Flood — Ashland, Wisconsin

2023-04-11 to 2023-04-17 · near Ashland, Ashland, Wisconsin

Event narrative

Warm temperatures early in April led to rapid snowmelt of a well above normal snowpack across the region. Additionally, heavy rainfall on top of the snowpack led to additional high runoff across the county as well. Roads began to be impacted on the 11th with water overtopping low spots leading to washouts and failed culverts. Temperatures cooled during the middle of the month along with a heavy snow event the 16th into the 17th. This allowed the runoff to slow and water levels to drop. Numerous road closures were reported across the entire county due to failed culverts, washouts and gravel roads being washed away. Multiple communities issued disaster declarations due to the extent of washed out roads. Copper Falls State Park was also closed for a period due to damaged roads within the park. Damage estimates were not readily available from the county.

Wider weather episode

Record breaking snowfall for the 2022-2023 winter season was received across all of northwest Wisconsin which was about 200% of normal snowfall. Much of this snowpack remained on the ground into April. Warm temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above normal during the second week of the month led to rapid snowmelt across the region with fast rises on area waterways. This above normal warmth was quickly followed by a late season storm that brought heavy rain and heavy snow to the region and further exacerbated the ongoing flooding. Roads began being impacted on the 12th with water over roads and quickly escalated to washouts, failed culverts and gravel roads stripped over the next few days. Most of the runoff had routed through the area by the 20th with conditions improving over the remainder of the month, although localized impacts to basements, farm fields, etc. continued into early May. Due to the extent of the damage to roads, numerous entities declared states of emergency to assist with the recovery efforts.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (46.5914, -90.9342)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1097546. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.