Slow moving and training thunderstorms produce areas of very heavy rain and flash flooding over portions of south central WI. A portion of Madison experienced 4-6 inches of rainfall.
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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.
Slow moving and training thunderstorms produce areas of very heavy rain and flash flooding over portions of south central WI. A portion of Madison experienced 4-6 inches of rainfall.
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 May 27, 1:31 PM CST, 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 231 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 2014 .TONIGHT - CONFIDENCE...MEDIUM FRONTAL BOUNDARY BEING GIVEN EXTRA PUSH IN ERN WI DUE TO CONVECTIVE OUTFLOWS AND THE COLDER LAKE WATERS. BOUNDARY LINED UP MORE OR LESS FROM THE FAR SE CORNER OF THE CWA EXTENDING NW TOWARDS THE DELLS. VERY LITTLE WIND UPSTAIRS WITH UPPER FLOW NOT DOING MUCH. MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES NOT IMPRESSIVE AND NEITHER IS 0-6KM SHEAR. PLENTY OF WATER IN THE COLUMN WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES RUNNING AROUND 1.6 PER SPC MESO PAGE. CORFIDI VECTORS ARE LIGHT AND CURVED SO MAIN CONCERN IS POCKETS OF HEAVIER RAINFALL INTO THE EVENING HOURS. 4KM SPC WRF SUGGESTING A FAIRLY RAPID DROPOFF IN ACTIVITY THIS EVENING WHILE THE HRRR IS LENDING CREDENCE TO THE WEAK SUPPORT FROM RELATIVELY WEAK MID LEVEL CIRCULATION IN SRN MN. THIS SOLUTION KEEPS STORMS GOING MUCH LATER IN THE EVENING ACROSS THE CWA. AS THE NIGHT PROGRESSES LOSS OF HEATING AND A GRADUAL SOUTHWESTWARD SINKING OF THE BOUNDARY RESULTS IN A LOWERING OF POPS AND TRENDING THE POPS SW WITH TIME. HOWEVER GIVEN HELP OF SOME WEAK PIVA INTO WRN WI ASSOC WITH MID LEVEL SHORTWAVE...DECIDED TO LINGER POPS LONGER THAN MY ORIGINAL THOUGHTS. ISODROSOTHERM ANALYSIS SHOWS THE DRIER AIR STARTING TO WORK IN FROM THE NE. .WEDNESDAY - CONFIDENCE...MEDIUM MODELS TO VARYING DEGREES LINGER PRECIP IN THE SOUTHERN CWA DURING THE MORNING IN CLOSER PROXIMITY TO LINGERING FORCING WITH SURFACE BOUNDARY. WILL CARRY SOME POPS THERE TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS...BUT THEN GO DRY IN THE AFTERNOON CWA WIDE WITH DRIER AND MORE STABLE INFLUENCE OF THE APPROACHING HIGH TAKING HOLD. .WEDENSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...FORECAST CONFIDENCE IS HIGH. A VERY QUIET...VERY PLEASANT STRETCH IS EXPECTED FOR THE LAST HALF OF THE WEEK. CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE WILL SETTLE OVER THE CENTRAL GREAT LAKES KEEPING A PERSISTENT LIGHT EAST TO SOUTHEAST FLOW ACROSS THE AREA. THE FLOW SHOULD BE LIGHT ENOUGH TO KEEP THE LAKE MICHIGAN COOLING MACHINE LIMITED TO THE FAR EASTERN AREAS. HIGHS WILL GENERALLY HIT THE MID 70S TO AROUND 80 WITH LOWS AT NIGHT FALLING INTO THE UPPER 40S TO LOWER 50S...BUT THOSE LOWS WILL MODIFY THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLER NEAR THE LAKE OF COURSE. .SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...FORECAST CONFIDENCE IS MEDIUM. A SOMEWHAT COMPLEX SCENARIO TAKES SHAPE FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE GFS AND THE ECMWF ARE STILL TRYING TO WORK OUT THEIR DIFFERENCES. IN GENERAL...IT APPEARS LOW PRESSURE WILL TRACK TO THE NORTH OF THE AREA SATURDAY NIGHT...ALLOWING A COLD FRONT/TROF TO DROP SOUTH INTO THE AREA ON SUNDAY. THE FRONT WILL THEN STALL IN THE AREA BEFORE LIFTING BACK NORTH AS ANOTHER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES IN FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS. THIS WILL LIKELY RESULT IN A FAIRLY ACTIVE PERIOD WITH ROUNDS OF THUNDERSTORMS. HOW THIS ALL EVOLVES AND THE TIMING IS BEING HANDLED DIFFERENTLY BY THE GFS/ECMWF. BUT...THE SIMILAR MESSAGE IS THAT IT WILL BE UNSETTLED WITHIN A WARM AND HUMID AIRMASS. && .AVIATION/00Z TAFS/...MAIN CONCERN WILL BE CONVECTIVE TRENDS INTO THE EVENING HOURS WITH SOUTHWARD SAGGING FRONTAL BOUNDARY AND LINGERING DAYTIME INSTABILITY. BRIEF HEAVY RAINS AND SMALL HAIL THE PRIMARY CONCERNS. 4KM WRF AND HRRR SEEM TO HAVE A HANDLE ON THINGS. WILL LINGER SOME SHRA/TSRA INTO THE EVENING WITH SOME HELP FROM WEAK MID LEVEL TROUGH AXIS ACRS MN/IA. SURFACE HIGH GRADUALLY BUILDING IN FROM THE NORTH THROUGH WEDNESDAY SO EXPECT A DRYER DAY. && .MKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. LM...NONE. && TONIGHT/WEDNESDAY AND AVIATION/MARINE...COLLAR WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...DAVIS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 310 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 2014 WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-280845- MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC-SHEBOYGAN-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE- WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON-WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE- LAFAYETTE-GREEN-ROCK-WALWORTH-RACINE-KENOSHA- 310 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN...SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN LIKELY THIS EVENING AS A COLD FRONT DRIFTS SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA. LOCALIZED HEAVY RAIN AND URBAN FLOODING IS POSSIBLE DUE TO THE VERY MOIST AIRMASS AND SLOW MOVING STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THERE ARE CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS LATE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY AHEAD OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE PLAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. LMZ643>646-280845- 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- 310 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN LIKELY THIS EVENING AS A COLD FRONT DRIFTS SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA. THE HUMID AIRMASS OVER THE COLD WATERS OF LAKE MICHIGAN WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE AREAS OF FOG AT TIMES...INTO TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NORTHEAST WINDS AND WAVES MAY APPROACH SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY LEVELS WEDNESDAY. THERE ARE CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY AND MONDAY AHEAD OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE PLAINS. WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MKX
The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 54 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:14 UTC.
3 flash flood, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Slow moving and training thunderstorms produced heavy rain and urban street flooding on the south side of Janesville.
Water waist to chest deep near Warner Park including the 1500 block of Trailsway Drive. A vehicle was stuck in deep water in the intersection of Aberg and Huxley streets.
Many streets impassable in downtown Madison and the near east side of the city due to deep water with multiple vehicles being swept away or pushed into oncoming traffic. Some roads were closed, and manhole covers were removed by the rushing water from underneath. The eastbound beltline highway off-ramp to John Nolen Drive was closed due to deep water. The northbound side of South Park street intersecting with Wingra Drive was flooded. Some buildings were flooded near the Capital building.
Numerous streets are flooded in the city of Beloit with rainfall rates of 2-3 inches per hour.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, May 2014
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: 520584, 520576, 520580, 520583.