Thunderstorm Wind in La Crosse County, Wisconsin
Thunderstorm Wind June 18, 1998 · La Crosse County, Wisconsin
Where the report was made, with tornadoes recorded within 15 miles over the years.
What the National Weather Service wrote
Circus tent collapsed at fairgrounds. 500 people were in tent. 13 injured.
The wider storm
A line of severe thunderstorms accompanied by straight-line winds up to 70 mph caused extensive damage across southwest Wisconsin.A short-lived tornado hit a dairy barn near Retreat (Vernon Co.), killing five cows and injuring one person. The F1 tornado skipped along the ground and stacked trees together after its passage.A second smaller tornado hit Lancaster (Grant Co.) causing damage to several homes and knocking down hundreds of trees in the city.Other notable damage consisted of a roof blown off the elementary school in Cashton (Monroe Co.) and a bowling alley in Westby (Vernon Co.). In West Salem (La Crosse Co.), a large circus tent, with 500 people inside, collapsed during one of the performances. Thirteen people were injured. There were numerous other reports of trees or power lines down.
Began near West Salem (43.9000, -91.0800).
Other tornadoes from the same storm system
2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5653472. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.
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