F1 tornado — Vernon County, Wisconsin

F1 tornado in Vernon County, Wisconsin

Tornado June 18, 1998 · Vernon County, Wisconsin

Rating

1.5 mi

Path length

120 yd

Path width

$100K

Damage as recorded

$50K

Crop damage

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 120 yards (0.07 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

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.

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5653474. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F1 tornado in Vernon County, Wisconsin

The wider storm

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Tornadoes near your address