Severe thunderstorms developed along a cold front as it moved through western Wisconsin during the evening of June 16th. Isolated wind damage occurred with trees and power lines blown down in Whitehall (Trempealeau County) and in the city of La Crosse (La Crosse 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 ARX wrote it up.
Severe thunderstorms developed along a cold front as it moved through western Wisconsin during the evening of June 16th. Isolated wind damage occurred with trees and power lines blown down in Whitehall (Trempealeau County) and in the city of La Crosse (La Crosse 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 La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 16, 5:31 PM CST, 11 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 631 PM CDT SAT JUN 16 2012 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY 216 PM CDT SAT JUN 16 2012 FORECAST FOCUS IS ON RAIN CHANCES...INCLUDING THE POSSIBILITY FOR SEVERE WEATHER. FIRST FEATURE IS THE MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE VORTEX TRAVERSING WESTERN WI. IT HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SHOWERS ALL DAY ACROSS THE REGION. THIS WILL SHIFT NORTHEAST OUT OF THE AREA BY LATE AFTERNOON. ATTENTION THEN TURNS TO THE APPROACHING FRONTAL BOUNDARY...WHICH IS ASSOCIATED WITH A SHORT WAVE TROUGH MOVING THROUGH MANITOBA AND THE DAKOTAS THIS AFTERNOON. THERE HAS BEEN SOME SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT...BUT THE MOST INTENSE ACTION IS ALONG THE MO/IA BORDER AND INTO SOUTHERN IA. ALL OF THE VARIOUS SHORT-RANGE MODELS SUGGEST A BROKEN LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH THIS EVENING. NOT TERRIBLY CONFIDENT ON EXACTLY WHERE OR HOW MUCH RAIN WILL OCCUR FOR ANY SPECIFIC LOCATION...BUT OVERALL FEEL IT IS PRETTY LIKELY THAT RAIN WILL FALL. ANTICIPATE AMOUNTS FOR THE MOST PART WILL NOT BE ALL THAT MUCH...EXCEPT PERHAPS FOR PARTS OF NORTHEAST IA AND SOUTHWEST WI IF THE LARGER COMPLEX OF STORMS CAN CLIP THOSE AREA. THE SHORT WAVE TROUGH AND FRONT WILL MOVE EAST OF THE REGION OVERNIGHT...PROVIDING FOR DECREASING CLOUDS. SUNDAY LOOKS TO BE QUITE PLEASANT WITH THE AREA BETWEEN SYSTEMS. BUT THAT IS SHORT- LIVED AS THE NEXT SHORT WAVE TROUGH IN THE FAST ZONAL FLOW IS ALREADY SURGING TOWARD THE AREA BY SUNDAY NIGHT. SOUTHERLY FLOW RETURNS AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE...BRINGING AMPLE MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY BACK INTO THE PICTURE. MOISTURE TRANSPORT BY SUNDAY NIGHT IS IMPRESSIVE...BUT THE 12Z MODEL SOLUTIONS SHIFTED THE FOCUS JUST A BIT FURTHER NORTH THAN THE PREVIOUS RUNS. EXPECT A NICE COMPLEX TO FORM...BUT THERE IS SOME UNCERTAINTY ON IF THAT WILL TURN AND MOVE THROUGH THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA...OR IF IT WILL CONTINUE MOVING EAST AND NORTHEAST AND ONLY CATCH A PORTION. THESE DETAILS WILL BE MONITORED IN LATER FORECASTS. ONCE THE FRONT PASSES FROM THIS ROUND OF ACTION...IT LOOKS TO STALL AND LAY UP IN AN EAST-WEST ORIENTATION. OF COURSE IT IS DIFFICULT TO SAY EXACTLY WHERE THAT WILL BE...BUT THE LATEST INDICATION IS SOMEWHERE ALONG THE MN/IA BORDER AREA. DURING THE DAY...THE FRONT MOVES BACK NORTH...AND COULD EVEN END UP SURGING TOTALLY NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA. BUT...IT MAY NOT SURGE THAT FAR. THE AIR MASS SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY POSITION WILL BE VERY WARM AND MOIST...WITH MUCH COOLER AIR TO THE NORTH. THIS BATTLE OF AIR MASS REGIMES WILL LEAD TO REPEATED PERIODS OF CONVECTION SOMEWHERE...AND THAT COULD LEAD TO FLOODING PROBLEMS. .