Flooding in Wisconsin, April 20 to 25, 2004

Name: Flooding in Wisconsin, April 20 to 25, 2004
Start: 2004-04-20T08:07
End: 2004-04-25T04:16
Location: Wisconsin

April 20 to 25, 2004 · NWS GRB · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Snow melt from Michigan's upper peninsula drained into the Brule and Menominee rivers causing minor flood in mid April.

Where it happened

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.

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: 3

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 GRB wrote it up.

Snow melt from Michigan's upper peninsula drained into the Brule and Menominee rivers causing minor flood in mid April.

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 Green Bay, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 20, 1:45 AM CST, 6 hours 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 20, 1:45 AM CST, 6 hours 22 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
245 AM CDT TUE APR 20 2004

.SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.  MAIN FCST CHALLENGE CENTERS ON
THE STRONG SHORT WAVE WITH SFC WAVE TO AFFECT THE FCST AREA TNT.

SAT IMAGERY SHOWS THE LEADING EDGE OF THE PCPN ALREADY INTO IS NRN MO
THIS AM AND MODEL DATA SHOWING GOOD AGREEMENT OF THIS FEATURE TO MOVE
INTO THE FCST AREA BY THIS EVENING.  WHILE SFC DPTS AND DRY LOW LEVELS
WILL HOLD OF PCPN FOR A WHILE...H8 PROFILER OVER SW ALREADY WITH SRLY
WIND.  WILL CONT LATE AFTN CHC OVER THE SRN PORTION.  STRONG WAA WITH
THE SFC WAVE AND TIGHT BAROCLINIC ZONE WILL MAKE THIS SYSTEM A GOOD RAIN
PRODUCER TNT AND HAVE INCREASED POPS AS A RESULT.  TOTAL TOTALS REACH 50
TNT SO WILL ALSO CONT TRW WORDING.  SFC DPTS PROGGED TO REMAIN IN THE
40S TNT SO DEEP SFC BASED INSTAB NOT IMPRESSIVE.

SHOWERS LINGER INTO WEDNESDAY BEFORE SYSTEM DEPARTS THE REGION LATER IN
THE DAY.

.LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. FORECAST FOCUS ON
PRECIPITATION CHANCES LATE IN THE EXTENDED.

HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE GREAT LAKES KEEPING STORMS TO OUR SOUTH
THROUGH SATURDAY. THE GFS BRINGS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM THROUGH THE AREA
ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY WHILE THE CANADIAN MODEL KEEPS THE CWA DRY. SINCE
THE MODELS CANNOT AGREE WILL KEEP SUNDAY DRY WITH A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS
SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY LIKE THE PREVIOUS FORECAST.

.HYDROLOGY...SNOWMELT OVER FAR NRN UPR MICH AND HEAVY RAINFALL THE LAST
FEW DAYS OVER FAR NRN WI AND UPPER MICHIGAN HAVE INCREASED FLOWS OVER
THE MENOMINEE RIVER. WILL MONOTOR FOR POSSIBLE HEADLINE THIS AM.

&&

.GRB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

TDH/KURIMSKI
WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/GRB

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 20, 5:00 AM CST, 3 hours 7 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
600 AM CDT TUE APR 20 2004

WIZ005-010>013-018>022-030-031-035>040-045-048>050-073-074-211100-
VILAS-ONEIDA-FOREST-FLORENCE-NORTHERN MARINETTE-SOUTHERN MARINETTE-
LINCOLN-LANGLADE-MENOMINEE-NORTHERN OCONTO-SOUTHERN OCONTO-DOOR-
MARATHON-SHAWANO-WOOD-PORTAGE-WAUPACA-OUTAGAMIE-BROWN-KEWAUNEE-WAUSHARA-
WINNEBAGO-CALUMET-MANITOWOC-
600 AM CDT TUE APR 20 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH-CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST
WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TRACKS OVER THE STATE TONIGHT...SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WILL SPREAD INTO THE STATE.  WHILE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
LIKELY...INSTABILITY WILL BE MARGINAL AND THEREFORE THE THREAT OF SEVERE
WEATHER IS LOW.  BETWEEN 0.50 TO 0.75 INCHES OF RAINFALL WILL BE LIKELY
TONIGHT WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS IN THUNDERSTORMS.

SNOWMELT FROM UPPER MICHIGAN AND HEAVY RAINFALL LAST WEEKEND OVER FAR
NORTHERN WISCONSIN AND UPPER MICHIGAN HAVE LED TO AN INCREASE IN RIVER
FLOW ALONG THE MENOMINEE RIVER.  ADDITIONAL RAINFALL TONIGHT WILL
FURTHER RAISE THE RIVER LEVELS THIS WEEK.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.

THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.

TDH
WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/GRB

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Florence

When: April 20, 8:07 AM CST to April 23, 7:00 AM CST
Where: Florence forecast zone
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 45.848, -88.398 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Northern Marinette

When: April 21, 3:00 AM CST to April 22, 1:06 AM CST
Where: Northern Marinette forecast zone
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 45.351, -88.002 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Southern Marinette

When: April 21, 6:46 PM CST to April 25, 4:16 AM CST
Where: Southern Marinette forecast zone
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 45.351, -88.002 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, April 2004

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: 5394876, 5394877, 5394878.