Tornadoes and Hail in Wisconsin, May 10, 2003

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Wisconsin, May 10, 2003
Start: 2003-05-10T17:44
End: 2003-05-10T22:15
Location: Wisconsin

May 10, 2003 · NWS MKX · 14 events in 9 counties and zones

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $510,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 14

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.

Severe weather in the form of tornadoes, damaging straight-line winds up to about 56 knots (65 mph) which toppled large trees and power-lines, and large hail, affected parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on May 10, 2003. This was the first, organized severe weather episode in 2003 for this part of the state - a late start. The same supercell spawned a tornado in Lafayette County, and then a short time later, another tornado in Iowa County. Refer to the individual tornado events for details. This supercell maintained its mesocyclone circulation as it moved northeast through western Dane County to southeast Columbia County, and then across northern Dodge County. A funnel cloud was spotted near Cross Plains (Dane Co.), but there were no additional tornado sightings other than the events in the counties of Lafayette and Iowa. Synoptically, a line of thunderstorms moved northeast through southern Wisconsin, with a supercell forming on the left edge of the line over southeastern Grant County. This supercell then moved northeast. Lightning struck a home near Dane (Dane Co.) resulting in minor fire damage.

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 May 10, 1:25 PM CST, 4 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 10, 1:25 PM CST, 4 hours 19 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
225 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003

MAIN FORECAST CONCERN IS ON SEVERE POTENTIAL EARLY TONIGHT...THEN ON
STRONG WINDS AROUND INTENSIFYING LOW.

SURFACE TRACK WILL DETERMINE POTENTIAL OF SEVERE.  IF ETA VERIFIES
WITH THE TRACK INTO SW WI EARLY TONIGHT...THEN SEVERE THREAT OVER
THE FORECAST AREA WILL BE BIGGER CONCERN THAN THE MORE E GFS TRACK.
PREFER ETA AT THIS MOMENT BASED ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY WITH
APPROACHING SHORT WAVE.  ALSO INTENSIFYING SYSTEMS OFTEN TAKE THE
FARTHER WEST TRACK.

CLEARING OVER SOUTHERN WI WILL HELP IN DESTABILIZATION...BUT MAIN
INGREDIENT WILL BE STRONG DYNAMICS AND SHEAR WITH RAPIDLY
INTENSIFYING SYSTEM.  INSTABILITY IS RATHER WEAK...BUT THIS MAY BE
MORE DUE TO MODELS GENERATING PRECIPITATION AND A MORE MOIST
ADIABATIC LAPSE RATE.  IN REALITY CAPE MAY BE HIGHER THAN MODELS
INDICATE.

WITH STRONG LOW LEVEL SHEAR...WITH 1 KM HELICITIES AROUND 280...A
FEW TORNADOES ARE NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. ALSO STRONG
WINDS...ESPECIALLY AS OCCLUSION TAKES PLACE.  EXPECT MAIN SEVERE
THREAT THIS EVENING THROUGH AROUND 2 AM.

STRONG WINDS REACHING ADVISORY CRITERIA LATE TONIGHT TOWARD MORNING
AND CONTINUING SUNDAY.

IN THE DAY 3 THROUGH 5 PERIOD HAVE ADJUSTED FORECAST TOWARD THE NEW
GFS...IN KEEPING BRINGING NEXT SHOWER POTENTIAL TUESDAY NIGHT AND
WEDNESDAY.

.MKX...WIND ADVISORY LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY
       ZONES 046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072

HENTZ

Hazardous weather outlook, May 10, 1:05 PM CST, 4 hours 39 minutes before

WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-110915-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
205 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST
WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ROUGHLY SOUTH OF A
LINE FROM JANESVILLE TO MILWAUKEE. NORTH OF THE LINE THERE IS A
SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE REST OF SOUTHERN
WISCONSIN. DAMAGING THUNDERSTORMS WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE
POSSIBLE...WITH AN ISOLATED TORNADO.

