F2 Tornado — Lafayette, Wisconsin

1998-05-15 · near Benton, Lafayette, Wisconsin

Event narrative

A supercell thunderstorm, after dropping a couple tornadoes in northeast Iowa, eventually moved northeast into Lafayette county, creating another tornado. This tornado touched down just southwest of Benton and hopped/skipped northeast for 20 miles. It caused moderate to severe damage to 40 different farms and their outbuildings, and homes. Numerous power lines were downed. Eleven people were injured: 2 children near Cuba city, 3 children southwest of Truman, and 6 adults in a vehicle on Highway 81 south of Benton. Several farm fields sustained damage.

Wider weather episode

After the F2 tornado tore through Lafayette county a series of severe thunderstorms pummeled southcentral and southeast Wisconsin with numerous reports of tree limb damage and trees downed, which in turn downed a few power lines. The highest reported wind gust was 65 mph near Reedsburg (Sauk Co.). Other notable damage included roofs and doors ripped off of buildings in Mayville (Dodge Co.) and a deck ripped off a house in Ripon (Fond du Lac Co.) where several cars where also damaged by felled trees.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.5500, -90.4000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5641417. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.