Wisconsin’s latest round of storms were bad enough to get the governor to declare an emergency.
Governor Evers yesterday called for a state of emergency. The order clears the way for the state to help any local community hit by high winds or tornadoes. The state of emergency means the Wisconsin National Guard could even be called-up. The storms started late Wednesday night and ended early yesterday morning. Forecasters say the storm system produced a handful of tornadoes, left tens of thousands of people without power, and left a patch of damage from Eau Claire down to Kenosha. There are no reports of any serious injuries or deaths.
Here closest to our area, forecasters are confirming one small tornado in western Wisconsin from Wednesday night’s storms.
The National Weather Service says an EF-1 tornado touched down near New Richmond in St. Croix County. That is the only tornado confirmed so far, though forecasters say straight line winds did plenty of damage across western Wisconsin.
In other parts of the state, that number is higher.
The tornado count from yesterday’s early morning storms across southeast Wisconsin is four. The National Weather Service yesterday said two tornadoes fell in Jefferson County, one near Watertown and the other near Concord. Two tornadoes also fell in Waukesha County, one between Wales and Waukesha and the other near Dousman. All four were EF-1 tornadoes with top winds between 85 and 105 miles-per-hour.
