINAL FCST PRODUCT
NOT MUCH AFFECTED BY THESE DIFFERENCES.

VIGOROUS S/WV MOVING SOUTHEAST OUT OF MANITOBA AND PVA ALREADY INTO
NRN MN...HELPING TO SET OFF SOME THUNDERSTORMS. EXPECT STORMS TO
BECOME MORE NUMEROUS AS S/WV MOVES THROUGH AND ATMOSPHERE
DESTABILIZES FURTHER WITH HEATING.

KEPT SHOWERS IN FOR MAINLY MONDAY AFTERNOON...WITH A BIT OF SUNSHINE
WE COULD SET OFF SOME SCATTERED SHOWERS WITH THE 5H COLD AIR
ADVECTON. SFC COMPUTED LIS OFF THE ETA GO DOWN TO -4 MONDAY
AFTERNOON...BUT CAPES REMEAIN VERY LOW.

NUMERICAL GUIDANCE NUMBERS ALL IN THE SAME BALL PARK AND REASONABLE.

.DLH...NONE.

CC

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 20, 6:05 AM CST, 12 hours 40 minutes before

MNZ010>012-018>021-025-026-033>038-WIZ001>004-006>009-211230-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
705 AM CDT SUN JUL 20 2003

...AN ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POSSIBLE INTO THIS EVENING...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA AND
NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

AN ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON
AND EARLY EVENING. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL OR DAMAGING
WIND. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BE DROPPING
SOUTHEAST INTO NORTHERN MINNESOTA...AND THAT WILL BRING THE CHANCE
FOR THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY
THERE IS A CONTINUED CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY THROUGH NEXT
SATURDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE
EVENING.

&&

MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING URL:

HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DLH

MELDE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 20, 3:52 PM CST, 2 hours 53 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
0452 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0448 PM    3 W BAYFIELD              WI   1.50 IN HAIL
07/20/03   BAYFIELD                       LASTED TWO MINUTES

XXX

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Ashland

When: July 20, 6:45 PM CST
Where: Ashland County, Butternut
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.017, -90.500

Large branches were blown down.

Hail, Burnett

When: July 20, 7:27 PM CST
Where: Burnett County, 6 mi W of Siren
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.783, -92.500

Hail, Burnett

When: July 20, 7:44 PM CST
Where: Burnett County, Falun
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.767, -92.533

Hail, Ashland

When: July 20, 8:02 PM CST
Where: Ashland County, Butternut
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.017, -90.500

What these are

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.
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

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, July 2003

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: 5379129, 5379128, 5379127, 5379126.