Flash Flood — Waupaca, Wisconsin

2024-07-05 · near Manawa, Waupaca, Wisconsin

Event narrative

Rainfall amounts of 4 to 6 inches, combined with the failure of the Manawa Dam, caused flooding in Manawa during the late morning and early afternoon.

Wider weather episode

An area of low pressure slowly tracked east across east-central Wisconsin to central Lake Michigan through the day on Friday (7/5). Showers and thunderstorms developed shortly after daybreak and then became more concentrated during the mid-morning into the early afternoon. A cluster of showers and thunderstorms became slow moving over Waupaca County, resulting in 4 to 6 inches of rain with the city of Manawa measuring 5.7 inches of rain. This rain, coupled with the impacts from around 6 inches of recent rain from the two weeks prior, led to the failure of the Manawa Dam, as water overtopped the dam around 12:30 PM CDT. This led to evacuations of residences and businesses in Manawa and downstream of the dam into the town of Royalton. Additionally, several water rescues of people trapped in vehicles were made during the morning, especially in Manawa and Appleton. A Boil Water advisory was also issued for Manawa and surrounding areas. Heavy rainfall of 2 to 3 inches also caused flash flooding in portions of Outagamie, Calumet, and Brown counties during the afternoon.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (44.4847, -88.8963)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1181512. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.