Flooding along the lower reaches of the Wisconsin River occurred in late April as high flows from rain and melting snow worked downstream.
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The episode as NWS ARX wrote it up.
Flooding along the lower reaches of the Wisconsin River occurred in late April as high flows from rain and melting snow worked downstream.
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 Apr 22, 10:30 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service La Crosse WI 1130 PM CDT Mon Apr 22 2019 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Tuesday) Issued at 240 PM CDT Mon Apr 22 2019 This period has the most impact weather of the 7 days. Temperatures will remain near or above normal through Friday. At 19Z, surface low pressure was organizing across central Iowa on the I-35 corridor north of Des Moines. Radar shows showers and storms developing. Surface-based CAPE was growing in the warm sector out ahead with mid-50s dewpoints. However, the moisture was somewhat shallow and limited with MLCAPE much less. In the next hours, MLCAPE will continue to grow with maybe 750 J/Kg expected across the south by later afternoon. Probably a limiting factor on severe weather. At 19Z GOES Water Vapor imagery indicated broad cyclonic rotation/shear over the region north of a zonal darkening band across southern Iowa. This darkening represented the polar jet axis pretty well with the mid-level wind max slightly more SW-NE, and the 18Z DVN RAOB shows 45-50 kts at 500 mb, also verified by the radar VWP. This wind max provides supercell shear over the warm sector ahead of the low pressure area, northward to about the WI/IL border. Thus, most of the forecast area is under a pulse or multicell shear profile. Storms will continue to develop, in a weakly capped environment, as the afternoon continues and mainly south and east of La Crosse, through the evening. Some of the CAM solutions suggest a line of storms may form across the south by later afternoon which seems reasonable given 0-3km shear of 30-35 kts. Some supercell structures are possible Fayette, Clayton and Grant co. 0-1km shear is generally unfavorable so any tornado activity would likely be brief and weak. Plus, 19Z surface observations show the flow is veered in the warm sector and less favorable under the mid- level wind max. Bottom line is storms with lightning and 0.50 to 1" of rain south and east of La Crosse mainly. There could be isolated 1-2" rain amounts, if a focus is created such as a deformation area north of the low. Feeling like the deformation zone will form, but location is difficult to place - possibly a CCY-LSE-ISW line? Isolated damaging wind gusts cannot not be ruled out across Fayette-Clayton-Grant counties. This rainfall may aggravate ongoing flooding and high rivers. Confidence isnt high enough for a flood watch for river rises, but should certain basins /like the Kickapoo/ see 1-2", flooding is probable. The rain will be ending from west to east in the later evening and after midnight. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday night through Monday) Issued at 240 PM CDT Mon Apr 22 2019 A quiet weather week with some rain chances Wednesday night and Thursday with a weaker frontal/trough passage. The weekend is really a mess right now in the predictability area. Enormous spread is in the medium range guidance on how Saturday will evolve. It appears as though the solution spread will still bring higher rain chances to the area, but the duration and timing are very different. Saturday's highs in the guidance range from the 40s to 60s. Went with a blend of the solutions for now. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) Issued at 1130 PM CDT Mon Apr 22 2019 Cigs: low ifr/mvfr to hang around overnight, with a scattering out of the deck expected near 12z Tue as responsible low pressure system exits northeast. Weak high pressure builds in post the low, and should keep skies generally skc/sct vfr into Wed. WX/vsby: -shra looks to shift east of KLSE by 06z, per radar trends. No other impacts expected. Winds: tighter pressure gradient could keep gusts going into the overnight, but starts to slacken later in the day Tue as high pressure builds in from the east. Mostly from north to northwest through Tue, becoming southerly with high/decoupling Tue night. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. IA...None. && SHORT TERM...Baumgardt LONG TERM...Baumgardt AVIATION...Rieck
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service La Crosse WI 832 PM CDT Mon Apr 22 2019 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029- 032>034-041>044-053>055-061-231000- 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- 832 PM CDT Mon Apr 22 2019 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of northeast Iowa...southeast Minnesota...and southwest into central Wisconsin. .DAY ONE...Tonight Flooding continues along portions of the Mississippi River and several tributaries in Wisconsin. The rainfall today could lead to further river rises across the area. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday Flooding will continue along portions of the Mississippi River and several tributaries in Wisconsin. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Rainfall reports are appreciated. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... No webinar is scheduled.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Runoff from rain and melting snow pushed the Wisconsin River out of its banks in Muscoda. The river crested around a half foot above the flood stage at 9.55 feet on April 24th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, April 2019
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: 816735.