Baraboo Power Outages Caused by Weather
Events
July 14, 2021 - Thunderstorm Wind
Numerous reports of multiple trees, limbs, and powerlines downed. The hardest hit areas were from North Freedom to Loganville to Baraboo. There was one report of roof damage to a garage and a chicken coop that was blown over.
North Freedom - Baraboo
June 2, 2020 - Thunderstorm Wind
A swath of scattered large trees, tree limbs, and power lines down across the county.
Reedsburg Muni Arpt - Baraboo
June 2, 2020 - Thunderstorm Wind
A swath of scattered large trees, tree limbs, and power lines down across the county.
Reedsburg Muni Arpt - Baraboo
November 27, 2019 - Strong Wind
Westerly wind gusts 45 to 50 mph. Scattered tree limbs down and some power outages.
-
June 27, 2019 - Thunderstorm Wind
Numerous trees and power lines down in the Baraboo area.
Baraboo - Baraboo
Episodes
May 29, 2013
A line of severe thunderstorms moved into Iowa and Sauk counties during the early evening hours of May 29th, with damaging wind gusts estimated up to 80 mph (70 knots) knocking down trees and power lines as well as causing roof damage to several homes and structural damage to outbuildings on a few farms. The line of severe storms had developed to the west of Wisconsin during the day, ahead of a mesoscale convective vorticity maximum. The increased southerly low-level flow ahead of this wave drew warm, moist and unstable air into the region that converged over western Wisconsin, with lift aided by the upper divergence associated with the exit region of an upper-level jet. The line weakened as it moved east into cooler and more stable air over eastern portions of the state.
March 2, 2012
Deepening surface low pressure produced a swath of wet snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches along with gusty northerly winds over parts of southcentral Wisconsin during the afternoon and evening of March 2nd. The low pressure responsible for this event deepened rapidly in response to a vigorous upper level short wave that crossed the western Great Lakes region. The surface low tracked from Missouri, across northern Illinois, to Lower Michigan during the afternoon and evening hours. Western sections of South Central Wisconsin were on the edge of the heaviest snowfall...but instability aloft was sufficient to produce elevated convection and thunder-snow. Brief snowfall rates between 1.5 and 2 inches per hour were common at the height of the event during the evening rush hour. The tight pressure gradient around the deep surface low produced gusty northeast to north winds up to 40 mph which occasionally reduced visibilities to near zero in the heavy snow. The heavy, wet snow collected on power lines and tree limbs, causing them to snap. There were numerous crashes and spin-outs during the storm. Refer to associated March 2nd Winter Storm event over the remainder of southcentral and southeast Wisconsin.
September 29, 2011
Strong and gusty northwest winds developed over South-Central Wisconsin behind a cold front trailing from rapidly strengthening low pressure that tracked across northern Wisconsin into northern Lower Michigan on Thursday, September 29th. The resulting tight pressure gradient over the state produced 850 mb winds of 45 knots (52 mph) and 925 mb winds of 35 to 40 knots (45 and 55 mph). Surface winds gusted between 45 mph and 54 mph (39 to 47 knots), driven by 3-hourly pressure rises on the order of 4 millibars. The strong winds toppled trees and downed power lines at scattered locations across South-Central Wisconsin.
February 1, 2011
A powerful low pressure center, passing south of Wisconsin, produced near blizzard conditions across portions of South Central Wisconsin from the evening hours of Tuesday, February 1st into the early morning of Wednesday, February 2nd. Snow associated with the system began in the mid-afternoon hours of February 1st in far southern Wisconsin and became heavy as it pushed northward into the state through the late afternoon and evening. Very strong winds were associated with this storm for an extended period of time. Sustained northeast winds of 25 to 30 mph were common through the event, with occasional gusts between 40 and 45 mph. The combination of gusty winds and heavy snow created widespread visibilities of a mile or less, with law enforcement reporting near-blizzard conditions at times. Twenty-four hour snowfall totals were between 4 and 8 inches, with 8 inches of snow measured by a cooperative observer 1 mile northeast of Baraboo (Sauk County); 5 inches at Markesan (Green Lake County) and 4.9 inches in Montello (Marquette County). In addition to the snow that fell during the blizzard, several inches of snow fell on Jan 31. It's possible that some locations did not see a break in snowfall between the evening of January 31st and the morning of February 2nd. Snow drifts of 1 to 3 feet were common.
August 28, 2003
Severe weather developed as a surface trough trailing a surface low pushed through the state, and warm, moist air fed into the developing convection. Winds gusted up to 56 knots (65 mph) at Reedsburg (Sauk Co.), knocking down trees, as well as power lines; in one specific case, onto a barn. Scattered hail reports reached up to 0.75" in diameter, and rainfall rates reached 1-2" an hour.
Power Outage FAQs
What is Power Outage?
Power outage (also called a power cut, a power blackout, power failure or a blackout) is a short-term or a long-term loss of the electric power to a particular area.
What Causes Power Outages?
- Severe weather (high winds, lightning, winter storms, heat waves, rain or flooding can cause damage to power lines or equipment);
- Other damage to electric transmission lines (vehicle accidents, trees, and animals can cause damage to power lines or equipment);
- Repairing, maintenance or upgrades on power lines and equipment.
What are the Top Outage Safety Tips?
- Stay away from the downed power lines, park vehicles in protected areas;
- Unplug appliances and electronics, limit cell phone use to conserve battery life;
- Use portable generators outdoors only, well away from open windows and doors;
- Pack perishable foods into a cooler, keep refrigerator and freezer doors shut as much as possible.
