A couple clusters of thunderstorms moved from southwest to northeast across southern Wisconsin during the late afternoon and evening hours as a cold front approached from Minnesota and Iowa. Severe thunderstorm wind damage occurred with only one severe hail report.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 couple clusters of thunderstorms moved from southwest to northeast across southern Wisconsin during the late afternoon and evening hours as a cold front approached from Minnesota and Iowa. Severe thunderstorm wind damage occurred with only one severe hail report.
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 Sep 19, 2:27 PM CST, 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 327 PM CDT THU SEP 19 2013 .TONIGHT...FORECAST CONFIDENCE MEDIUM TO HIGH. CLEARING SKIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL WI WILL CREATE A GOOD SETUP FOR STRONG STORMS JUST AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. ENHANCED LIFT FROM RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF STRENGTHENING UPPER LEVEL JET DUE TO SHARPENING UPPER TROUGH WILL MOVE ACROSS SRN WI OVERNIGHT. THE SURFACE TROUGH CURRENTLY EXTENDS FROM AROUND DULUTH THROUGH DES MOINES. MORNING CONVECTION AND LINGERING CLOUDS HELPED TO LAY OUT AN EFFECTIVE WARM FRONTAL BOUNDARY ROUGHLY FROM THE WISCONSIN RIVER VALLEY SOUTHEAST THROUGH WALWORTH COUNTY. DEWPOINTS IN THIS WARM SECTOR ARE IN THE UPPER 60S TO AROUND 70 EXCEPT WHERE THEY HAVE MIXED OUT. MIXED LAYER CAPE VALUES ARE AROUND 3000 J/KG WITH MINIMAL CIN IN SOUTH CENTRAL WI PER SPC MESO ANALYSIS PAGE/RAP. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ARE AROUND 1.7 WHICH IS IN THE 99TH PERCENTILE FOR OCCURRENCE. THE MAIN FACTOR THAT IS MISSING FROM THIS SETUP FOR SEVERE CONVECTION IS SHEAR. 0-6KM BULK SHEAR WILL PEAK AT 20 TO 30 KNOTS AROUND 00Z WITH THE CONVECTION. LOCALLY BACKED WINDS NEAR THE LAKESHORE COULD LEAD TO HIGHER 0-1KM SHEAR. TORNADO THREAT IS NOT NIL BUT MARGINAL. THE GENERAL CONVECTIVE SCENARIO FAVORS A LINE OF STORMS WITH EMBEDDED SEVERE POTENTIAL. THERE IS ALREADY A LINE FORMING NEAR THE SURFACE FRONT IN NORTHEAST IOWA THAT IS EXPECTED TO TRACK INTO THE FAR WESTERN MKX FORECAST AREA AROUND 4 PM. DOWNDRAFT CAPE AND LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES WITH INVERTED V FORECAST SOUNDINGS FAVOR DAMAGING WIND GUST POTENTIAL. THE HIGH CAPE BUT LACK OF SHEAR SUGGESTS MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL. THE HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER MEANS THAT THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN. ONE INCH PER HOUR RAIN RATES WILL BE LIKELY. WILL NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON ANY TRAINING CONVECTION WHICH COULD CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING. .FRIDAY...FORECAST CONFIDENCE IS MEDIUM. THE SFC TROF/COLD FRONT WILL EXIT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE FORECAST AREA RIGHT AROUND 12Z FRIDAY. ALTHOUGH COOLER AND DRIER AIR WILL BE WORKING INTO THE LOW LEVELS...THERE IS STILL SOME IMPRESSIVE DEEP LAYER FORCING HANGING BACK TO THE WEST AS A SHARP MID LEVEL TROF ENTERS WESTERN WISCONSIN. WE ARE STILL UNDER THE RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF THE UPPER JET. SO THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR SOME POST FRONTAL PRECIP ACROSS THE EAST THROUGH ABOUT MID MORNING...BEFORE IT ALL PUSHES OFF TO THE EAST BY AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE MODELS ARE DRY AFTER 12Z...OTHERS MORE WET...SO A CONSENSUS WAS USED AS A BLEND. .FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...FORECAST CONFIDENCE IS HIGH. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS ACROSS THE AREA WITH SUNSHINE RETURNING ON SATURDAY. LOOK FOR HIGHS ONLY IN THE 60S. .SUNDAY AND MONDAY...FORECAST CONFIDENCE IS HIGH. HIGH PRESSURE HOLDS BUT BEGINS TO SLIDE EAST. A NORTHEAST FETCH ACROSS LAKE MICHIGAN WITH DELTA-T/S APPROACHING 14 WILL LIKELY RESULT IN A FEW MORE CLOUDS ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST. THE AIRMASS LOOKS TOO DRY FOR ANY LAKE EFFECT SHOWERS. .MONDAY NIGHT AND BEYOND...FORECAST CONFIDENCE IS MEDIUM. A SFC TROF ATTEMPTS TO ENTER THE WESTERN CWA MONDAY NIGHT...BUT IT LOOKS LIKE IT WASHES OUT. THIS IS ONLY WORTH A SLIGHT CHANCE NORTHWEST OF MADISON. HIGH PRESSURE THEN BUILDS BACK IN FOR MUCH OF THE REMAINDER OF NEXT WEEK...WITH TEMPERATURES PRETTY CLOSE TO NORMAL. && .AVIATION/00Z TAFS/... CONVECTION WILL ARRIVE FROM WEST TO EAST LATE THIS AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING JUST AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT AND SHARPENING MID-LEVEL TROUGH IN GENERALLY A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OUT AHEAD OF THIS AREA. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WIND GUSTS THE MAIN THREAT. MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL IS ALSO A THREAT. IN THE WAKE OF THE LEADING EDGE OF CONVECTION...RAIN WITH ISOLATED THUNDER COULD LINGER THROUGH MUCH OF THE NIGHT. CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES COULD DROP TO MVFR. RAIN EXPECTED TO TAPER OFF FROM WEST TO EAST BETWEEN 09Z AND 12Z. GUSTY WNW WINDS ANTICIPATED FRIDAY WITH VFR BROKEN CUMULUS CLOUDS DEVELOPING IN THE AFTERNOON. && .MARINE... GUSTY SOUTH WINDS OVER THE LAKE LED TO EXPANDING THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY DOWN TO THE IL BORDER THROUGH THE LATE EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS TRACKING FROM WEST TO EAST ALONG A COLD FRONT COULD PACK WINDS IN EXCESS OF 33 KNOTS AS THEY MOVE THROUGH OVERNIGHT. BREEZY WEST WINDS IN WAKE OF PASSING COLD FRONT MAY REACH SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY LEVELS OVER THE ENTIRE NEAR SHORE AREA FOR A TIME ON FRIDAY. && .MKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. LM...