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EF3 tornado in Vernon County, Wisconsin

Tornado April 14, 2026 · Vernon County, Wisconsin

EF3
Rating
7.0 mi
Whole path
125 yd
Path width
$2.1M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Vernon County → Juneau County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 125 yards (0.07 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado began in rural far eastern Vernon County where it caused minor damage to a residence and damaged some trees before moving into Juneau County.

The wider storm

Several severe storms developed across portions of western Wisconsin during the late afternoon hours on April 14th and produced severe hail in many locations. The most notable of these storms developed over Vernon County, where wind-driven baseball-sized hail caused significant damage in the town of Westby, WI. This resulted in over $20 million USD in damage to the town and surrounding areas per input from Vernon County emergency management. Most homes received significant roof, siding, and window damage. As this storm moved eastward towards Juneau County, it also produced an intense EF-3 tornado near the town of Union Center where a home was leveled to its foundation.

Began near Hillsboro Kckapoo Ar (43.6800, -90.3300).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1329051. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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