EFU Tornado — Columbia, Wisconsin

2025-05-15 · near Portage, Columbia, Wisconsin

Event narrative

No damage was found due to the tornado occurring in the Baraboo River Waterfowl Protection area south of Portage. Video from Portage Fire Department and reports from multiple storm chasers and spotters show a brief tornado occurring south of Portage.

Wider weather episode

One of the bigger tornado events for southern WI over the past 10-15 years with 2 EF-2s occurring and 8 tornadoes in total. Juneau and Mayville took the brunt of the two strong tornadoes, while hundreds of large hail reports and several damaging wind reports were received across southern WI. A strong cold front, extending from strong low pressure over eastern North Dakota, combined with very unstable air and strong wind shear to bring widespread severe thunderstorms to the region.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (43.5175, -89.5009)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1250814. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.