5 flash flood, 3 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 4, 8:01 AM CST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.
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</html>PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1017 AM CDT TUE OCT 04 2005
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0939 AM FLOOD RICE LAKE 45.50N 91.74W
10/04/2005 BARRON WI LAW ENFORCEMENT
TWO FEET OF WATER OVER SOME ROADS.
0940 AM FLOOD LADYSMITH 45.46N 91.10W
10/04/2005 RUSK WI LAW ENFORCEMENT
STREET FLOODING.
&&
JVMThe La Crosse radar (KARX), 139 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:13 UTC.
5 flash flood, 3 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning hit a home on Bridgewater Avenue, causing an electrical meter to be blown off the wall. Information reported by the Chippewa Herald newspaper.
Lightning struck three garages on Prentice Street. An electrical panel on one garage was destroyed, along with some siding. The second garage had a window blown out, and the third had its electrical panel blown off. Lightning struck a 70 foot spruce tree on W. Cedar St. in Chippewa Falls (time unknown), severely damaging the tree, along with blowing out a window on the home. Information partially provided by the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram and the Chippewa Herald Newspapers.
Lightning hit the RCU building on Bay Street. No damage was reported but most of downtown Chippewa Falls lost power for several hours. Information provided by Eau Claire Leader-Telegram newspaper.
Water up to three feet deep flooded cars in the city of Barron. Elsewhere in Barron County, four bridges in Doyle Township, several miles east of Rice Lake, were washed out. Three of the bridges crossed Spring Creek, and the fourth crossed Pokegama Creek. Numerous roads were also closed. Reports of rainfall ranged from 12.5 inches in northeastern Barron County, to 7 inches in the central portion of the county, to approximately 4 inches in the southern portion of the county. All were taken from citizen back yard gauges.
Several roads flooded around the county, especially in the northern portion from Frederic to Lewis. Some washouts occurred in and around culverts. Some driveways were damaged.
Numerous roads were flooded north of Weyerhaeuser and Bruce.
Main Street and several other city streets were flooded.
Several city streets were flooded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, October 2005
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: 5477360, 5477361, 5477362, 5477357, 5477358, 5477364, 5477359, 5477363.