Storm Team 4 photo gallery

Heavy rain and high wind strike Southeastern Wisconsin

CREATED Jul. 26, 2012 - UPDATED: Jul. 26, 2012

  • Print
  • Nick Montes reports. Video by 620wtmj.com

    video
  • Storm Team 4Caster Scott Steele describes the rain. Video by 620wtmj.com

    video

MILWAUKEE - On Thursday morning, people across the Milwaukee area discovered the aftermath of heavy rain and damaging wind.

"It was rough across parts of the area," said Storm Team 4Caster Scott Steele, who explains how some areas to the north of Milwaukee were hardest hit.

"It came down in a hurry during the overnight hours, particularly in the northern sections of our area where people picked up as much as three to four inches of rain," said Scott. 

"Generally, northern Washington into Fond du Lac and Sheboygan Counties, that's the bulls-eye of people who picked up about four inches."

He also described how fast and damaging wind also blew across our area.

"I got a report into the weather center of a 71 mile-per-hour wind gust in Fond du Lac at the airport there.  Other strong wind gusts in Walworth, 61 miles per hour, a peak wind gust in Jefferson County of 63 miles per hour and heavy rain of about an inch in a very short time, about 20 minutes, in Waukesha."

That wind led to about 18,000 We Energies customers losing power in the overnight hours.

The heavy rain that came down, however, won't be enough to take Southeastern Wisconsin out of drought status, according to Scott.

"One night of very heavy rain is not necessarily going to alleviate the problem and penetrate the soil.  We need several rounds of perhaps some steady rains, not necessarily something so heavy and so quick," said Scott.

"We are going to enter a period where we at least get some scattered showers with some degree of consistency.  We'll see more on the way later today, perhaps tonight, with more lingering tomorrow."