Around 14 million people from Kansas to Wisconsin are under flood alerts this weekend as rounds of heavy rain continue to cause severe flash flooding across the Midwest, forcing the Wisconsin State Fair to cancel many of its events.
The flooding has directly impacted southern Wisconsin, including the Milwaukee metropolitan area. On Saturday evening, 24 preliminary storm reports came in for the Upper Midwest, including 80 to 90 mph wind gusts in the Omaha area.
Some of the highest rainfall totals in the past 24 hours were in the Milwaukee area, where west of the city recorded 8 to 11 inches of rain.
Wisconsin State Fair Park, where the state’s fair is held, was forced to close early on Saturday due to flooding. The state fair announced on Sunday that it will not reopen for the day’s events.
“We understand the disappointment you may feel as our team works all year for these 11 days,” the statement, posted to Facebook, read. “However, the safety of our Fairgoers, team, partners, and vendors will always be our top priority.”
An additional round of thunderstorms is expected to impact the Midwest again starting Sunday morning, including parts of Nebraska and Iowa, bringing the risk of damaging wind and hail.
Currently, a very large cluster of heavy rain is moving across Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin and Illinois. Various flood warnings were in place Sunday morning across eastern Iowa and west of Milwaukee. Additional flash flooding is possible, especially in these vulnerable areas affected by Saturday night’s flooding.
Flood alerts from Kansas to Wisconsin will remain in effect into Monday, as 1 to 6 inches of rain will be possible.
Damaging wind gusts may also accompany the heavy rainfall across the Midwest. Sunday’s severe weather risk will be focused over the High Plains, where 4 million are under a Slight Risk, including Denver, Colorado Springs and Dodge City, Kansas. Storms in this region will be capable of 60+ mph wind gusts, large hail and a tornado or two.
As of Sunday morning, the Milwaukee River is reaching major flood stage level, which means a surge of at least 9 feet, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“Widespread steady rains” were impacting the Milwaukee metropolitan area late Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service’s field office in Milwaukee.
“An area of storms is moving into far southeastern WI, with additional heavy rainfall possible through 1 PM,” the weather service said. “Storms are moving quick, but are producing 1-2”/hr rainfall rates. Additional Flash Flood Warnings are possible.”
Rainfall was moving toward the west-northwest Milwaukee metropolitan area on Sunday morning, according to the weather service’s field office in the city.
“It will take little rain to get more flash flooding in this area, making this a dangerous situation across west-northwest MKE metro,” the weather service said. “Turn around don’t drown!”
The USA Triathlon announced that the sprint and paratriathlon nationals scheduled to be held on Sunday have been canceled due to “the combination of potential water conditions, flooding and course damage throughout the course, limited emergency response teams to support the event, as well as impending weather for Sunday.”
“We know how much time, training, and anticipation you’ve invested in this event, and we share your disappointment,” USA Triathlon said in a statement. “This was not the outcome any of us wanted. We will follow up soon with more details about next steps, including deferral and credit options.”
Video posted to social media showed flooding in the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa on Saturday. Another video showed cars trapped in deep flood waters at the Wisconsin State Fair.
Fire departments in Waukesha County, which includes parts of Milwaukee, were conducting rescues of people trapped in floodwaters on Sunday.
A Milwaukee Brewers vs. New York Mets game scheduled for Sunday afternoon at the Milwaukee’s American Family Field will go on as planned, but half of the parking lots are inaccessible as a result of this weekend’s weather, according to a statement from the team.
