EF1 tornado in Brown County, Wisconsin

The tornado that formed in Outagamie County near Mackville at 12:38 am CDT entered Brown County about two miles southwest of Wrightstown at 12:48 am CDT. The tornado snapped or uprooted dozens of trees as it moved east, just south of Greenleaf. A house lost an attached garage when winds blew in the garage door and caused a large portion of the garage roof to lift off (DI 2, DOD 4). The walls of a nearby outbuilding collapsed (DI 1, DOD 6). The tornado dissipated about 3 miles west of Morrison. The average path width of the tornado in Brown County was 125 yards.

A line of severe thunderstorms, known as a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS), produced six tornadoes and widespread damaging winds across east-central Wisconsin during the late night hours of August 6-7. The storms formed ahead of a cold front that also produced severe weather in Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

The tornadoes occurred within about 50 minutes--between 12:22 am and 1:10 am CDT. Hundreds of homes, businesses and farm buildings were damaged. Two injuries occurred at a campground in Waupaca County. Thousands of trees and power lines were also downed, leaving tens of thousands of people without power. The strongest tornado of the event reached EF2 intensity (winds estimated at 115 to 120 mph). This tornado caused significant damage to a church in New London.

The six tornadoes that occurred on August 7 were the most nighttime tornadoes in a single event in northeast Wisconsin since accurate tornado records began (1950).