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EF1 tornado in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

Tornado April 17, 2026 · Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

EF1
Rating
9.3 mi
Whole path
75 yd
Path width
$232K
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

Tornado started near 6 Mile Rd west of Raynor Ave and tracked to the northeast, ending in southern Milwaukee county. Possible that this tornado merged with the other one directly to the south.

The wider storm

A round of severe thunderstorms and flash flooding occurred as a strong cold front approached and tracked across southern WI. More specifically, supercell thunderstorms developed from northeast IA into southwest WI and far southern WI during the late afternoon and evening hours. Eventually these storms transitioned to a squall line which had a number of tornadoes associated with it, as it tracked through southeast Wisconsin. Flash flooding affected much of the same region especially in Janesville. Many large hail reports and a small number of downburst damaging wind reports were also received.

Began near Franklin Arpt (42.8440, -88.0150).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

6 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1329363. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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