May 6, 2005: Hail across four counties

Scattered, severe thunderstorms affected parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin with large hail on the order of 3/4 to 1-inch diameter hail, powerful downburst winds, and locally heavy rains. In addition, a weak tornado was observed northwest of Pipe over Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac County. Hail caused one thousand dollars in damage to a vehicle in the central part of Dodge County, and fell long enough to cover the ground white at a location 1 mile northeast of Watertown in Dodge county. The storms also produced locally heavy rains as they moved southeast. Urban flooding was reported in Waunakee (Dane Co.) at 549 PM CDT due to heavy rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour resulting in "water over the curb." High pressure in the Ohio Valley helped to push maximum temperatures into the lower 70s and dew points into the lower 50s on southwesterly winds on May 6. A cold front approaching south-central and southeast Wisconsin from the north-northwest interacted with the marginally warm and humid airmass to produce the thunderstorms.