Powerful west to northwest, post-cold-frontal winds occurred over parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. ).
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS MKX wrote it up.
Powerful west to northwest, post-cold-frontal winds occurred over parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin. Maximum wind gusts were 56 kts (65 mph) at Lake Beulah (Walworth Co.), which is near East Troy; 56 kts (64 mph) at a school in Milton (Rock Co.), which is part of Madison TV-15's WEATHERNET; and 53 kts (61 mph) on the southwest side of Watertown (Jefferson Co.). Some large trees or large tree branches were toppled onto some power lines, resulting in loss of commercial power for a couple hours. In Janesville (Rock Co.), a wind-toppled lage tree scraped a lot of paint off a vehicle. At least 6200 customers in southeast Wisconsin lost electrical power, but there were no serious fires, injuries, or deaths.
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 Nov 12, 3:02 AM CST, 11 hours 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 302 AM CST WED NOV 12 2003 .DISCUSSION...FORECAST FOCUS ON FOG THIS MORNING AND WINDS DEVELOPING LATER THIS AFTERNOON. DENSE FOG COVERS ALL CWA WITH COMMON VSBYS AROUND 1/4 MILE. ALTHOUGH BOUNDARY WINDS ARE FORECAST TO INCREASE BY SUNRISE TO NEAR 30 KNOTS...MOST OF THAT SHOULD SLIDE OVER THE STRONG INVERSION. BUFFY MAINTAINS THE INVERSION UNTIL AROUND 15Z...THEN IT MIXES OUT. WILL KEEP FOG ADVISORIES GOING UNTIL 9AM CST. WILL ALSO KEEP WIND ADVISORIES GOING FOR LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND THROUGH EVENING HOURS. SATELLITE LOOPS AND SURFACE OBS SHOW SURFACE LOW IN CENTRAL MN ATTM...CLOSE TO ETA POSITION. WINDS ARE GUSTING TO AROUND 40 KNOTS IN THE DAKOTAS AS FORECAST BY MODELS. LOOKS LIKE THINGS ARE PROGRESSING AS FORECAST. EXPECT WINDY CONDITIONS IN CWA AFTER 18Z. WILL ALSO MENTION SMALL CHANCE SHOWERS ALL OF CWA TO BLEND WITH OTHER OFFICES. HOWEVER...ONLY A VERY SMALL WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY EXISTS FOR PCPN ALONG FRONT. UPPER LEVEL DIFFLUENCE AND 850 MOISTURE CONVERGENCE IN MINIMAL. CAPES ARE NON-EXISTENT. LI/S STAY IN POSITIVE RANGE. .MKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY ENTIRE CWA THIS AFTN AND EVENING. FOG ADVISORY ENTIRE CWA UNTIL 9AM CST. && MK
WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-131100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 430 AM CST WED NOV 12 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT DENSE FOG WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO BELOW 1/4 MILE THIS MORNING. VISIBILITIES WILL IMPROVE AS WINDS INCREASE. GUSTY WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT AS LOW PRESSURE DEEPENS OVER NORTHERN WISCONSIN AND MOVES ACROSS THE NORTHERN GREAT LAKES REGION. THE WINDS WILL LIKELY GUST OVER 45 MPH AT TIMES AND MAY POSE PROBLEMS FOR MOTORISTS WITH HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. GALE WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE NEAR SHORE AREAS OF LAKE MICHIGAN...WITH STORM WARNINGS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR THE OPEN WATERS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTERS WITH WIND EQUIPMENT SHOULD REPORT ANY WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 45 MPH. HENTZ
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, November 2003
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: 5331510, 5331511, 5331512.