A weak upper-level disturbance along with moderately unstable atmosphere and steep low level lapse rates resulted in scattered severe thunderstorms.
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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.
A weak upper-level disturbance along with moderately unstable atmosphere and steep low level lapse rates resulted in scattered severe thunderstorms.
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 Jun 20, 1:59 PM CST, 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 259 PM CDT FRI JUN 20 2008 .DISCUSSION...FORECAST FOCUS ON TIMING OF PRECIPITATION IN NORTHWEST FLOW FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. .TONIGHT...MAIN ISSUE IS AREAL EXTENT OF CONVECTION WITH TROUGH AXIS. TROUGH LOCATED MAINLY FROM THE UPPER PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN...SOUTHWEST FROM NORTHEAST TO FAR SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN...AND INTO EASTERN IOWA. CUMULUS LINE DEVELOPING ALONG AXIS AND AHEAD OF IT ALONG ANOTHER TROUGH INTO THE FAR SOUTHERN PART OF THE FORECAST AREA. AIRMASS UNCAPPED WITH MEAN LAYER CAPES UNDER 1000 J/KG...AND 0-6KM BULK SHEAR VALUES OF 20 TO 30 KNOTS. ANY SEVERE CONVECTION WOULD BE ISOLATED...WITH SOME MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL IN THE STRONGEST STORMS. WILL WAIT UNTIL NEAR ISSUANCE TIME TO DECIDE BETWEEN CHANCE AND SCATTERED WORDING IN FORECAST. MAY SEE SOME WEAKENING SHOWERS AND ISOLATED STORMS MOVING INTO THE AREA LATER TONIGHT FROM THE NORTHWEST. .SHORT TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. GFS/NAM/NGM PROGS IN VERY CLOSE AGREEMENT WITH NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WEATHER PATTERN OVER CWA. MINOR SHORT WAVE TROUGHS IN NORTHWEST FLOW STILL OFFER BEST INDICATOR TO ZERO IN ON AREAS OF CONVECTION ESPECIALLY DURING HEATING OF THE DAY. TIMING AND STRENGTH OF SHORT WAVES BECOMING A LITTLE MORE FOCUSED FROM PROGS...BUT ENOUGH SUBTLE DIFFERENCES REMAIN TO PUT ABSOLUTE TIMING IN SOME DOUBT. SO WILL KEEP PRECIPITATION IN CHANCY CATEGORY AND WILL EMPHASIZE THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS...AND SHOWERS IN THE MORNING AS AIRMASS STABILIZES OVERNIGHT. .LONG TERM...MONDAY AND BEYOND. GFS/ECMWF PROGS STILL SWING UPPER FLOW PATTERN TO A MORE WESTERLY PATTERN WITH TIME INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. SURFACE PATTERN CONTINUES TO REMAIN NON DESCRIPT WITH WEAK WEATHER SYSTEMS. A FAIRLY DRY START TO THE WEEK IS INDICATED BY THE PROGS...BUT BY WEDNESDAY DIVERGING SOLUTIONS PRECIPITATION WISE YIELD LOW CONFIDENCE IN TRYING TO DECIDE BETWEEN WET AND DRY FORECAST PERIODS. SO NEED TO KEEP THE BROAD BRUSH GOING REGARDING CONVECTION WITH ONLY THURSDAY LOOKING AS A POSSIBLE DRY DAY. DAYTIME FORECAST TEMPERATURES TRICKY BUT HAVE LEANED TOWARD THE SLIGHTLY WARMER SIDE OF GUIDANCE...ESPECIALLY DURING OVERNIGHT HOURS DUE TO LINGERING CLOUDS. && .AVIATION...EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH 00Z SUNDAY. SURFACE TROUGH MOVING THROUGH THE AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING MAY BRING SCATTERED CONVECTION. DUE TO UNCERTAINTY WITH AREAL COVERAGE...WILL JUST MENTION CB IN THE CLOUD GROUP DURING THIS TIME. WEAKENING SHOWERS AND ISOLATED STORMS MAY AFFECT THE AREA LATER TONIGHT...AND VORTICITY MAXIMA APPROACHING THE AREA ON SATURDAY MAY GENERATE MORE SCATTERED CONVECTION. AGAIN...WILL LEAVE OUT MENTION IN TAFS DUE TO UNCERTAINTY WITH AREAL COVERAGE. && .MKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. LM...NONE. && SHORT/LONG TERM...17 AVIATION/MARINE...08
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 1049 AM CDT FRI JUN 20 2008 WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-211115- MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC-SHEBOYGAN-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE- WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON-WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE- LAFAYETTE-GREEN-ROCK-WALWORTH-RACINE-KENOSHA- 1049 AM CDT FRI JUN 20 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN...SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MOST OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN TODAY AND EARLY THIS EVENING. HAIL AROUND 3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER...AND GUSTY WINDS TO 60 MPH...ARE POSSIBLE IN A FEW OF THE STORMS. AREAS OF FLOODING CONTINUE...WITH SOME CLOSINGS OF PORTIONS OF MAJOR HIGHWAYS. MANY LAKES...RIVERS AND STREAMS REMAIN AT...OR NEAR RECORD LEVELS. SEE OUR ADVANCED HYDROLOGIC PREDICTION SERVICES INTERNET PAGE FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SEVERAL LAKES...RIVERS AND STREAMS WILL REMAIN WELL ABOVE FLOOD STAGE THROUGH THE WEEKEND...AND STAY ABOVE FLOOD STAGE THROUGH MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY. A FEW OF THESE MAY PRODUCE MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED SUNDAY. THE CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS RETURN TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TODAY AND EARLY THIS EVENING. LMZ643>646-211115- 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- 1049 AM CDT FRI JUN 20 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND EARLY THIS EVENING. HAIL APPROACHING 3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER...AND GUSTY WINDS OVER 35 KNOTS...ARE POSSIBLE IN A FEW OF THE STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY. A FEW OF THESE MAY PRODUCE MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED SUNDAY. THE CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS RETURN TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. WOOD WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MKX
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
246 PM CDT FRI JUN 20 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0243 PM HAIL NE TWIN LAKES 42.52N 88.26W
06/20/2008 E0.88 INCH KENOSHA WI PUBLIC
&&
TZAJDELThe Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:14 UTC.
2 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Powerful thunderstorms winds knocked down large trees. Several reports were received from this area from law enforcement officials and other trained spotters.
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, June 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: 116498, 116503, 116497.