A line of thunderstorms produced occasional wind gusts of 45 to 60 mph over parts of western and southwest Wisconsin during the morning hours of May 26th.
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 ARX wrote it up.
A line of thunderstorms produced occasional wind gusts of 45 to 60 mph over parts of western and southwest Wisconsin during the morning hours of May 26th.
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 May 1, 5:50 AM CST, 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 650 AM CDT SUN MAY 1 2016 .SHORT TERM...(TODAY AND TONIGHT) ISSUED AT 328 AM CDT SUN MAY 1 2016 CHALLENGES TODAY/TONIGHT INCLUDE TIMING AND COVERAGE OF LINGERING SHOWERS AND ASSOCIATED TEMPERATURE TRENDS. 01.00Z GFS/NAM/ECMWF ARE A BIT TOO ROBUST WITH QPF FOR THE REST OF TODAY...SO WILL FOLLOW LATEST RAP/HRRR THROUGH 00Z TONIGHT FOR PRECIP...FOLLOWED BY A MODEL BLEND. 01.08Z ANALYSIS SHOWS AN ELONGATED SURFACE TROUGH FROM CENTRAL MISSOURI TO CENTRAL INDIANA WITH A TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT AND DRIER NORTHEASTERLY FLOW ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. LINGERING SHOWER ACTIVITY EARLY THIS MORNING ALONG DEFORMATION AXIS FROM AUSTIN MN TO NECEDAH WI WILL DISSIPATE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AS FRONTOGENESIS WEAKENS AND SHIFTS SOUTH. WILL MAINTAIN SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR MUCH OF THE AREA THIS MORNING. AS SURFACE LOW LIFTS NORTHEASTWARD THIS AFTERNOON...A TRAILING INVERTED TROUGH COMBINED WITH SOME 700 HPA FRONTOGENESIS WILL BRING A BETTER CHANCE FOR ONE LAST ROUND OF SHOWERS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN TIER COUNTIES. OTHERWISE...POPS DECREASE FROM NORTH TO SOUTH THIS AFTERNOON AS THE OVERALL SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE SOUTHERN GREAT LAKES. EXPECT MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES REGION WIDE TODAY...WITH TEMPERATURES FROM NEAR 50 ACROSS THE SOUTH TO THE UPPER 50S NORTH OF I-90. DRY CONDITIONS WILL RETURN BY MID-TO LATE EVENING WITH CLEARING FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST OVERNIGHT. LOWS WILL DROP INTO THE UPPER 30S TO LOWER 40S. .LONG TERM...(MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY) ISSUED AT 328 AM CDT SUN MAY 1 2016 CANADIAN SHORT-WAVE DROPS SOUTH ACROSS THE UPPER MIDWEST ON MONDAY...BUT BEST UPPER LEVEL FORCING IS FARTHER WEST ACROSS THE DAKOTAS. DEEP LAYER SHEAR IS ACTUALLY VERY WEAK WITH SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. LIKELY TO BE SOME AFTERNOON THERMAL CU THAT COULD RESULT IN SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS...BUT WILL KEEP FORECAST DRY AT THIS TIME. OTHERWISE... EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO RISE INTO THE LOWER TO MID 60S WITH LIGHT NORTHERLY WINDS. TUESDAY APPEARS TO BE THE WARMEST DAY OF THE UPCOMING WORK WEEK AS 925 HPA TEMPERATURES SOAR TO BETWEEN +13 AND +16 CELSIUS BY 00Z WEDNESDAY. WHEN COMBINED WITH A WELL MIXED BOUNDARY LAYER TO AT LEAST 800 HPA...EXPECT AFTERNOON HIGHS AROUND 70 DEGREES. WESTERLY WINDS WILL ALSO BE BREEZY TO LOCALLY WINDY DEPENDING ON WHICH MODEL SOLUTION VERIFIES. TOP OF THE AFTERNOON BOUNDARY LAYER ON THE GFS SHOWS 30 KTS...WHEREAS THE NAM IS CLOSER TO 40 KTS. AS A RESULT...INCREASED WINDS A BIT WITH GUSTS TO AT LEAST 30 MPH... POSSIBLY UP TO 40 MPH. A COLD