Focused warm air advection ahead of a short wave trough produced showers and thunderstorms that moved across southern Wisconsin early in the morning of June 15th. A wake low developed behind the departing line of showers and storms, creating damaging wind gusts between 40 and 70 mph (35 to 61 knots) in eastern Kenosha County within 2 to 3 miles of the Lake Michigan shore.
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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.
Focused warm air advection ahead of a short wave trough produced showers and thunderstorms that moved across southern Wisconsin early in the morning of June 15th. A wake low developed behind the departing line of showers and storms, creating damaging wind gusts between 40 and 70 mph (35 to 61 knots) in eastern Kenosha County within 2 to 3 miles of the Lake Michigan shore. The marine observation site at Kenosha Harbor clocked a 67 mph (58 knot) wind gust, while the Kenosha Municipal Airport recorded a gust of 45 mph (39 knots). The gusty winds blew down trees and a few power lines in the city of Kenosha, and felled trees that blocked some roads in Pleasant Prairie.
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 15, 2:43 AM CST, 3 hours 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 343 AM CDT WED JUN 15 2011 .VERY SHORT TERM... TODAY AND TONIGHT...FORECAST CONFIDENCE MEDIUM. MAIN AREA OF CONVECTION FED BY LOW LEVEL JET WILL REMAIN SOUTH OF THE AREA. RAIN SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO SHIFT THROUGH THE AREA THIS MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON. THIS IS A RESULT OF A SHORTWAVE TROUGH AND FOCUSED WARM AIR ADVECTION MOVING NORTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA. BROUGHT HIGH POPS INTO THE AREA THIS MORNING...THEN TRENDED DOWN SOME IN THE SOUTHWEST THIS AFTERNOON...AS THE MAIN UPWARD MOTION FIELDS SHIFT NORTHEAST. SOME DRYING IN AIR COLUMN ALSO NOTED ON RUC SOUNDINGS AT KMSN THIS AFTERNOON...SO MAY SEE SOME BREAKS IN THE CLOUD COVER ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST COUNTIES LATER TODAY. TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL NOT RISE MUCH UNDER CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION. UPPER LOW IS SHOWN BY NAM/GFS/CANADIAN MODELS TO SHIFT INTO THE NORTHEAST COUNTIES LATER TONIGHT...WITH THE ECMWF SLOWER AND NORTHWEST OF THE AREA. AREA FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOW SOME MOISTURE LINGERING WITH SOME WEAK ELEVATED CAPE...THOUGH UPWARD VERTICAL MOTION IS WEAK. TRENDED DOWN POPS FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST TONIGHT...ACCOUNTING FOR UPPER LOW MOVING INTO THE NORTHEASTERN COUNTIES LATER TONIGHT. TEMPERATURES SHOULD FALL INTO THE MID 50S ACROSS THE AREA...WITH SOME BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS IN THE SOUTHWEST COUNTIES. .SHORT TERM... THURSDAY...FORECAST CONFIDENCE...MEDIUM. THE 500MB CLOSED LOW AND ASSOCIATED SFC LOW WILL CROSS WI WED NIGHT AND REACH EASTERN LOWER MI BY THU EVENING. WITH CYCLONIC FLOW OVERHEAD ON THU...EXPECT WIDESPREAD CLOUDS WITH SHOWERS. MODEL FCST SNDGS SHOW HIGHER CAPE AND SHEAR VALUES IN THE EASTERN COUNTY WARNING AREA /CWA/ THAN IN THE WEST. STEEP LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES ALLOW FOR CAPE VALUES UP TO 1000 J/KG IN EASTERN CWA AND 850 J/KG IN THE WEST. THE HIGHER CAPE WITH DECENT BULK SHEAR AND HELICITY VALUES...ALONG WITH LIFTED INDEX AROUND -3 TO -5 LEAD TO THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WITH THE SHOWERS...WITH THE BETTER CHANCE IN THE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING. SMALL HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS...WITH A SMALL CHANCE FOR MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL. THE CLOUD COVER WILL KEEP THE TEMPS DOWN A BIT...WITH HIGHS EXPECTED IN THE UPPER 70S IN SOUTHWEST CWA AND LOWER 70S IN NORTHEAST. THURSDAY NIGHT...FORECAST CONFIDENCE...MEDIUM TO HIGH. UPPER RIDGE AND SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL SETTLE BACK INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST THU NIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING. THIS IS THE ONLY DRY PERIOD WE CAN PINPOINT IN THE FORECAST AT THIS TIME. .LONG TERM... FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...FORECAST CONFIDENCE MEDIUM. A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES WILL RIDE THE RIDGE AND WORK TO BREAK IT DOWN OVER THE WEEKEND...ALL BEFORE A CLOSED UPPER LOW PUSHES INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST ON MONDAY. PRECIP CHANCES ARE BECOMING MORE LIKELY WITH THE LATEST MODEL RUNS FOR FRI NIGHT INTO