1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,820 Good morning to the roll. 2 00:00:01,820 --> 00:00:31,780 Governor Tony Evers this week. 3 00:00:31,780 --> 00:00:39,780 More than 20 counties are under flood warnings and it just keeps storming. 4 00:00:39,780 --> 00:00:45,780 Heartless hit Milwaukee and southeast Wisconsin and farther north toward Green Bay and into 5 00:00:45,780 --> 00:00:51,780 central parts of the state. Roads and highways have closed with sandbagging underway and more 6 00:00:51,780 --> 00:00:57,780 stopping messes and areas hard hit last August. How unusual is this string of wet weather 7 00:00:57,780 --> 00:01:03,780 and storms? We turn to Kurt Kohtenberg, a meteorologist in charge with the National Weather Service, 8 00:01:03,780 --> 00:01:07,780 joining us from Green Bay and thanks a lot for being here. 9 00:01:07,780 --> 00:01:13,780 Yeah, thank you for having us. So what's been happening over the past several days in your region? 10 00:01:13,780 --> 00:01:19,780 Yeah, it's just been one round after the other. Pretty much everywhere across Wisconsin, 11 00:01:19,780 --> 00:01:25,780 so not only the La Crosse area in southwestern Wisconsin. They issued over 55 severe weather 12 00:01:25,780 --> 00:01:29,780 warnings this week. The Milwaukee area is issued over 79 severe weather warnings this week, 13 00:01:29,780 --> 00:01:35,780 so it's just been statewide. And of course we have the the terrible flooding up in east 14 00:01:35,780 --> 00:01:41,780 central and northeastern Wisconsin. Long story short, so far in the month of April, so this is through 15 00:01:41,780 --> 00:01:45,780 the 16th of April. This doesn't even count the severe weather happening Friday. 16 00:01:45,780 --> 00:01:53,780 The National Weather Service offices have issued 172 severe thunderstorm warnings, 17 00:01:53,780 --> 00:01:59,780 tornado warnings, or flash flood warnings. And to put that number in perspective, we average about 18 00:01:59,780 --> 00:02:07,780 22 statewide for the entire month of April. And that number that we've had so far halfway through April 19 00:02:07,780 --> 00:02:13,780 is more severe weather tornado, a severe thunderstorm tornado warning and more flash flood warnings 20 00:02:13,780 --> 00:02:19,780 that we've issued in the past eight years combined. So we're just way outside the box of anything that we 21 00:02:19,780 --> 00:02:25,780 typically deal with here. Not only April Wisconsin, but almost just Wisconsin in general, even during the peak summer months. 22 00:02:25,780 --> 00:02:29,780 Why is it happening? 23 00:02:29,780 --> 00:02:37,780 Just just a uniquely active weather pattern. It's effectively just been one one very strong area of low pressure 24 00:02:37,780 --> 00:02:43,780 after the other that's just gone across the country and has tapped into all this Gulf moisture and very 25 00:02:43,780 --> 00:02:49,780 unfortunately, the atmosphere is just basically unleashed all this moisture over Wisconsin over the past week. 26 00:02:49,780 --> 00:02:59,780 With the ground already saturated, what kind of flooding could result from Fridays and storms into this evening? 27 00:02:59,780 --> 00:03:07,780 Right. So, you know, certainly in East Central Wisconsin, we're talking about the Wolf River in particular. 28 00:03:07,780 --> 00:03:13,780 You know, they've had hundreds and hundreds of people evacuating across town, such as New London and Cheyactin. 29 00:03:13,780 --> 00:03:17,780 So they don't need a single more drop or additional drop of rain. 30 00:03:17,780 --> 00:03:21,780 So the Friday event is the one positive. 31 00:03:21,780 --> 00:03:28,780 If there even is, there is not really positive, but the one good thing is that this could be a very fast moving system. 32 00:03:28,780 --> 00:03:35,780 So once it's through here Friday evening, you know, it's probably going to be through Wisconsin eight, nine o'clock. 