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR LMZ643>646. && TONIGHT/FRIDAY AND AVIATION/MARINE...MRC FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...DAVIS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 235 PM CDT THU SEP 19 2013 WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-201130- MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC-SHEBOYGAN-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE- WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON-WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE- LAFAYETTE-GREEN-ROCK-WALWORTH-RACINE-KENOSHA- 235 PM CDT THU SEP 19 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN...SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE AREA FROM WEST TO EAST LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVES EAST ACROSS THE REGION. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN AT TIMES. A TORNADO IS ALSO POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY FRIDAY MORNING ACROSS SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN WITH A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS ELSEWHERE AS THE COLD FRONT EXITS WISCONSIN. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. LMZ643>646-201130- 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- 235 PM CDT THU SEP 19 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT INTO THIS EVENING FOR GUSTY SOUTH WINDS THAT WILL CAUSE WAVES TO REACH 5 FEET AT TIMES. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE AREA THIS EVENING AS A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVES EAST ACROSS THE REGION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY FRIDAY MORNING AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS SOUTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN. BREEZY WEST WINDS IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT MAY REACH SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY LEVELS FOR A TIME ON FRIDAY. WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MKX
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
129 PM CDT THU SEP 19 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0124 PM HEAVY RAIN 2 S LA GRANGE 42.77N 88.60W
09/19/2013 M2.40 INCH WALWORTH WI TRAINED SPOTTER
12 HOUR TOTAL ENDING AT 12 PM CDT.
&&
RSCHAARSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 349 PM CDT THU SEP 19 2013 WIZ056-057-062-063-192145- COLUMBIA-DANE-IOWA-SAUK- 349 PM CDT THU SEP 19 2013 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN... AT 347 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 26 MILES WEST OF REEDSBURG TO 43 MILES SOUTHWEST OF REEDSBURG...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. PENNY SIZE HAIL...WINDS UP TO 50 MPH...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. * THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR... BLACKHAWK LAKE RECREATION AREA BY 355 PM CDT... GOVERNOR DODGE STATE PARK BY 410 PM CDT... LONE ROCK AIRPORT BY 415 PM CDT... SPRING GREEN BY 420 PM CDT... REEDSBURG BY 430 PM CDT... MAZOMANIE AND BLACK EARTH BY 435 PM CDT... WISCONSIN DELLS AND LAKE DELTON BY 445 PM CDT... GUSTY WINDS MAY CAUSE SMALL BRANCHES TO BE BLOWN DOWN...AND LOOSE OBJECTS TO BLOW AROUND. STAY AWAY FROM HIGH OBJECTS OUTDOORS SUCH AS TREES. SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY STRUCTURE UNTIL THESE STORMS HAVE PASSED. MARQUARDT
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:12 UTC.
12 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees and power lines down.
Trees down.
Numerous trees and power lines down.
Scattered reports of trees down in much of Green County, including the communities of Jordan Center, Monticello, Albany, Broadhead, and Juda.
Tree branches 4 inch diameter snapped and downed power lines.
Flooding along the roads and the intersection of Midvale Boulevard and University Avenue. Water up to the headlights of motor vehicles.
Scattered reports of trees and power lines down in much of western and central Rock |County, including the communities of Orfordville, Evansville, Beloit, Janesville, Afton and Milton.
Large tree uprooted and many smaller trees snapped.
Widespread tree and power line damage, including uprooted and snapped trees, starting at Druid Lake and extending to the south side of Hartford. A large tree fell on a house causing minor damage. Several corn fields suffered damage, with bent over stalks, some small areas flattened. The corn was in relatively poor condition due to a poor growing season. Then sporadic reports of trees and power lines down from Hartford to Slinger.
Trees 2.5 to 3 feet in diameter blown down and blocking the intersection of Highway 28 and Highway 144.
Trees blown down and blocking the intersection of Highway 67 and Watercress Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, September 2013
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: 478238, 478248, 478239, 478241, 478260, 478255, 478236, 478247, 478256, 478265, 478233, 478273, 478275, 478277.