SATURDAY FOR AT LEAST THE SOUTHERN CWA. UNCERTAINTY WITH THE TIMING OF THE SHORTWAVE...SO WILL JUST HAVE HIGH-CHANCE POPS IN THE FORECAST FOR NOW. WARM AIR ADVECTION OVER THE REGION WILL BRING TEMPS INTO THE LOW TO MID 70S AGAIN ON FRI AND SAT INLAND...AND INTO THE UPPER 70S INLAND SAT...AND THE LOW 80S SUN. EAST WINDS WILL KEEP THE LAKESHORE AREAS JUST A BIT COOLER. MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...FORECAST CONFIDENCE MEDIUM. A 500MB CLOSED LOW PUSHES THE UPPER RIDGE OUT OF WI. MODELS BRING THE UPPER LOW AND OCCLUDED SFC LOW ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND INTO MN BY TUE MORNING. THE WARM FRONT WILL LIFT NORTH OF THE CWA...SO THERE MAY BE A DRY PERIOD WITHIN THE DRY SLOT MON NIGHT OR TUE. THEN A SFC FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN WI TUE OR WED...TIMING IS DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE ECMWF /SLOW/ AND GFS /FAST/. THE LOW WILL MOVE OUT OF THE GREAT LAKES REGION BY THU NIGHT AND HIGH PRESSURE WILL SETTLE IN ONCE AGAIN. TEMPS EXPECTED TO BE IN THE LOW 80S WITH HUMID CONDITIONS FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE WEEK. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME SEVERE WITH THIS COMPLEX...AS THE UPPER LOW BECOMES NEGATIVELY TILTED OVER WI. && .AVIATION...LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR LIKELY NEEDED THROUGH 15Z ACROSS TAF SITES...WITH 925MB WINDS SOUTHERLY AT 40 TO 45 KNOTS. SOME SOUTHEAST SURFACE GUSTS AROUND 20 KNOTS POSSIBLE AS WELL DURING THIS TIME ACROSS THE EASTERN TAF SITES. RAIN SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL SHIFT ACROSS TAF SITES TODAY. VFR CEILINGS WILL DROP INTO THE IFR CATEGORY LATER THIS MORNING...LINGERING THROUGH TONIGHT ACROSS THE EASTERN SITES. KMSN MAY SEE SOME BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. MVFR/IFR VISIBILITIES ARE ALSO EXPECTED WITH THE SHOWERS AND ISOLATED STORMS TODAY...BECOMING VFR/MVFR TONIGHT. && .MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR THE NEARSHORE WATERS THROUGH 00Z THURSDAY. PERSISTENT ONSHORE WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO GENERATE HIGH WAVES OF 3 TO 5 FEET TODAY. THESE WAVES WILL SUBSIDE BY EARLY THIS EVENING. && .MKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. LM...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR LMZ643>646. && SHORT/LONG TERM...13/MRC VERY SHORT TERM/AVIATION/MARINE...08/WOOD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 500 AM CDT WED JUN 15 2011 WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-161000- MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC-SHEBOYGAN-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE- WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON-WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE- LAFAYETTE-GREEN-ROCK-WALWORTH-RACINE-KENOSHA- 500 AM CDT WED JUN 15 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN...SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT...AS AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVES THROUGH SOUTHERN WISCONSIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY THURSDAY EVENING...AS WEAK LOW PRESSURE AND AN UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. SMALL HAIL IS POSSIBLE. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES THEN RETURN FOR MAINLY FRIDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...AS WARM AND HUMID AIR SLOWLY RETURNS TO THE BADGER STATE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. LMZ643>646-161000- 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- 500 AM CDT WED JUN 15 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM THIS EVENING...FOR HIGH WAVES FROM PERSISTENT ONSHORE WINDS. APPROACHING LOW PRESSURE WILL WEAKEN THE ONSHORE WINDS AND SUBSEQUENT WAVES BY THIS EVENING. THERE IS AN INCREASED RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS TODAY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT...AS AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVES THROUGH SOUTHERN WISCONSIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY THURSDAY EVENING...AS WEAK LOW PRESSURE AND AN UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. SMALL HAIL IS POSSIBLE. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES THEN RETURN FOR MAINLY FRIDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...AS WARM AND HUMID AIR SLOWLY RETURNS TO THE BADGER STATE. WOOD WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MKX
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
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, June 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: 327070.