4 tornadoes confirmed across Wisconsin; 64 warnings were issued

Investigators are surveying numerous locations across Wisconsin where tornadoes are suspected to have touched down during a violent severe weather outbreak across the length of the state on Wednesday.

As of late Thursday, they had confirmed four tornadoes.

The National Weather Service office in La Crosse has teams out surveying damage across several counties in west-central Wisconsin.

So far, crews have confirmed an EF-2 tornado with wind speeds of 115 mph near Tomah in Monroe County. The tornado was 200 yards wide at one point, according to the weather service office in La Crosse.

The tornado developed south of Tomah and tracked northeast to just east of Wyeville, before dissipating in the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge.

The tornado was on the ground for more than 30 minutes, from 3:58 p.m. to 4:34 p.m., and traveled just under 21 miles, according to the weather service.

Tree damage occurred along the length of the tornado’s path and buildings were damaged south of Wyeville.

Meanwhile, an EF-1 tornado with wind speeds of 90 mph touched down near Mauston on Wednesday.

The tornado “tracked intermittently from southern sections of Mauston northeastward across rural Juneau County, dissipating near the Wisconsin River,” the weather service said in a statement.

The tornado touched down at 4:43 p.m. one mile southwest of Mauston. It was on the ground for 8.4 miles and was 150 yards wide.

It dissipated at 4:52 p.m. Another tornado was confirmed near LaFarge in Vernon County.

The tornado was rated an EF-1 with wind speeds of 100 mph. It was on the ground for 7 minutes and traveled 6 miles. It mostly caused tree damage, but did cause minor damage to buildings, the weather service said.

And the weather service office in Green Bay has confirmed one tornado touched down in Seymour in Outagamie County on Wednesday.

Nearly two dozen county and tribal emergency management offices have reported tree, building and other property damage to the state, according to a statement from Wisconsin Emergency Management.

A state of emergency has been declared by Monroe County and the Stockbridge-Munsee Nation.

Monroe County reported two injuries related to overturned semis, but no major injuries or fatalities have been reported to the state, Wisconsin Emergency Management said.

The weather service issued 64 tornado warnings across Wisconsin on Wednesday, said Sarah Marquardt, a weather service meteorologist in Sullivan.

That doesn’t mean there were 64 tornadoes in the state, she said. Specific storms may have generated multiple tornado warnings as they crossed county lines.

Also, Doppler radar may have detected wind circulations that often lead to tornadoes and prompted a tornado warning, even if no tornado materialized.

“We could have issued multiple warnings as the storms traveled,” Marquardt said.

That many tornado warnings in one day is unusual, but not unheard of, in Wisconsin.

“That’s a lot,” Marquardt said. “Just the amount of severe weather was a little unusual.”

But, “We get a handful of days each year where we can get widespread severe weather,” she added.