A complex of thunderstorms moved from west to east across southern Wisconsin, associated with a short wave passing through the western Great Lakes region. Lightning from one of the thunderstorms struck a home in Beloit, in Rock County, sparking a fire that caused $25,000 in damage.
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The episode as NWS MKX wrote it up.
A complex of thunderstorms moved from west to east across southern Wisconsin, associated with a short wave passing through the western Great Lakes region. Lightning from one of the thunderstorms struck a home in Beloit, in Rock County, sparking a fire that caused $25,000 in damage.
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 Jul 22, 2:19 AM CST, 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 319 AM CDT FRI JUL 22 2011 .VERY SHORT TERM... TODAY AND TONIGHT...FORECAST CONFIDENCE IS MEDIUM. INCREASING CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY ACROSS EASTERN IOWA IN A ZONE OF MODERATE TO STRONG MOISTURE FLUX CONVERGENCE AS LOW LEVEL JET BRINGS HIGHER MOISTURE BACK INTO THE AREA. A LITTLE SURPRISING HOW TALL THESE STORMS HAVE BEEN GETTING OUT THERE...DESPITE THE LACK OF GOOD CAPE. SFC CAPE IS NIL...THUS MOST OF THIS IS STILL QUITE ELEVATED. SHEAR VALUES ARE VERY LOW...SO AT THIS POINT THINGS LOOK LIKE THEY WILL REMAIN SUB-SEVERE WITH THIS FIRST MORNING ROUND. THIS ACTIVITY HELPED ALONG BY A WEAK H5 SHORT WAVE AND RIGHT REAR ENTRANCE REGION OF THE UPPER JET SUPPLYING THE NECESSARY FORCING FOR DEEP UVV. AS THIS MOVES EAST BY LATE MORNING...EXPECT A LULL IN THE CONVECTION FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THEN MORE ACTIVITY AFTER MIDNIGHT...WHEN ANOTHER ROUND OF CONVECTION IS EXPECTED. THIS TOO WILL HAVE AN H5 SHORT WAVE AND INFLUENCE FROM THE UPPER JET. THE LLV JET IS WEAK THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BUT BECOMES A LITTLE MORE FAVORABLE AFTER MIDNIGHT. IN ADDITION...WE START TO SEE DEEP SHEAR VALUES ON THE ORDER OF 30 TO 40 KNOTS. THIS SHOULD BE OUR BEST CHANCE FOR SEEING ANY SEVERE WEATHER. TEMPS TODAY KEPT A NOTCH BELOW THE HOT LOOKING GUIDANCE DUE TO THE ABUNDANT CLOUDS EXPECTED. WILL HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON CLEARING THE AFTERNOON. IF THIS OCCURS QUICKLY...WE COULD SEE TEMPS JUMP. IN ADDITION...DEWPOINTS WILL BE CLIMBING BACK INTO THE LOWER 70S...ESPECIALLY WEST OF MADISON. .SHORT TERM... SATURDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...FORECAST CONFIDENCE MEDIUM. THE 850MB BAROCLINIC ZONE WILL SLOWLY LIFT NORTHWARD ACROSS SOUTHERN WI AS SFC LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPS IN THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND APPROACHES WI. SHORTWAVE CROSSING THE DAKOTAS AND MANITOBA...ALONG WITH THE RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF THE UPPER JET...WILL SUPPORT THE WEAK SFC LOW. THIS WARM FRONT WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM COMPLEXES. MODEL SNDGS SHOW CAPE VALUES INCREASING DURING THE DAY TO VALUES OVER 2000 J/KG...BUT SHEAR PROFILE IS VERY WEAK. DESPITE ALL OF THESE PARAMETERS COMING TOGETHER OVER SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL WI ON SAT AND SAT NIGHT...THERE IS STILL UNCERTAINTY ABOUT WHAT TYPE OF STORMS WILL DEVELOP...WHERE THEY WILL BE...AND WHEN THEY WILL CROSS THE AREA. THEREFORE...KEPT HIGH-END CHANCE OF TSTORMS OVER 12-HR PERIODS. NOT EXPECTING ALL DAY RAIN...BUT THERE MAY BE A COUPLE OF ROUNDS OF CONVECTION. THERE SHOULD BE A LULL IN THE PRECIP THE LATTER HALF OF SAT NIGHT AS THE SFC LOW MOVES OVERHEAD. WITH EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER EXPECTED ON SAT...LOWERED FCST MAX TEMPS A BIT...SO HIGHS EXPECTED IN THE LOWER 80S NEAR THE LAKE AND UPPER 80S INLAND. SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT...FORECAST CONFIDENCE MEDIUM. THE SFC LOW IS EXPECTED TO TRACK ACROSS SOUTHERN WI AND DRAG A FRONT THROUGH THE AREA ON SUN. CAPE VALUES CONTINUE TO BE HIGH AHEAD OF THE FRONT...BUT STILL NOT MUCH SHEAR. NAM SHOWS BETTER HELICITY THAN THE GFS. