Strong southwest winds gusting to 39 to 45 knots (45 to 52 mph) raked southeast Wisconsin. Scattered power outages occurred due to broken limbs falling on power lines.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 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 southwest winds gusting to 39 to 45 knots (45 to 52 mph) raked southeast Wisconsin. Scattered power outages occurred due to broken limbs falling on power lines. Synoptically, low pressure moved northeast through the western tip of Lake Superior. Behind the trailing cold front a tight, surface pressure gradient formed, resulting in strong surface winds. Up at the 850 mb level (roughly 5,000 feet above the ground), wind speeds increased to 45 knots (52 mph).
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 Apr 26, 3:01 AM CST, 9 hours 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 401 AM CDT SAT APR 26 2008 .DISCUSSION...FCST FOCUS ON DEPARTING SYSTEM TODAY AND THEN HANDLING POPS INTO MID WEEK. WATER VAPOR/RUC COMBO SHOWS STG 36 UNIT VORT MAX LIFTING NEWD FROM KMSP WITH 995MB SFC LOW VCNTY LAKE SUPERIOR. MID LEVEL DRY SLOT WORKING ACRS CWA WHILE DEF ZONE PCPN ASSOC WITH VORT WRAPPING EWD INTO WRN WI. WITH VORT LIFTING NEWD THINK PCPN SHIELD WILL MISS GLANCING THE NW PART OF OUR CWA. 11/3 IMAGERY SHOWS PLENTY OF LLVL RH WITH STRATUS EXTENDING BACK INTO PORTIONS OF SRN IA. WILL BANK ON SOME BREAKS EVOLVING TODAY AS SYSTEM CONTINUES TO PULL AWAY. AXIS OF 4MB 3 HR PRES RISES ACRS THE CWA ATTM THO GRADIENT PROGGD TO REMAIN FAIRLY TIGHT TODAY WITH SOUNDINGS SHOWING MIXINESS SUPPORTIVE OF WINDY CONDITIONS FOR MUCH OF THE DAY. DAVA ALSO AIDING IN THE TRANSFER OF DOWNWARD MOMENTUM. CORE OF COLDEST H8 TEMPS AFFECT THE CWA THIS MRNG WITH WARMING FROM THE SOUTH AS THE DAY WEARS ALONG. WEAK RIDGING PROGGD FOR TONIGHT WITH MODELS SLOWING DOWN THE ARRIVAL OF PCPN WITH NEXT SYSTEM FOR SUNDAY. WILL BACK OFF ON THE PCPN CHCS AFTER MIDNIGHT AND RESTRICT TO FAR SW PART OF THE CWA. FOR SUNDAY THE IDEA FROM YESTERDAY THAT THE GFS OPERATIONAL RUN WAS AN OUTLIER SEEMS TO BE COMING TO FRUITION AS THE 00Z RUN HAS REALLY BACKED OFF ON THE STRENGTH AND NORTHWEST POSITIONING OF THE SFC AND H8 LOW FROM IL INTO LWR MI. NEVERTHELESS SOME UPPER DVRG ON ERN SIDE OF APPCH TROUGH...THO BEST DVRG SOUTH OF CWA VCNTY RRQ OF JET. UPPER TROUGH TO PROGRESSIVELY GET CARVED OUT ACRS THE CWA. LEAD SHORT WAVE AFFECTS THE CWA SUNDAY WITH THE MAIN TROUGH AXIS COMING ACRS THE CWA SUN NGT INTO MONDAY. THERMAL PROFILES INDICATE SOME MIXY POTENTIAL ESP SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY AS THE COLDER H8 TEMPS ADVECT SOUTHWARD INTO THE AREA. UPPER TROUGH PROGGD TO EXIT THE AREA MON NIGHT WITH NW UPPER FLOW INTO WEDNESDAY. FLOW LOOKS SLIGHTLY ANTICYCLONIC TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. GFS HINTS AT SHEARED VORTS MAY GENERATE LIGHT QPF. 00Z ECMWF SHOWING THE START OF RETURN OF WAA INDUCED PCPN AS SOON AS WEDNESDAY HOWEVER BETTER FORCING PROGGD TO OUR NW ACRS NRN WI AND MN...SO WILL WILL LEAVE DRY FCST INTACT FOR WEDNESDAY ATTM. && 10 .AVIATION...STRONG LOW NEAR LAKE SUPERIOR. STRATOCUMULUS SHIELD WILL BRING MVFR CIGS INTO THE AFTERNOON BEFORE CLOUDS SCATTER OUT. BRISK SOUTHWEST WINDS WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 35 KNOTS. && .MARINE...STRONG LOW NEAR LAKE SUPERIOR. COLD AIR ADVECTION BEHIND LOW WILL BRING GOOD MIXING CONDITIONS TO THE NEARSHORE WATERS. SUSTAINED WINDS TO 30 KNOTS EXPECTED...SO WILL CONTINUE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY INTO THIS EVENING. SOME GUSTS MAY APPROACH GALE CRITERIA. HIGHEST WAVES WOULD BE TOWARD OPEN WATER...GIVEN THE MAINLY OFFSHORE FLOW. && .MKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. LM...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR LMZ643>646. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 1150 AM CDT SAT APR 26 2008 WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-271130- MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC-SHEBOYGAN-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE- WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON-WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE- LAFAYETTE-GREEN-ROCK-WALWORTH-RACINE-KENOSHA- 1150 AM CDT SAT APR 26 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN...SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT MANY RIVERS...INCLUDING THE FOX...ROCK...SUGAR...CRAWFISH... PECATONICA AND SHEBOYGAN RIVERS WILL BE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE. BRISK WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL GUST TO AROUND 40 MPH TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SEVERAL RIVERS WILL REMAIN ABOVE FLOOD STAGE THROUGH THE PERIOD. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE NEXT THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. LMZ643>646-271130- SHEBOYGAN TO PORT WASHINGTON WI- PORT WASHINGTON TO NORTH POINT LIGHT WI- NORTH POINT LIGHT TO WIND POINT WI- WIND POINT WI TO WINTHROP HARBOR IL- 1150 AM CDT SAT APR 26 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A GALE WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM FOR BRISK WEST WINDS AND HIGH WAVES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. HENTZ WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MKX
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
12 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, April 2008
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: 94724, 94726, 94727, 94728, 94729, 94730, 94731, 94732, 94734, 94735, 94736, 94737.