Strong, post, cold-frontal winds affected south-central and southeast Wisconsin for about a 9-hour period. Sustained northwest winds were in the 17 to 26 knot range (20 to 30 mph) with gusts of 39 to 49 knots (45 to 56 mph).
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.
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.
Strong, post, cold-frontal winds affected south-central and southeast Wisconsin for about a 9-hour period. Sustained northwest winds were in the 17 to 26 knot range (20 to 30 mph) with gusts of 39 to 49 knots (45 to 56 mph). Newspapers and spotter reports indicated that some outdoor Christmas lights and ornaments were damaged, small to medium-sized tree branches were knocked out of trees. Several vehicles were damaged by the tree debris. The damage amounts are rough guesses. Some peak measured wind gusts include: 40 knots (46 mph) in Westfield (Marquette Co.), 48 knots (55 mph) in Taycheedah (Fond du Lac Co.), 43 knots (49 mph) in Sheboygan (Sheboygan Co.), 41 knots (47 mph) in Reedsburg (Sauk Co.), 41 knots (47 mph) in Columbus (Columbia Co.), 43 knots (50 mph) in Jackson (Washington Co.), 40 knots (46 mph) in Mequon (Ozaukee Co.), 46 knots (53 mph) in Mineral Point (Iowa Co.), 46 knots (53 mph) on the west side of Madison (Dane Co.), 47 knots (54 mph) in Brookfield (Waukesha Co.), 49 knots (56 mph) at the WTMJ TV station in Milwaukee (Milwaukee Co.), 47 knots (54 mph) in Brodhead (Green Co.), 39 knots (45 mph) at the Janesville Airport (Rock Co.), 43 knots (49 mph) on the UW-Whitewater campus (Walworth Co.), 43 knots (50 mph) in Union Grove (Racine Co.), and 43 knots (50 mph) on the lakeshore of Kenosha (Kenosha Co.). Many of these measured wind gusts were courtesy of school weather nets operated by TV-15 in Madison and TV-6 in Milwaukee. Estimated wind gusts to 43 to 46 knots (50 to 53 mph) occurred in west-central Sheboygan Co., northeastern Lafayette Co., extreme southeast Jefferson Co., northeastern Walworth Co., western Racine Co., and northeastern Kenosha Co., based on graphical analysis of all peak wind gusts reported.
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 Dec 12, 2:50 AM CST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 250 AM CST SUN DEC 12 2004 .DISCUSSION...MAIN FORECAST FOCUS CONTINUES TO BE CENTERED ON WIND EVENT FOR TODAY/TONIGHT. RUC/WATER VAPOR LOOP CONTINUES TO SHOW STRONG VORT MAXIMUM MOVG THRU NRN MN. SFC LO VCNTY MN ARROWHEAD DEEPENING TO 988 MB. IMPRESSIVE RISE/FALL COUPLET. STGEST WINDS ARRIVE FROM MIDDAY INTO EVENING HRS. MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW H8 JET CORE OF 50 TO 60 KTS ARRIVING LATER THIS AFTN. THIS COINCIDENT WITH IMPRESSIVE DAVA SIGNITURE ON VORT PROGS. STG DOWNWARD MOTION/SUBSIDENCE ASSOC WITH DAVA CERTAINLY SUPPORTS MIXING DOWN SOME GUSTS TO AROUND 50 MPH. STILL PONDERED A HIGH WIND WARNING...THO FOR NOW WILL GO WITH SUSTAINED 25-35 WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 50 MPH. BUFFY WINDS AOB H8 JUST A SMIDGE LESS THAN WHAT WAS SHOWN LAST NIGHT...SO IDEA OF A HIGH END ADVISORY STILL SHOULD HOLD. BAND OF COLDEST TOPS ASSOC W/ WAA CLOUDS/LGT PCPN MOVG EWD THRU CWA...WITH DRY WEDGE QUICK ON IT/S HEELS. WILL LIKELY SEE SOME EARLY SUN. WILL REMOVE PCPN FOR TODAY BASED ON 88-D EXTRAP OF ONGOING PCPN. LLVL RH PROGS/11/3 ANIM SHOW SC ADVECTING SEWD FROM MN SO SHOULD CLOUD BACK OVER WITH TIME. WL KEEP CLOUDS SOME FLURRIES ARND TNGT. HARD TO SEE MUCH MORE THAN FLURRIES TNGT GIVEN LACK OF VERTICAL MOTION. GRADIENT IS MAINTAINED ON MONDAY SO STILL WINDY. OVERALL QUIET WX REGIME...ASIDE FROM THE WINDS...WITH NO ARCTIC OUTBREAKS OR BIG SNOWS ON THE HORIZON. && .MKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WIND ADVY TODAY AND TONIGHT ZONES 46...47...51...52...56>60...62>72.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 454 AM CST SUN DEC 12 2004 WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-131100- COLUMBIA-DANE-DODGE-FOND DU LAC-GREEN-GREEN LAKE-IOWA-JEFFERSON- KENOSHA-LAFAYETTE-MARQUETTE-MILWAUKEE-OZAUKEE-RACINE-ROCK-SAUK- SHEBOYGAN-WALWORTH-WASHINGTON-WAUKESHA- 454 AM CST SUN DEC 12 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ENTER YOUR AREA HERE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT FOR LAND AREAS. SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 20 TO 35 MPH AND BECOME MORE WESTERLY DURING THE LATE MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS. GUSTS TO AROUND 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED IN THE AFTERNOON. THE WINDS WILL BECOME MORE NORTHWESTERLY TONIGHT AT SPEEDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH...WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 50 MPH UNTIL MIDNIGHT. DRIVERS OF HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES SHOULD SLOW DOWN AND TAKE PROPER PRECAUTIONS. LOOSE YARD OBJECTS WILL BLOW AROUND. A GALE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NEARSHORE WATERS FROM SHEBOYGAN TO WINTROP HARBOR ILLINOIS TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR WINDS UP TO 30 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 45 KNOTS...AND WAVES BUILDING TO 5 TO 8 FEET. A STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR WINDS TO 50 KNOTS FOR THE OPEN WATERS BEYOND 5 NAUTICAL MILES FROM THE SHORE. FREEZING SPRAY LIKELY TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED FOR MONDAY DUE TO NORTHWEST WINDS TO 30 KNOTS AND WAVES BUILDING TO 8 TO 12 FEET. THERE IS A CHANCE FOR SNOW SHOWERS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...AND A CHANCE FOR LIGHT SNOW NEXT SATURDAY. ANY ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE MINOR. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. KAPELA HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/MKX
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
20 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, December 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: 5430598, 5430599, 5430657, 5430658, 5430659, 5430660, 5430661, 5430662, 5430663, 5430664, 5430665, 5430666, 5430667, 5430668, 5430669, 5430670, 5430671, 5430672, 5430673, 5430674.