33 00:03:35,780 --> 00:03:37,780 The worst of it. 34 00:03:37,780 --> 00:03:41,780 You know, hopefully then it should be quiet for at least the next five days. 35 00:03:41,780 --> 00:03:47,780 So I'll be a little different this evening. One very fast moving, whereas the past couple days has been a lot slower moving. 36 00:03:47,780 --> 00:03:55,780 But after that, the kind of the light at the end of the tunnel is that we're not expecting rainfall here across the state really for the next five days. 37 00:03:55,780 --> 00:03:59,780 So this goes through probably until about Thursday of next week. 38 00:04:00,780 --> 00:04:08,780 So hopefully that will give us a time to dry off and really start the clean up and reparation process across Wisconsin. 39 00:04:08,780 --> 00:04:10,780 Dry off and dry up. 40 00:04:10,780 --> 00:04:12,780 Well, that is good news. 41 00:04:12,780 --> 00:04:16,780 Kurt Cotenberg out of Green Bay. Thanks so much. 42 00:04:16,780 --> 00:04:20,780 Thank you for having us. 43 00:04:20,780 --> 00:04:28,780 Boy, those numbers you were sharing about the number of weather alerts and storm warnings is that that is stunning. 44 00:04:29,780 --> 00:04:39,780 It's wild. So, so this past Tuesday, the 14th statewide, we issued 78 of those severe warnings, tornado warnings, five flood warnings. 45 00:04:39,780 --> 00:04:45,780 That's the fifth most active day in state history period for us issuing warnings. 46 00:04:45,780 --> 00:04:50,780 So that includes June, July, May, like the fifth most active day happened here in the middle of April. 47 00:04:51,780 --> 00:04:57,780 And then, yeah, the flooding, especially the Wolf River. I mean, she acted in new London. Those are record highs. 48 00:04:57,780 --> 00:05:08,780 So going back to 1922 was the previous record. So in any of our lifetimes, we have not seen this type of flooding across the central Wisconsin. 49 00:05:08,780 --> 00:05:13,780 And, you know, I was working with someone or talking with what the emergency managers there. 50 00:05:13,780 --> 00:05:24,780 And they said that the Wolf River is so high. There's lots of sturgeon in the Wolf River that there's actually sturgeon in people's front yards. 51 00:05:24,780 --> 00:05:28,780 And so we're going to have to coordinate with the DNR once it's all done. 52 00:05:28,780 --> 00:05:40,780 The water starts receding like there's going to be sturgeon that needs to be netted out of people's front yards like, you know, just unprecedented things in any of our lifetime. So, yeah, just. 53 00:05:41,780 --> 00:05:52,780 Yeah, terrible, terrible flooding and terrible weather here across Wisconsin and just very, very much looking forward to this upcoming with it stopping and being dry finally. 54 00:05:52,780 --> 00:05:55,780 And on the Wolf River. 55 00:05:55,780 --> 00:06:02,780 Do you know what its current flood stages or where it's at? 56 00:06:02,780 --> 00:06:10,780 Yeah, so it's a major flood stage at New London and Chiakton. And this is record. 57 00:06:10,780 --> 00:06:13,780 It's over over 19 feet. 58 00:06:13,780 --> 00:06:20,780 So both of those locations have set record heights. Again, this is going back to the 1900s on any of our lifetimes. 59 00:06:20,780 --> 00:06:21,780 Yeah. 60 00:06:22,780 --> 00:06:25,780 I'm sorry, go ahead. 61 00:06:25,780 --> 00:06:32,780 I was going to say, you know, not to speak for for emergency management, the law enforcement response community. 62 00:06:32,780 --> 00:06:41,780 But I will just quickly say that, you know, that in the state of Wisconsin, they can't really force evacuations per say for something like this. 63 00:06:42,780 --> 00:06:49,780 And so, you know, what they're considering doing is, you know, the, the people who recommend they evacuate, you know, going to letters, how is it. 64 00:06:49,780 --> 00:06:53,780 So their house is in if they, if they choose to stay it out. 65 00:06:53,780 --> 00:06:57,780 Some sort of documentation so that they can notify next of kin. 66 00:06:57,780 --> 00:07:01,780 You know, with the response level, should that be needed. 