Home / Wisconsin / Florence

EF1 tornado in Florence County, Wisconsin

Tornado August 9, 2020 · Florence County, Wisconsin

EF1

Rating

4.6 mi

Whole path

250 yd

Path width

$70K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Forest County → Florence County → Iron County, Michigan; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado that formed at 9:12 PM CDT in extreme northeast Forest County crossed the county line at 9:18 PM CDT. The tornado continued east, producing a path of tree damage (DI 27,28, DOD 3,4) in a remote forested area in extreme northwest Florence County, before crossing the Brule River into Upper Michigan at 9:20 PM CDT. Peak winds were estimated at 105 mph.

The wider storm

An upper-level shortwave produced thunderstorms across north-central Wisconsin during the evening hours. Three tornadoes and wind damage was reported as these thunderstorms tracked through the area.

Began near Tipler (45.9900, -88.6840).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Vilas County EF1 Vilas County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 908351. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.