Heavy Rain in Wisconsin, November 1 to 4, 2003

Name: Heavy Rain in Wisconsin, November 1 to 4, 2003
Start: 2003-11-01T00:00
End: 2003-11-04T23:59
Location: Wisconsin

November 1 to 4, 2003 · NWS MKX · 20 events in 20 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 20 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: 20

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.

Widespread moderate to heavy rains across south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the period of November 1-4, resulted in an improvement to long-term drought conditions. Thunderstorms with locally heavy rain were noted on November 1st, 2nd, and 4th. Training of convective cells occurred on a line from southwestern Iowa County to the Middleton and Madison area in Dane County to the Juneau area in Dodge County. These corridor had rainfall totals of 5 to over 6 inches for the four-day period. Heavy rains during the pre-dawn hours on November 4th combined with leaf-clogged storm sewers to produce minor urban flooding in the cities of Madison, Sheboygan (Sheboygan Co.), and Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.). These rains were primarily responsible for an improvement of moderate (D1) to severe (D2) drought conditions to abnormally dry (D0) to moderate (D1) conditions by the end of November, 2003. Three consecutive, daily, rainfall records were set at Madison on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, where the 4-day total was 5.09 inches. An unofficial 6.8 inches was measured for Nov 1-4, at a location a couple miles west of Middleton. The monthly rainfall at Madison's Truax Field was 7.49 inches, or 5.18 inches above normal. This was the 2nd wettest November on the books. The south-central counties experienced another round of decent rains on November 23rd, with Madison registering 1.70 inches. A monthly total of 8.11 inches was measured in the village of Mazomanie in northwest Dane County. Other scattered locations in Lafayette, Iowa, Dane, Columbia, and Green Lake Counties also had over 8 inches of precipitation for the month. At Milwaukee's Mitchell Field, 3.94 inches of rain fell during the month, or 1.24 inches above normal. Of this total, 3.59 inches fell during the first four days of the month. In response to the rains on the first four days of the month, water levels in lakes, rivers, and streams rose from 25% to 50% of capacity to 75% to 90% of their bank-full levels by the end of the month.

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 Oct 31, 2:30 PM CST, 9 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 31, 2:30 PM CST, 9 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
230 PM CST FRI OCT 31 2003

.DISCUSSION...FORECAST FOCUS IS ON CLOUDS AND TEMPS TONIGHT AND
SAT...PRECIPITATION CHANCES SAT NIGHT INTO SUN...AND WET EXTENDED
PERIOD.

VAST AREA OF IFR CLOUDS OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST REGION AT THIS TIME...
ASSOCIATED WITH TRAPPED LOW LEVEL MOISTURE BELOW TEMPERATURE
INVERSION. THIS DECK IS EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY BREAK UP AFTER
MIDNIGHT...AS COLD AIR ADVECTION UNDERWAY AT THIS TIME FINALLY HELPS
TO MIX OUT THIS CLOUD LAYER. HOWEVER...SWLY FLOW ABOVE 700MB IS
EXPECTED TO BRING IN MID TO UPPER LEVEL CLOUDS FROM THE CENTRAL
PLAINS LATER TONIGHT. RIGHT NOW...THESE CLOUDS SEEM TO HAVE SOME
BREAKS IN THEM. BUT...ANY BREAKS WOULD BE SHORT-LIVED...SO WILL GO
WITH MOSTLY CLOUDY WORDING TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY.

SURFACE AIR PARCEL TRAJECTORY FORECAST BRINGS IN AIRMASS FROM NORTH
CENTRAL MN...WHERE LOWS THIS MORNING WERE IN LOW TO MID 30S F. WITH
EXPECTED CLOUD COVER...WL GO WITH WARMER MID 30S INLAND...AND NEAR 40
ALONG SERN LAKE COUNTIES. ELY SFC WINDS OFF OF LAKE SAT SHOULD KEEP
TEMPS IN MID TO UPPER 40S F RANGE...PER FWC MOS GUIDANCE.