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY 216 PM CDT SAT JUN 16 2012 THE BATTLE CONTINUES INTO THE MEDIUM RANGE PERIOD. ANOTHER SHORT WAVE TROUGH MOVES INTO THE AREA TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY...SENDING THE FRONT BACK SOUTH AGAIN...WHERE IT THEN STALLS OUT AND LIES EAST-WEST AGAIN. MODELS DIFFER ON TIMING OF THE FRONTAL PASSAGE...AND THE EVENTUAL STALL POSITION...WITH THE GFS FURTHEST SOUTH...AND ECMWF THE FURTHEST NORTH /OVER THE FORECAST AREA/. AGAIN...DEPENDING ON THE POSITION...HEAVY RAINFALL WILL OCCUR FOR SOMEBODY. THE UNSETTLED PATTERN LOOKS TO PREVAIL RIGHT ON INTO THE WEEKEND. && .AVIATION...TONIGHT AND SUNDAY 631 PM CDT SAT JUN 16 2012 A PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH WAS PUSHING ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS EVENING. SCATTERED CONVECTION WAS FOUND OUT AHEAD IT. THIS CONVECTION WILL PUSH EAST OF THE TAF SITES BY 03Z THIS EVENING. WITH THE SCATTERED NATURE...CONTINUED THE MENTION OF VCTS AND BOTH SITES. THE MAIN COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH LATER THIS EVENING WITH DRIER AIR THEN PUSHING IN LATE TONIGHT. EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD. THE ONLY EXCEPTION WOULD BE IN SHOWERS/STORMS EARLY THIS EVENING WHICH COULD LOWER CEILINGS INTO THE MVFR CATEGORY FOR A TIME. && .HYDROLOGY... 216 PM CDT SAT JUN 16 2012 THE LATEST IN MODEL SIMULATIONS CONTINUE TO POINT TO THE POSSIBILITY FOR REPEATED PERIODS OF THUNDERSTORMS SOMEWHERE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA WITH A FRONTAL BOUNDARY MEANDERING BACK AND FORTH ACROSS THE REGION. THE SOMEWHAT CLASSIC FLASH FLOOD AND RIVER FLOODING PATTERN COULD STILL BE SETTING UP ACROSS THE AREA...WITH WARM AND MOIST AIR TO THE SOUTH /WARM CLOUD DEPTH NEARLY 4 KM/ OF A FRONTAL BOUNDARY RISING UP AND OVER IT... RESULTING IN HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBILITY. SEVERAL PERIODS OF RAINFALL OF AN INCH OR MORE REMAIN POSSIBLE. AND DEPENDING ON THE TIMING AND LOCATION OF THESE RAINFALL DUMPS...WE COULD SEE THE POTENTIAL FOR RISING RIVER LEVELS AROUND THE REGION DURING THE NEXT 3-5 DAYS. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... 216 PM CDT SAT JUN 16 2012 WI...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. && SHORT TERM...MW LONG TERM...MW AVIATION...JR HYDROLOGY...MW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 117 PM CDT SAT JUN 16 2012 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029-032>034- 041>044-053>055-061-171100- ADAMS-ALLAMAKEE-BUFFALO-CHICKASAW-CLARK-CLAYTON-CRAWFORD-DODGE- FAYETTE-FILLMORE-FLOYD-GRANT-HOUSTON-HOWARD-JACKSON-JUNEAU-LA CROSSE- MITCHELL-MONROE-MOWER-OLMSTED-RICHLAND-TAYLOR-TREMPEALEAU-VERNON- WABASHA-WINNESHIEK-WINONA- 117 PM CDT SAT JUN 16 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...NORTHEAST IOWA...AND WESTERN INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A COLD FRONT PUSHES ACROSS THE AREA. A FEW OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS BETWEEN 3 PM AND 8 PM ACROSS NORTHEAST IOWA AND SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY ON SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 90. BEYOND THIS TIME PERIOD...IT IS UNCERTAIN ON WHERE AND WHEN ADDITIONAL SEVERE WEATHER CHANCES WILL OCCUR. REPEATED HEAVY RAINFALLS FROM SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT WILL ENHANCE THE POSSIBILITY OF SOME FLOODING...BUT LIKE THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IT IS TOO EARLY TO DISCERN WHERE THIS MAY TAKE PLACE. FINALLY...HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL CLIMB INTO THE 95 TO 100 DEGREE RANGE ACROSS NORTHEAST IOWA AND SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY AFTERNOONS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED FROM ROUGHLY 3 PM TO 8 PM THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...FOR PARTS OF NORTHEAST IOWA AND SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED. BAUMGARDT/RRS/BOYNE/ZT
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:42 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trees and power lines were blown down in Whitehall.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, June 2012
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: 388089.