Thunderstorms that moved across east-central Wisconsin early in the morning on August 8 produced lightning that struck a home and started a fire in Calumet County.
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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 GRB wrote it up.
Thunderstorms that moved across east-central Wisconsin early in the morning on August 8 produced lightning that struck a home and started a fire in Calumet County.
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 Green Bay, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 8, 3:02 AM CST, 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI 402 AM CDT SAT AUG 8 2009 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY...MAIN FCST CONCERNS ARE PCPN TRENDS...THE THREAT OF SVR TSTMS AND TEMPERATURES. LARGE BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM SE MN EASTWARD THROUGH CENTRAL WI EARLY THIS MORNING. THIS CONVECTION WAS LINED UP NEAR THE H8 WARM FRONT...WHERE A 40-50 KT LLJ WAS ASCENDING THE FRONTAL ZONE. EXPECT THIS ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE TO SHIFT EAST AS THE LLJ VEERS WEST AND WEAKENS THIS MORNING. HAVE HAD SOME REPORTS OF HEAVY RAINFALL IN CNTRL WI...AND EXPECT THE HEAVY RAINFALL THREAT TO LINGER INTO EAST CENTRAL WI THROUGH MID-MORNING. HAVE LOWERED POPS TO CHC CATEGORY FOR THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON. THE WARM FRONT IS EXPECTED TO SHIFT NORTH TOWARD CNTRL WI THIS AFTERNOON...BUT H7 TEMPS ARE FCST TO INCREASE TO +11 TO +12 C... SO TSTM INITIATION MAY BE INHIBITED...DESPITE DEVELOPING STRONG INSTABILITY. TONIGHT...LOW PRESSURE OVER SW MN IS FCST TO LIFT NE TOWARD NC WI...LIFTING THE WARM FRONT NORTH THROUGH WI...THEN BRINGING A COLD FRONT TOWARD OUR NW COUNTIES LATE. THE BEST MOISTURE CONVERGENCE AND WEAKEST CAP IS FOCUSED OVER OUR NW COUNTIES... SO HAVE HIT THE POPS HARDEST THERE. WITH MUCAPE OF 2000-3000 J/KG AND DEEP LAYER SHEAR OF 35-45 KTS...POTENTIAL IS GOOD FOR ORGANIZED SVR STORMS...ESP OVER THE NW HALF OF THE CWA. ON SUNDAY...THE COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE FA...BUT DYNAMIC FORCING IS LACKING AND CAPPING WILL BE AN ISSUE. WILL MAINTAIN LOW CHC POPS FOR NOW...AND EVALUATE FURTHER WITH SUBSEQUENT FCSTS. STAYED CLOSE TO PREVIOUS FCST WITH TEMPS. .LONG TERM...SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH NEXT SATURDAY... PERSISTENT UPPER TROUGH OVER THE GREAT LAKES AND NORTHEAST UNITED STATES THAT HAS PRODUCED A VERY COOL AND DRY SUMMER HAS WEAKENED AND NOW A MORE SUMMER LIKE UPPER AIR PATTERN IS IN PLACE...AT LEAST FOR A LITTLE WHILE. BIG UPPER HIGH THAT WAS CENTERED OVER BURMUDA FOR THE LAST FEW MONTHS IS NOW OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES WITH WISCONSIN EITHER IN ZONAL OR SOUTHWEST UPPER FLOW FOR MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. A WEAK SHORTWAVE MOVES THROUGH EARLY AND PROVIDES A DAY OR TWO OF NORTWHEST UPPER FLOW AND SOMEWHAT COOLER AND DRIER AIR AT THE SURFACE...BUT FOR THE MOST PART MEDIUM RANGE MODELS SUGGEST THAT WE WILL HAVE HIGH UPPER HEIGHTS AND MUGGY WARM AIR AT THE SURFACE. WARM MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES EXPECTED FOR MUCH OF NEXT WEEK WILL PROBABLY BE SUFFICIENT TO KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE CAPPED...SO WE HAVE A DRY FORECAST TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. MID LEVELS MAY COOL ENOUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK TO GET CONVECTION AS A STRONG SHORTWAVE APPROACHES FROM THE ROCKIES. THE ECMWF AND GFS HAVE BIG DIFFERENCES ON THE TIMING AND STRENGTH OF THAT FEATURE. && .AVIATION...IFR/LIFR CIGS AND MVFR/IFR VSBYS WERE ONGOING ACROSS THE FCST AREA THIS MORNING...DUE TO WIDESPREAD SHRA/TSRA ACTIVITY AND INCREASING LLVL MOISTURE NORTH OF A WARM FRONT. THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL SHOULD SHIFT OUT OF EAST CENTRAL WI BY MID-MORNING... FOLLOWED BY A DECREASE IN PCPN COVERAGE AND A GRADUAL INCREASE IN CIGS/VSBYS THIS AFTERNOON. MORE TSTM ACTIVITY...POTENTIALLY STG TO SVR IS EXPECTED TONIGHT...WITH THE BEST CHANCES OVER C/NC WI. WILL TAKE A LOOK AT THE POTENTIAL FOR LLWS EARLY THIS MORNING... THEN AGAIN TONIGHT AS THE LLJ STRENGTHENS. && .GRB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && KIECKBUSCH/RDM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI 427 AM CDT SAT AUG 8 2009 WIZ005-010>013-018>022-030-031-035>040-045-048>050-073-074-091200- VILAS-ONEIDA-FOREST-FLORENCE-NORTHERN MARINETTE-LINCOLN-LANGLADE- MENOMINEE-NORTHERN OCONTO-DOOR-MARATHON-SHAWANO-WOOD-PORTAGE- WAUPACA-OUTAGAMIE-BROWN-KEWAUNEE-WAUSHARA-WINNEBAGO-CALUMET- MANITOWOC-SOUTHERN MARINETTE-SOUTHERN OCONTO- 427 AM CDT SAT AUG 8 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINFALL AND SMALL HAIL ARE EXPECTED TO SHIFT EAST OF THE REGION THIS MORNING...FOLLOWED BY A DECREASE IN COVERAGE DURING THE DAY. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM STEVENS POINT TO IRON MOUNTAIN. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND HEAVY RAINFALL ARE THE MAIN THREATS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ON SUNDAY. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY...BUT WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED DURING THAT PERIOD. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT. LMZ521-522-541>543-091200- THE BAY OF GREEN BAY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM CEDAR RIVER MI TO ROCK ISLAND PASSAGE-LAKE MICHIGAN FROM WASHINGTON ISLAND TO SHEBOYGAN- 427 AM CDT SAT AUG 8 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST LAKE MICHIGAN AND THE WATERS OF GREEN BAY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINFALL AND SMALL HAIL WILL AFFECT THE REGION THIS MORNING...FOLLOWED BY A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ON SUNDAY. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY...BUT WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED DURING THAT PERIOD. TSK/RDM
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
309 AM CDT SAT AUG 08 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0302 AM HEAVY RAIN WISCONSIN RAPIDS 44.40N 89.84W
08/08/2009 M1.61 INCH WOOD WI ASOS
ONE HOUR RAIN TOTAL BETWEEN 2AM AND 3AM. REPORTS OF ANKLE
TO KNEE DEEP WATER ON SOME STREETS BY COUNTY DISPATCH.
&&
BERSCHThe Green Bay radar (KGRB), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:31 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a home in Collins at about 4:30 AM CDT, which started a two story farm house on fire. The occupants were able to safely evacuate. The fire did major damage to the structure. Part of the roof collapsed and a portion of the second floor fell onto the first floor.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, August 2009
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: 182384.