FRONT WILL DROP SOUTH ACROSS THE AREA LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING...BRINGING A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS/ISOLATED THUNDER GIVEN ELEVATED CAPE FROM 100 TO 300 J/KG. WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...AN OMEGA BLOCKING PATTERN SETS-UP ACROSS THE CONUS...PROGRESSING SLOWLY EASTWARD EACH DAY. THE HIGHLY AMPLIFIED 500 HPA RIDGE MOVES OUT OF THE ROCKIES ON THURSDAY AND INTO THE GREAT PLAINS BY FRIDAY. AT THE SURFACE... BROAD HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTROL THE REGIONAL WEATHER PATTERN. A LOT OF WORDS TO SAY DRY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL WITH PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES. A GRADUAL WARMING TREND WILL OCCUR WITH HIGHS RIGHT AROUND NORMAL FOR EARLY MAY. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS DIVERGE FOR SATURDAY WITH THE ECMWF SHOWING A SHORT-WAVE TOPPING THE RIDGE AND PROVIDING A CHANCE FOR PRECIP WHEREAS THE GFS IS DRY. GIVEN MODEL UNCERTAINTY...WILL FAVOR DRY GFS SOLUTION AT THIS TIME GIVEN OVERALL SYNOPTIC SET-UP. TEMPERATURES WILL BE DEPENDENT ON CLOUDS/ RAIN...BUT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO TOP 70 DEGREES TO START NEXT WEEKEND. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z MONDAY MORNING) ISSUED AT 649 AM CDT SUN MAY 1 2016 A DEFORMATION BAND OF LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS MAY AFFECT THE TAF SITES THROUGH 01.15Z. IF THIS DOES OCCUR...THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE AN IMPACT OF THE VISIBILITIES. A BROKEN 4-5K DECK OF CLOUDS WILL PERSIST AT THE TAF SITES THROUGH 02.09Z...AND THEN THESE CLOUDS WILL BECOME SCATTERED AS DRIER AIR MOVES INTO THE REGION. FROM 01.15Z THROUGH 02.00Z NORTH WINDS WILL GUST INTO THE 15 TO 20 KNOT RANGE. OTHERWISE THE WINDS WILL BE IN THE 10 TO 15 KNOT RANGE TODAY...AND 5 TO 10 KNOT RANGE TONIGHT. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. && SHORT TERM...ROGERS LONG TERM...ROGERS AVIATION...BOYNE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 333 AM CDT SUN MAY 1 2016 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029- 032>034-041>044-053>055-061-020845- MITCHELL-HOWARD-WINNESHIEK-ALLAMAKEE-FLOYD-CHICKASAW-FAYETTE- CLAYTON-WABASHA-DODGE-OLMSTED-WINONA-MOWER-FILLMORE-HOUSTON- TAYLOR-CLARK-BUFFALO-TREMPEALEAU-JACKSON-LA CROSSE-MONROE-JUNEAU- ADAMS-VERNON-CRAWFORD-RICHLAND-GRANT- 333 AM CDT SUN MAY 1 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST IOWA...SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...AND SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY GUSTY WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE TUESDAY ALONG WITH THE CHANCE OF A FEW THUNDERSTORMS. LIGHTNING AND ISOLATED HIGHER WIND GUSTS WOULD BE THE MAIN THREATS WITH THESE STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED BUT RAINFALL REPORTS THROUGH TODAY WOULD BE APPRECIATED. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED. BOYNE
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:12 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind damage occurred at a farm between Ontario and Hillsboro breaking large branches off trees and flipping trailers.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, May 2016
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: 655765.