67 00:07:01,780 --> 00:07:06,780 So, I mean, when you're talking about things like that, like it's just very, very sombering and. 68 00:07:07,780 --> 00:07:13,780 You know, sad to hear that we're even that's even a sentence that is being said. 69 00:07:13,780 --> 00:07:17,780 And is that is that what's happening? Are those kind of. 70 00:07:17,780 --> 00:07:26,780 Signatories being needed. Yeah. Do you know how many people have been evacuated from various locales? 71 00:07:27,780 --> 00:07:32,780 That number, I believe is literally going up Friday, Friday morning. 72 00:07:32,780 --> 00:07:36,780 As of Thursday, it was close to 2000. 73 00:07:36,780 --> 00:07:41,780 And I believe that it is exceeded 2000 as a Friday morning. 74 00:07:41,780 --> 00:07:47,780 And again, we'll see what happens with the Friday once the Friday evening. 75 00:07:47,780 --> 00:07:52,780 Severe weather and heavy rain has done what that number turns to on Saturday. 76 00:07:53,780 --> 00:07:56,780 And is that in the new London reactant area. 77 00:07:56,780 --> 00:07:58,780 Primarily. 78 00:07:58,780 --> 00:08:03,780 I know there there's other locations across the state. 79 00:08:03,780 --> 00:08:07,780 You know, I can have a walk area like the Brown deer. 80 00:08:07,780 --> 00:08:13,780 You know, people are reporting a sewage trying to get into their basements in some locations. 81 00:08:13,780 --> 00:08:21,780 You know, Jefferson County, we have people sandbagging along the rock river. 82 00:08:22,780 --> 00:08:40,780 And I think to a note, you know, given given all this, this terribly hazardous weather and all the very unfortunate things happening, you know, so far as a Thursday. 83 00:08:40,780 --> 00:08:49,780 I mean, any fatality is bad, but there's there's only been one fatality so far with all of the active weather across this week. 84 00:08:49,780 --> 00:08:58,780 And that was a lightning strike in the Waukesha area on Wednesday. 85 00:08:58,780 --> 00:09:00,780 Because I'm walking across the market. 86 00:09:00,780 --> 00:09:09,780 Yeah, because for people like you monitoring this and putting out the warnings and seeing what's happening and seeing what's coming. 87 00:09:09,780 --> 00:09:13,780 How frightening is that? 88 00:09:13,780 --> 00:09:22,780 Yeah, I mean, this is to be on, you know, this side of it too, like we're humans and literally on Tuesday, my neighborhood. 89 00:09:22,780 --> 00:09:28,780 We had a shelter in place for our neighborhood where I live, because we could not get into the neighborhood. 90 00:09:28,780 --> 00:09:33,780 There's two ways in and out and both of those ways have floodwaters blocking it. 91 00:09:33,780 --> 00:09:37,780 So like, you know, this, this hits, hits home pretty hard. 92 00:09:37,780 --> 00:09:40,780 But then the damage surveys we do as well. 93 00:09:40,780 --> 00:09:51,780 So after the tornado by Union Center on Tuesday, the National Weather Service and lacrosse went out Wednesday morning and damaged the damage survey. 94 00:09:51,780 --> 00:10:00,780 And, you know, seeing the homes and the damage, you know, these are our fellow Wisconsin nights and, you know, just seeing, you know, some people like they've lost everything. 95 00:10:01,780 --> 00:10:04,780 So it's it weighs on us a lot too. 96 00:10:04,780 --> 00:10:14,780 It also helps motivate us to really, you know, this is why we do this is to try to help help keep these people safe and protected the best that we can. 97 00:10:14,780 --> 00:10:19,780 And then just seeing the impacts on the community, you know, just reaffirms that what we're doing is important. 98 00:10:20,780 --> 00:10:31,780 And we're operating 24, 7, 365. So, you know, whatever we can do to help people stay safe, whether wise is what we're doing around the clock. 99 00:10:31,780 --> 00:10:35,780 Well, thank you. Thank you for that work because everyone hangs on it. 100 00:10:35,780 --> 00:10:36,780 For sure. 101 00:10:36,780 --> 00:10:44,780 All right, Kurt, thanks a lot. And may you get a little respite next week. 102 00:10:44,780 --> 00:10:45,780 Thank you. 103 00:10:45,780 --> 00:10:46,780 All right. 104 00:10:46,780 --> 00:10:47,780 Take care. 105 00:10:47,780 --> 00:10:48,780 Bye.