Lakeshore Flood — Southern Oconto, Wisconsin

2020-05-17 to 2020-05-19 · Southern Oconto, Wisconsin

Event narrative

The combination of record high lake levels on the Bay of Green Bay, 3 to 5 inches of rainfall, and strong northeast winds caused flooding along the shoreline in Oconto County. The high water damaged Bayshore Road in the city of Oconto.

Wider weather episode

A strong, slow-moving low pressure system drifted southeast across the upper Midwest over a 3 day period from May 17 through May 19. This system interacted with copious moisture streaming north from the Gulf of Mexico that resulted in several rounds of moderate to heavy rainfall across Wisconsin, northern Illinois and Lower Michigan. Widespread rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches fell across much of east-central and northeast Wisconsin with a few locations breaking daily rainfall totals. The heavy rainfall was also accompanied by strong northeast winds gusting to 40 to 50 mph. The combination of heavy rainfall, record high Lake Michigan water levels and northeast winds, led to widespread flooding and beach erosion at shoreline areas along the Bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. The strong northeast winds hindered the drainage of water from the Fox and East Rivers into the mouth of the bay, which contributed to flooding in parts of downtown Green Bay and further inland along the East River. Significant flooding was also observed in the city of Oconto along the Oconto River.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 882086. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.