MILWAUKEE - Several rounds of thunderstorms with heavy rain caused widespread flooding in southeast Wisconsin on the evening of Aug. 9 through the morning of Aug. 10, 2025. That rainfall set a new 24-hour precipitation record in the state.
An observation of 14.55 inches of precipitation at James Madison High School in Northwest Milwaukee was reviewed by the State Climate Extremes Committee, and it was determined to be a new 24-hour precipitation record for the state of Wisconsin.
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The previous record was 11.72 inches on June 24, 1946, near Mellen, Wisconsin in Ashland County, Wisconsin.
The tipping bucket rain gauge is on the roof of James Madison High School on W. Florist Avenue and belongs to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD). The mesonet measures precipitation in five-minute increments that are publicly available and archived on the MMSD website.
The majority of the rain fell between 6 p.m. Aug. 9 and 3 a.m. Aug. 10, 2025. Rainfall rates were estimated at 1–3 inches per hour over several hours. Radar estimates from across southeast WIsocnsin were between 10-13" in most spots.
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The State Climate Extremes Committee consists of members from the National Weather Service (NWS) Milwaukee/Sullivan, Midwestern Regional Climate Center, Wisconsin State Climate Office and National Centers for Environmental Information. The committee met on Dec. 11, 2025 and voted unanimously to confirm the record.
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The Source: National Weather Service Milwaukee/Sullivan