Menomonie Power Outages Caused by Weather
Events
May 19, 2022 - Thunderstorm Wind
There were over a dozen pine trees that were snapped off above the base, northwest of Weston. A few power poles were also broken. There were also unconfirmed reports of more trees and power lines down across southern Dunn County, but additional information was not available.
Weston - Weston
December 15, 2021 - Thunderstorm Wind
Some power outages noted east and north of Menomonie, along with isolated areas of trees blown down.
(Lum)Menomonie Airport - Rusk
December 15, 2021 - Thunderstorm Wind
Some power outages noted east and north of Menomonie, along with isolated areas of trees blown down.
(Lum)Menomonie Airport - Rusk
July 28, 2021 - Thunderstorm Wind
Dunn County had reports of scattered minor damage across the county. There were a few areas that had more power outages related to downed trees and power lines. One area in the northwest portion of the county was between Connorsville and Boyceville.
Connorsville - Boyceville
June 11, 2021 - Thunderstorm Wind
Scattered trees and power lines were blown down near and south of Menomonie. One of the trees damaged an apartment building near a high school.
Menomonie - Menomonie
Episodes
April 1, 2023
A powerful late spring system produced a band of very heavy snow across the region on the evening of March 31, and ending during the early morning of April 01. Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour combined with northwest winds of 25 to near 35 mph hour. This was a heavy, wet snow, and as a result there were power outages with the highest snowfall amounts across eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. In some areas, recovery lasted multiple days before full power was restored.||A few noteable snowfall amounts are:|15.0 inches near Ladysmith in Rusk County.|13.0 inches near New Richmond in St. Croix County.|11.5 inches near Amery in Polk County.|11.0 inches near Chetek in Barron County.|10.0 inche near Boyceville in Dunn County.|8.0 inches near Elssworth in Pierce County.
March 31, 2023
A powerful late spring system produced a band of very heavy snow across the region on the evening of March 31, and ending during the early morning of April 01 (see corresponding entry for April). Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour combined with northwest winds of 25 to near 35 mph hour. This was a heavy, wet snow, and as a result there were power outages with the highest snowfall amounts across eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. In some areas, recovery lasted multiple days before full power was restored.||A few notable snowfall amounts are:|15.0 inches near Ladysmith in Rusk County.|13.0 inches near New Richmond in St. Croix County.|11.5 inches near Amery in Polk County.|11.0 inches near Chetek in Barron County.|10.0 inches near Boyceville in Dunn County.|8.0 inches near Ellsworth in Pierce County.
February 22, 2022
A storm system began to strengthen late Monday night across the central plains in advance of a powerful southern jet stream that intensified over the center part of the country on Tuesday. The center of this storm moved from northern Missouri northeast across the Midweek and eastern Great Lakes region by late Tuesday night.||A large area of light to moderate precipitation developed across southern and central Minnesota early Tuesday morning and moved northeast while heavier precipitation started to develop across south central, and into east central Minnesota, and adjacent west-central Wisconsin Tuesday morning. This secondary area of higher reflectivity was in response to the deepening southern jet and associated upper level forcing. This led to moderate to occasional heavy snowfall across parts of west central Wisconsin. A band of 4 to 10 inches of snow fell from the southeastern Twin Cities metro area, northeast across west central Wisconsin from Red Wing, to Rice Lake and Ladysmith.||Some of the higher snowfall totals include:||9.5 inches near Baldwin.|8.0 inches near Boyceville. |7.7 inches south of River Falls. |7.5 inches near Wheeler. |7.5 inches in Roberts.|7.1 inches in River Falls.|7.0 inches in Chetek.
June 11, 2021
The severe thunderstorm that produced wind damage across eastern Goodhue County in Minnesota, moved east-northeast across west central Wisconsin during the early afternoon. A wind gust of 75 mph occurred at the Red Wing Airport in Pierce County. As the storm continued to move through Pierce, Dunn and Chippewa Counties of west central Wisconsin, several reports of down trees and power lines occurred.
July 21, 2020
During the afternoon of Tuesday, July 21st, a few thunderstorms developed along a frontal boundary over east-central Minnesota. Several spotters and storm chasers were following these storms as the storms moved into Wisconsin. ||The storm that moved into Polk County had a consistent funnel cloud associated with it with a brief tornado touchdown near Clear Lake and then again near Arland. Another storm developed across northern Dunn County and produced an EF0 tornado northeast of Wheeler. More storms developed over southeast Dunn and central Chippewa Counties to produce the majority of the damage. ||The worst damage occurred in the city of Cadott where numerous trees, power lines and a few structures were damaged as it moved through the town before dissipating.||The two tornadoes in Chippewa County had an average path length of 3 to 4 miles and an average width of 75 yards.
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.
