It's Oshkosh -- There HAD To Be Storms... Right?

Well folks, you missed quite a blowout if you were outside of AirVenture's geographic influence.

We got hit by serious rain and winds... which is not a surprise to those of you who have traipsed to Wittman Field for the last several decades. And when we say RAIN... we don't mean raindrops... we mean sheets/buckets of strong driving rain that can soak you to the skin in seconds ... which ANN's Jim Campbell found out the hard way.

EAA's official report notes that, at approximately 1815, Saturday, a thunderstorm front came through Oshkosh, including Wittman Regional Airport, site of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. It was part of a line of storms across Wisconsin late that afternoon and early that evening.

So... What happened?

• Fortunately, we have no reports of injuries. Several people sheltered at the EAA Aviation Museum during the storm; otherwise, people sheltered in place as they saw fit.
• We do have reports of some trees and branches down in the drive-in campgrounds. There was some property and vehicle damage from falling branches.
• There were reports of some aircraft on Boeing Plaza being damaged, but other aircraft parked on the field seem to have weathered the storm well. That is a credit to the aircraft owners securing their airplanes after arriving here. One EAA-owned aircraft was flipped onto its nose near the EAA museum despite being well-tied down (A 1929 Pheasant H-10... pictured).
• There was some damage to the main gate of the AirVenture grounds due to the wind. Several smaller exhibit tents were blown down. Numerous trashcans and unsecured objects were blown over as well.
• EAA sent trucks out Sunday morning to help remove areas of standing water left after the storm.

Thanks to the National Weather Service presence on the grounds, EAA was able to get early notification of the storm’s path and intensity, and make the appropriate announcements in advance of the storm front’s arrival. Also, fortunately there was no hail in the storm that could have caused additional damage.

FMI: www.airventure.org, https://www.weather.gov