1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 Duluth, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 2, 8:27 PM CST, 5 hours 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 927 PM CDT TUE MAY 2 2006 .UPDATE...AGAIN...THE SCHEDULED OUTAGE OF OUR RADAR CONTINUES...SO WE ARE USING NEIGHBORING AND CANADIAN RADAR STATIONS. THE FAST MOVING COLD FRONT IS ENTERING THE RED RIVER VALLEY AND CATCHING UP TO THE OLD TROUGH JUST EAST OF THE RED RIVER. ATTM SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS RAIN PUTTING ITSELF TOGETHER...WITH ONLY A LITTLE LIGHTNING HERE AND THERE. RAIN SHOULD RAPIDLY FORM AND OVERSPREAD THE AREA ABOUT MIDNIGHT AND CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS AFTERWORD. SO...WE WENT CATEGORIGAL WITH THE RAIN LATER TONIGHT. PRIND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ACPNY THE RAIN...WE HAVE MOISTURE CONVERGENCE RAPIDLY SPREADING NORTHWARD THROUGH WESTERN MINNESOTA WITH DROPPING STABILITIES...PRESSURES BEGINNING TO FALL...AND DECREASING SURFACE DIVERGENCE. 850 MB MOISTURE IS RAPIDLY INCREASING ACROSS SOUTHWESTERN MN AND AN 850 MB JET...AOA 40 KTS...IS WORKING ITS WAY NORTHWARD INTO SOUTHEASTERN MN. EVERYTHING FOR THUNDERSTORMS IS THERE EXCEPT WARM GROUND AND SUNSHINE. WE EXPECT NOISY THUNDER IN SOME AREAS...BUT VERY LITTLE IN THE WAY OF ROUGH WIND OR HAIL...BUT WE WILL REMAIN ATTENTIVE. && .DLH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MN...NONE. WI...NONE. LS...NONE. EOM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 305 PM CDT TUE MAY 2 2006 LSZ121-140>148-162-MNZ010>012-018>021-025-026-033>038-WIZ001>004- 006>009-032015- BAYFIELD TO OAK POINT WI-GRAND PORTAGE TO GRAND MARAIS MN- GRAND MARAIS TO TACONITE HARBOR MN- TACONITE HARBOR TO SILVER BAY HARBOR MN- SILVER BAY HARBOR TO TWO HARBORS MN-TWO HARBORS TO DULUTH MN- DULUTH MN TO PORT WING WI-PORT WING TO SAND ISLAND WI- SAND ISLAND TO BAYFIELD WI-OAK POINT TO SAXON HARBOR WI- OPEN WATERS OF LAKE SUPERIOR WEST OF A LINE FROM SAXON HARBOR WI TO GRAND PORTAGE MN-KOOCHICHING-NORTHERN ST. LOUIS- NORTHERN COOK/NORTHERN LAKE-NORTHERN ITASCA-CENTRAL ST. LOUIS- SOUTHERN LAKE/LAKESHORE-SOUTHERN COOK/LAKESHORE-NORTHERN CASS- SOUTHERN ITASCA-SOUTHERN CASS-CROW WING-NORTHERN AITKIN- SOUTHERN AITKIN-CARLTON/SOUTHERN ST. LOUIS-PINE-DOUGLAS-BAYFIELD- ASHLAND-IRON-BURNETT-WASHBURN-SAWYER-PRICE- 305 PM CDT TUE MAY 2 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST MINNESOTA... NORTHWEST WISCONSIN AND WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG A COLD FRONT THIS AFTERNOON...MOVING INTO THE WESTERN FORECAST AREA THIS EVENING FROM INTERNATIONAL FALLS...TO THE BRAINERD LAKES AREA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL THEN SPREAD EASTWARD THROUGH THE REST OF THE FORECAST AREA OVERNIGHT. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM CASS LAKE...TO AITKIN MINNESOTA...AND TO SIREN WISCONSIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY STRONG AND GUSTY WEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO CREATE HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS ON WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR WEDNESDAY. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED FOR THE NEAR SHORE WATERS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED BY THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. BRANDT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning caused a home to catch fire. The fire was contained to the basement, but smoke damage was extensive.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, May 2006
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: 5508202.