High Wind in Portage, Wisconsin

A strong cold front ushered in wind gusts over 50 mph across much of northeast Wisconsin. Winds were measured as high as 54 mph in Green Bay (Brown county), 58 mph west of Appleton (Outagamie county) and 63 mph at the Outagamie county airport in Appleton. The Marinette Civic Center recreation dome, worth $100,000, collapsed in Marinette county. Many trees were reported down, signs were blown over and power was lost in several locations across northeast Wisconsin. A few houses sustained damage from fallen trees. One barn was blown over in Outagamie county. A fishing boat was overcome by the high winds and waves on the Wisconsin River 2 miles south of the Du Bay dam in Portage county. A 67 year old male drowned. Two others on the boat survived.The strong winds pushed large chunks of ice, as high as 30 feet, onto the shores of Door county at Shoemaker Point, in the far southwest part of the county. These chunks of ice, known as "ice shoves," were 10 to 13 feet high on parts of Lake Winnebago (Winnebago county, Calumet county), Shawano Lake (Shawano county) and south of Oconto (Oconto county) on Green Bay. Trees, boat docks and boat houses were damaged in some of these locations. Some houses were also threatened by the ice shoves.