22 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 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 Apr 18, 2:30 AM CST, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 330 AM CDT SUN APR 18 2004 .DISCUSSION...15Z MSAS SFC PRESSURE PLOT PLACE A RIDGE AXIS OVER THE EASTERN DAKOTAS. CYCLONIC FLOW FOUND ACROSS THE FA WITH SOME SCATTERED -SHRA/SHSN OCCURRING. HAVE UPDATED THE GRIDS TO ACCOUNT FOR THE PCPN. -SHSN ARE REDUCING VISIBILITIES BRIEFLY AND SOME LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS ARE BEING FOUND IN GRASSY AREAS PER COOP OBSERVER REPORTS. HAVE ALSO UPDATED THE WINDS...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE NORTH SHORE...WHERE LOCAL TERRAIN AFFECTS WIND SPEEDS. REST OF THE FORECAST IN GOOD SHAPE. UPDATED TEXT FORECAST FORTHCOMING. && .DLH...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES MN...NONE. WI...NONE. GSF
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 839 AM CDT SAT APR 17 2004 MNZ010>012-018>021-025-026-033>038-WIZ001>004-006>009-181230- ASHLAND-BAYFIELD-BURNETT-C. ST. LOUIS-CROW WING-DOUGLAS-IRON- KOOCHICHING-N. AITKIN-N. CASS-N. ITASCA-N. LAKE/N. COOK-N. ST. LOUIS- PINE-PRICE-S. AITKIN-S. CASS-S. COOK/LAKESHORE-S. ITASCA- S. LAKE/LAKESHORE-S. ST. LOUIS/CARLTON-SAWYER-WASHBURN- 839 AM CDT SAT APR 17 2004 ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT AND TOMORROW... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA AND NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED LATE TONIGHT ACROSS NORTHWEST WISCONSIN AND THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE THAT SOME MAY BE SEVERE WITH HAIL GREATER THAN 3/4 INCH OR GUSTY WINDS GREATER THAN 58 MPH...ESPECIALLY OVER PRICE COUNTY AND SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF BURNETT...WASHBURN...AND SAWYER COUNTIES. NORTHEAST WINDS WILL INCREASE LATE TONIGHT ON LAKE SUPERIOR. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED ALONG THE NEARSHORE AREAS OF LAKE SUPERIOR. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. THE BEST CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER IS SOUTH OF LINE FROM GRAND MARAIS...THROUGH THE IRON RANGE...TO BRAINERD...AND ACROSS ALL OF NORTHWEST WISCONSIN. THE GREATEST THREAT WITH THESE SEVERE STORMS IS LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...HOWEVER ISOLATED TORNADOES MAY DEVELOP ACROSS NORTHWEST WISCONSIN. BRISK NORTHEAST WINDS WILL OCCUR OVER LAKE SUPERIOR SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED ALONG THE NEARSHORE AREAS OF LAKE SUPERIOR. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING URL: HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DLH LJT
The Duluth radar (KDLH), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:58 UTC.
22 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
The hail fell at Little Round Lake. There were reports of severe hail damage to vehicles and house siding.
There were numerous reports of broken windows and damage to vehicles. Golfball size hail fell at Northwoods Beach, Stone Lake, Whitefish lake, Reserve, and the Skunawong areas.
Hail killed 106 Great Blue Herons at a Chippewa Flowage rookery located on Little Banana Island. At least 100 heron eggs were destroyed.
Large tree branches were blown down.
Around 200 large trees were knocked down in a path across wooded land. The tornado touched down just north of the county line between Polk and Burnett counties, and proceeded east-northeast through the woods. Some of the trees knocked down were 15 to 20 inches in diameter. The USFS in Trade River recorded a 64.5 mph wind gust.
The tornado touched down in a grassy field 50 yards north of Pine Lake Road. Just east of the grassy field, the tornado destroyed a shed and garage before tearing away a portion of the roof of the home. The tornado continued moving east and destroyed a metal pole barn about one mile east of the first residence. The tornado also ripped the tops off of several farm silos near that residence. Then the tornado destroyed a barn and a shed about one mile farther down the road, near Freedom Drive and Mourning Dove Lane. One goat was killed at that farm. Several more silo tops were ripped off just west of Freedom Drive along Mourning Dove lane. At many locations along the tornado path, various 10 to 20 inch diameter trees were knocked down.
Large trees were blown down.
A dozen trees were blown down.There was also some light wind damage to homes.
There were high winds also which flattened a stand of 60-foot-tall pine trees.
High winds also brought down power lines.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Wisconsin, 2004Warnings in Wisconsin, April 2004
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: 5393635, 5393636, 5393637, 5393638, 5393639, 5393640, 5393748, 5393641, 5393642, 5393643, 5393744, 5393742, 5393732, 5393731, 5393733, 5393746, 5393745, 5393747, 5393736, 5393737, 5393734, 5393735, 5393738, 5393739, 5393740, 5393741, 5393743.