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER IN THE SOUTHEAST CWA. AGAIN...WILL STICK WITH HIGHER-END CHANCE CATEGORY FOR THE PRECIP DUE TO TIMING/LOCATION UNCERTAINTIES WITHIN THIS MESSY AND UNORGANIZED SUMMER WEATHER PATTERN. PRECIP CHANCES DROP OFF QUICKLY FROM WEST TO EAST SUN NIGHT AS COOLER AND DRIER AIR WITH SFC HIGH PRESSURE SETTLE IN. .LONG TERM... MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...FORECAST CONFIDENCE LOW TO MEDIUM. HIGH PRESSURE WILL CROSS SOUTHERN WI AND THE MIDWEST ON MON...SO NO PRECIP CHANCES. MUCH LOWER DEWPOINT TEMPS AND MAX TEMPS EXPECTED IN THE LOWER 80S SHOULD GIVE US A VERY PLEASANT DAY. RETURN FLOW AROUND THE HIGH WILL BRING SOME WARM AIR ADVECTION AND ISENTROPIC LIFT INTO SOUTHERN WI ON TUE...AT THE SAME TIME AS A SHORTWAVE CROSSES THE UPPER MIDWEST. THUNDERSTORMS CHANCES RETURN TUE AND CONTINUE THROUGH THU NIGHT AS THE BAROCLINIC ZONE STALLS OVER THE REGION. THE ECMWF SHOWS A MUCH DRIER SOLUTION...WITH THE BAROCLINIC ZONE FURTHER NORTH. THAT SCENARIO IS DEFINITELY POSSIBLE...GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF THE BLOCKING HIGH OVER THE SOUTHEAST UNITED STATES. && .AVIATION... LOOK FOR A PERIOD OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS MORNING. OVERALL...EXPECT CONDITIONS TO REMAIN VFR...BUT COULD SEE A BRIEF PERIOD OF MVFR AS STORMS MOVE THROUGH. THIS ACTIVITY EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LEVELS...THOUGH SMALL HAIL IS POSSIBLE. EXPECT QUIETER CONDITIONS TO RETURN THIS AFTERNOON...WITH IMPROVING SKIES...AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. THEN ANOTHER ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED AFTER MIDNIGHT AS ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL SHORT ROLLS IN. THIS SECOND ROUND LATE TONIGHT COULD HAVE A FEW SEVERE STORMS WITH IT. OUTSIDE OF ANY STORMS...WINDS WILL BE LIGHT WITH LITTLE OPERATIONAL IMPACTS. && .MKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. LM...NONE. && SHORT/LONG TERM...13/MRC VERY SHORT TERM/AVIATION/MARINE...05/DAVIS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 315 AM CDT FRI JUL 22 2011 WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-230815- MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC-SHEBOYGAN-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE- WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON-WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE- LAFAYETTE-GREEN-ROCK-WALWORTH-RACINE-KENOSHA- 315 AM CDT FRI JUL 22 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN...SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WILL DIMINISH ACROSS SOUTHERN WISCONSIN THIS MORNING WITH MORE STORMS EXPECTED LATER TONIGHT. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS WITH THE ROUND LATER TONIGHT. DAMAGING WIND IS THE MAIN THREAT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE FROM TIME TO TIME SATURDAY THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY EVENING. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND COLD FRONT MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. COOLER AND DRIER WEATHER RETURNS FOR MONDAY...BUT MORE STORMS ARE EXPECTED FOR TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY AS ANOTHER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM SLOWLY APPROACHES THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATER TONIGHT AND AGAIN ON SUNDAY. LMZ643>646-230815- 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- 315 AM CDT FRI JUL 22 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WILL DIMINISH ACROSS LAKE MICHIGAN LATER THIS MORNING WITH MORE STORMS EXPECTED LATER TONIGHT. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS WITH THE ROUND LATER TONIGHT. DAMAGING WIND IS THE MAIN THREAT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE FROM TIME TO TIME SATURDAY THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY EVENING. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND COLD FRONT MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. COOLER AND DRIER WEATHER RETURNS FOR MONDAY...BUT MORE STORMS ARE EXPECTED FOR TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY AS ANOTHER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM SLOWLY APPROACHES THE AREA. DAVIS WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MKX
The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:02 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning strike caused a house fire at a home in the 400 block of Saint Lawrence Avenue in Beloit.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, July 2011
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: 337355.