FOCUS SHIFTS TO PRECIPITATION CHANCES FOR SAT NIGHT AND SUN. SURFACE
WARM FRONT BEGINS TO DEVELOP OVER CENTRAL PLAINS...EWD INTO NRN IL
AND SRN WI SAT NIGHT. MODERATE FRONTOGENESIS IN THE SURFACE TO
850MB LAYER OVER SRN WI...COMBINED WITH THE NOSE OF A 45KT LOW LEVEL
JET...SHOULD RESULT IN MODERATE TO STRONG SYNOPTIC UPWARD VERTICAL
MOTION. CWA FORECAST SOUNDINGS ALSO SUGGEST SOME ELEVATED
INSTABILITY...WHICH WOULD BE REALIZED GIVEN THE STRONG SYNOPTIC
LIFT. SO...WL RAISE POPS TO LIKELY FOR SAT NIGHT THROUGH SUN NGT...
WITH A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SAT NIGHT. TEMPS WILL BE TRICKY ACROSS
THE CWA FOR THESE PERIODS...DEPENDING ON EXACTLY WHERE THE WARM FRONT
SETS UP. FOR NOW...FEEL MESOETA MODEL HAS BEST DEPICTION OF WARM
FRONT AND QPF. SO WILL USE THAT SOLUTION...WITH THE MAV MOS TEMPS...
FOR GUIDANCE SAT NIGHT THROUGH SUN NIGHT.

THE EXTENDED PERIODS LOOK QUITE WET...AS GFS...ECMWF AND UKMET MODELS
ALL BRING A SERIES OF CYCLONES ALONG STATIONARY BAROCLINIC ZONE FROM
THE PLAINS TO THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES REGION. ALL OF THESE MODELS
INDICATE A DEEP LONGWAVE TROUGH PERSISTING ACROSS THE WRN USA THROUGH
MOST OF NEXT WEEK. SO...EXPECT CLOUDY SKIES AND CHANCES FOR RAIN
THROUGH NEXT WEEK.

.MKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

WOOD

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 31, 5:00 AM CST, 19 hours before

WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-011100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE-SULLIVAN WI
500 AM CST FRI OCT 31 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER GROUPS WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

NJ

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

20 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Marquette

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Marquette County, Montello
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.820, -89.399 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Green Lake

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Green Lake County, Green Lake
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.800, -89.045 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Fond du Lac

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Fond du Lac County, Fond du Lac
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.754, -88.488 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Sheboygan

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Sheboygan County, Sheboygan
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.756, -87.800 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Sauk

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Sauk County, Baraboo
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.427, -89.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Columbia

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Columbia County, Portage
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.467, -89.334 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Dodge

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Dodge County, Beaver Dam
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.416, -88.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Washington

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Washington County, West Bend
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.369, -88.231 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Ozaukee

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Ozaukee County, Port Washington
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.403, -87.891 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Iowa

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Iowa County, Dodgeville
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.001, -90.135 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Dane

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Dane County, Madison
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.067, -89.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Jefferson

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County, Ft Atkinson
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.021, -88.776 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Waukesha

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Waukesha County, Waukesha
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.018, -88.304 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Milwaukee

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Milwaukee County, Milwaukee
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.022, -87.929 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Lafayette

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Lafayette County, Darlington
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.661, -90.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Green

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Green County, Monroe
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.680, -89.602 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Rock

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Rock County, Janesville
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.671, -89.072 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Walworth

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Walworth County, Elkhorn
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.669, -88.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Racine

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Racine County, Racine
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Kenosha

When: November 1, 12:00 AM CST to November 4, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Kenosha County, Kenosha
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.573, -87.840 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

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, November 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5331924, 5331925, 5331926, 5331927, 5331928, 5331929, 5331930, 5331931, 5331932, 5331933, 5332023, 5332024, 5332025, 5332026, 5332027, 5332028, 5332029, 5332030, 5332031, 5332032.