EF0 tornado in Dunn County, Wisconsin

A NWS Storm Survey determined a tornado began on the south side of Elk Mound, near the intersection of I-94, and South Holly Road. The tornado moved northeast, crossing I-94, and continued into Chippewa County as it crossed 10th Street, south of 560th Avenue. Most of the damage was EF0 in Dunn County where a barn lost its roof, and trees were uprooted or blown down. The path length in Dunn County was 2.3 miles long, with a maximum width of 250 yards.

At the beginning of the storm evolution, a few discrete cells produced a tornado near Elk Mound. A very favorable environment capable of producing supercells and tornadoes was in place across west central Wisconsin. Gradual development of thunderstorms occurred during the early evening with widespread storms stretching from northwestern Iowa, southern Minnesota, into western and northern Wisconsin. A few became severe, but the number of storms probably limited most from becoming very strong. The supercell that produced the strong EF3 tornado was an exception. It rapidly intensified and went on to produce the first September EF3 tornado in Wisconsin since Ladysmith on 9/2/2002. Also, the last EF3 tornado this late in the season occurred on 9/28/1971.

As the storms evolved during the evening, a broken line developed, with some straight-line wind damage east of the tornado in Chippewa Falls.

The local emergency manager provided preliminary damage estimates. It includes the costs of repairing or replacing the 29 homes that were damaged or destroyed. The 22 single-family homes were valued at $2.68 million, and the seven manufactured homes were valued at $136,500, for a total housing cost of $2.7 million. With repairs to public utilities, the cost rose to $3.0 million in damages.