Wisconsin, 2018

Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, October 9, 2018

October 9, 2018 · NWS MKX · 5 events in 3 counties and zones

Numerous thunderstorms affected southern WI with a few reports of large hail and wind damage. A warm front was slowly moving into the region at the time.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$35,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MKX wrote it up.

Numerous thunderstorms affected southern WI with a few reports of large hail and wind damage. A warm front was slowly moving into the region at the time.

What forecasters said that day

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 Oct 9, 1:23 PM CST, 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 9, 1:23 PM CST, 22 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 9, 2:26 AM CST, 11 hours 19 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:45 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Iowa

When
October 9, 1:45 PM CST
Where
Iowa County, 1.38 mi N of Mineral Pt
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
42.870, -90.180

Hail, Iowa

When
October 9, 1:50 PM CST
Where
Iowa County, 1.38 mi N of Mineral Pt
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
42.870, -90.180

Thunderstorm Wind, Iowa

When
October 9, 2:57 PM CST
Where
Iowa County, 1.65 mi NW of Cobb
Measured
64 kt (74 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$35,000
Reported by
Fire Department/Rescue
Coordinates
42.983, -90.357

A barn was pushed off its foundation with damage to the walls and the farm equipment inside the barn. Light-weight farm equipment was blown over. Some tree damage.

Hail, Columbia

When
October 9, 3:53 PM CST
Where
Columbia County, 1.65 mi WNW of Portage Arpt
Measured
1.5 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
43.580, -89.510

Thunderstorm Wind, Dodge

When
October 9, 5:35 PM CST
Where
Dodge County, 0.5 mi W of Fox Lake
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Amateur Radio
Coordinates
43.570, -88.910

Estimated wind gust of 60 mph from straight line winds.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Wisconsin in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, October 2018

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 790665, 790666, 790668, 790667, 790669.