Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Wisconsin, May 29, 2006

Name: Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Wisconsin, May 29, 2006
Start: 2006-05-29T12:43
End: 2006-05-29T15:08
Location: Wisconsin

May 29, 2006 · NWS MKX · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

Scattered thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours of May 29th. Only a couple storms became severe to produce damaging winds in eastern Green County and western Rock County.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: 7
Property damage: $25,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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 MKX wrote it up.

Scattered thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours of May 29th. Only a couple storms became severe to produce damaging winds in eastern Green County and western Rock County. Elsewhere, a non-severe storm resulted in several outdoor lightning injuries in Burlington (Racine Co.).May 28th and May 29th were very warm days for late May in the Milwaukee area. The max/min air temperatures for the two days were 90/65 and 89/70, respectively, and they were 77/65 on May 30th. Normal highs and lows for late May are 71 and 51. Afternoon heat index values were in the 90 to 95 range on both the 28th and 29th. An 80-year-old women died In Milwaukee due to heat hyperthermia on May 30th, after the combined affects of the 28th and 29th. She was found in her residence with all windows closed, and no fan or air conditioning. The ambient weather conditions were below official heat advisory criteria, therefore a heat event was not generated for May 30th. Consequently, although the medical examiner classified heat as the primary cause of death, this heat-related death will be considered as indirectly-related for StormData purposes.

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 Milwaukee, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 29, 2:10 AM CST, 10 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 29, 2:10 AM CST, 10 hours 33 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
310 AM CDT MON MAY 29 2006

.DISCUSSION...FCST FOCUS IS ON PCPN CHCS THRU WEDNESDAY...ESP TUE
INTO ERLY WED.

MAIN UPPER AND LOW LEVEL JET WILL REMAIN TO OUR WEST TODAY AS
GENERALLY WEAK UPR SW FLOW CONTINUES INTO THE CWA. CI STREAMING
NEWD TOWARDS CWA. MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE A WEAK RIPPLE IN THE
FLOW COMING ACRS TODAY. BUFKIT SOUNDINGS FROM BOTH THE NAM AND GFS
HAVE CAPES OF 1-2K WITH VRY LITTLE IN THE WAY OF CIN. THE COMBO OF
INSTAB...WEAK RIPPLE UPSTAIRS AND PSBL SUBTLE LAKE BNDRY LEND
CREDENCE TO KEEPING THE GOING VRY SML POP FOR TODAY.

H8 TEMPS DROP ONLY SLIGHTLY TODAY. NOT EXPECTING THE FULL SUN AS
YESTERDAY SO GOING A SMIDGE COOLER THAN YESTERDAY SEEMS PLAUSIBLE.

MODELS THEN BRING PCPN ASSOC WITH SFC TROF INTO CWA LATER TNGT
INTO TUE. H8 CONVERGENCE INCREASES ON TUESDAY AND WITH UPPER FLOW
RUNNING PARALLEL TO LOWER LEVEL FEATURES...THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF
FRONT LOOKS REASONABLE. GFS GENERATING LARGE QPF AMOUNTS DURING
THE PERIOD BUT THERE ARE ALSO SOME VORTS THAT LOOK SUSPICIOUS AS
WELL...SMALL BULLSYES OF HIGH AMOUNTS BEAR THIS OUT. THE H8
CONVERGENT ZONE LOOKS TO BE A PLAYER INTO AT LEAST ERLY WED. THE RRQ
OF H2 UPR JET ENHANCES UPR DVRG ESP TUE AFTN INTO TUE NGT. IN FACT
THE SLOWER GFS WOULD KEEP FAVORABLE DVRG ACRS THE CWA THRU MUCH OF
WED. WOULDNT BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME DECENT RAINFALL TOTALS WHEN
THIS IS ALL SAID AND DONE.

&&

.MKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

Hazardous weather outlook, May 29, 10:00 AM CST, 2 hours 43 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
1100 AM CDT MON MAY 29 2006

WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-300900-
MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC-SHEBOYGAN-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE-
WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON-WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE-
LAFAYETTE-GREEN-ROCK-WALWORTH-RACINE-KENOSHA-
1100 AM CDT MON MAY 29 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL
WISCONSIN...SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

VERY WARM TEMPERATURES AND INCREASING HUMIDITY WILL CAUSE HEAT
INDICES TO RISE TO NEAR 95 TODAY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS
ARE POSSIBLE TODAY...WITH A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. THERE IS A CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

LMZ643>646-665-300900-
SHEBOYGAN TO PORT WASHINGTON-
PORT WASHINGTON TO NORTH POINT LIGHTHOUSE-
NORTH POINT LIGHTHOUSE TO WIND POINT-
WIND POINT TO WINTHROP HARBOR ILLINOIS-
WISCONSIN ADJACENT OPEN WATERS OF LAKE MICHIGAN TO MID LAKE-
1100 AM CDT MON MAY 29 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF LAKE MICHIGAN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. THERE IS A CHANCE
OF THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY.

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:43 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind, 2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Green

When: May 29, 12:43 PM CST
Where: Green County, 6 mi N of Brodhead
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.700, -89.367

Trees down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Rock

When: May 29, 12:55 PM CST
Where: Rock County, 2 mi SE of Evansville
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.767, -89.283

Pole barn, furniture, and tree damage.

Lightning, Racine

When: May 29, 3:07 PM CST
Where: Racine County, Burlington
Injuries: 5 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Five people were injured (suffered tingling sensations) by a nearby lightning strike during the ChocolateFest in Burlington. They were taken to a local hospital for medical treatment and released.

Lightning, Racine

When: May 29, 3:08 PM CST
Where: Racine County, Burlington
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 42.730, -87.812 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A mother and her child outside a retail store in Burlington were injured when a lightning bolt struck nearby.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Wisconsin, May 2006

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: 5510774, 5510771, 5510772, 5510773.