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EF1 tornado in Jackson County, Wisconsin

Tornado December 15, 2021 · Jackson County, Wisconsin

EF1
Rating
2.7 mi
Whole path
70 yd
Path width
$110K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Trempealeau County → Jackson County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 70 yards (0.04 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

This EF1 tornado developed in northeast Trempealeau County before moving into Jackson County near County Highway G southwest of Levis. The tornado continued to move northeast and dissipated along County Highway FF before reaching Interstate 94. Damage was primarily to trees with a couple of farm outbuildings also damaged.

The wider storm

An intense storm system moved across the Upper Midwest on December 15th and produced a rare severe weather outbreak across western Wisconsin. Eight tornadoes occurred across parts of Trempealeau, Jackson and Clark Counties. Four of these tornadoes were rated EF2 and three EF1. The most substantial damage from the EF2 tornadoes occurred in Clark County. One tornado destroyed a home in the southwest corner of the county near Five Mile Creek west of Neillsville (Clark County). Another tornado caused extensive damage to farms and trees after moving through Stanley (Chippewa County) into the northwest corner of Clark County. An EF0 tornado passed through Perrot State Park (Trempealeau County) and damaged several homes on the west edge of Trempealeau (Trempealeau County). The other tornadoes largely moved through rural areas damaging trees, power lines and farm buildings. Because of the severe weather threat, the Rotary Lights display in La Crosse (La Crosse County) was closed for the first time in over 26 years where two temporary structures were destroyed.

Began near Levis (44.5180, -91.1660).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 995277. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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