A WARM FRONT IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS WILL MOVE NORTH INTO SOUTHERN
WISCONSIN THIS EVENING...AS LOW PRESSURE IN NORTHERN MISSOURI
REACHES SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN OVERNIGHT. THE AIRMASS OVER SOUTHERN
WISCONSIN WILL BECOME MORE UNSTABLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING
...AS SOUTHERLY WINDS PUSH MOISTURE IN THE AREA...INCREASING THE
RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

OVER THE NEARSHORE WATERS OF LAKE MICHIGAN...STRONG WEST WINDS TO 30
KNOTS ARE EXPECTED SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. WAVES TOWARD
THE OPEN WATERS OF LAKE MICHIGAN WILL BUILD TO 5 TO 7 FEET BY SUNDAY
NIGHT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER GROUPS WILL BE NEEDED THIS EVENING.

REM

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:44 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 funnel cloud, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Columbia

When: May 10, 5:44 PM CST
Where: Columbia County, Wyocena
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.500, -89.300

Tornado, Lafayette

When: May 10, 7:15 PM CST to 7:29 PM CST
Where: Lafayette County, 5 mi SW of Belmont
Rating: F1
Path length: 7.8 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.683, -90.400

A tornado spun up 5.0 miles southwest of the village Belmont (Lafayette Co.), near the intersection of Pine Tree and Field Drive, and proceeded to track northeast to near Belmont before dissipating 2.7 miles northeast of Belmont (just southeast of the intersection of Cottage Inn Road and Bethel Grove Rd). Just east of Belmont, the tornado destroyed a farm's mobile home, injuring one of five people inside. In addition, a pole shed on this farm was damaged. On two other farms, this tornado inflicted minor to extensive damage on homes, barns, wind mills, and decks. Law enforcement officials video taped this tornado; estimated at the top end of F1 (about 110 mph).

Hail, Marquette

When: May 10, 7:23 PM CST
Where: Marquette County, Montello
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.800, -89.317

Tornado, Iowa

When: May 10, 7:39 PM CST to 8:01 PM CST
Where: Iowa County, 5 mi E of Mineral Pt
Rating: F1
Path length: 8.6 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Property damage: $300,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.850, -90.100

The same supercell that spun up a tornado near Belmont (Lafayette Co.), resulted in another tornado in Iowa County. The Iowa County tornado spun up at a location 4.5 miles east of Mineral Point, just southeast of the intersection of County DD and Ferrell Rd. It proceeded northeast to a location 2.7 miles north-northwest of Hollandale, or about 1 mile west of the intersection of Urness Rd and Long Valley Rd. Four barns or pole sheds sustained major damage, two homes had moderate damage, and considerable tree damage was noted.

Hail, Iowa

When: May 10, 7:45 PM CST
Where: Iowa County, Dodgeville
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.967, -90.133

Hail, Green Lake

When: May 10, 7:46 PM CST
Where: Green Lake County, 1 mi E of Princeton
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 43.850, -89.100

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: May 10, 8:30 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County, Ft Atkinson
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.933, -88.850

Funnel Cloud, Dane

When: May 10, 8:42 PM CST
Where: Dane County, Cross Plains
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.067, -89.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Dane

When: May 10, 8:45 PM CST
Where: Dane County, Cross Plains
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.117, -89.633

Lightning, Dane

When: May 10, 8:45 PM CST
Where: Dane County, Dane
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 43.067, -89.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Dane

When: May 10, 8:48 PM CST
Where: Dane County, 5 mi NW of De Forest
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.300, -89.400

Hail, Columbia

When: May 10, 8:55 PM CST
Where: Columbia County, 5 mi SSE of Arlington
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.267, -89.333

Thunderstorm Wind, Dodge

When: May 10, 9:50 PM CST
Where: Dodge County, Juneau
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 43.400, -88.700

Hail, Washington

When: May 10, 10:15 PM CST
Where: Washington County, 2 mi W of West Bend
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 43.417, -88.217

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.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
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.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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 The tornado archive for Wisconsin, 2003 Warnings in Wisconsin, May 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: 5355954, 5355947, 5355632, 5355634, 5355946, 5355633, 5355955, 5355948, 5355949, 5355956, 5355951, 5355950, 5355952, 5355953.