January Tornado Outbreak

Overall 48 tornadoes occurred along with numerous damaging wind and large hail reports spanning an area from eastern Oklahoma up into southeast Wisconsin. A majority of the tornadoes occurred in Missouri with 33 being confirmed. Further north, a supercell tracked across northern Illinois producing one EF-3 tornado. This supercell eventually moved into southeastern Wisconsin and produced another two tornadoes, one being an EF-3.

The environment continued to warm and moisten into the afternoon with increasing instability developing along the frontal boundary as the center of the surface low moved northeastward into southern Wisconsin. Combined with favorable low-level shear, the severe potential with a higher than anticipated tornado threat increased across northern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin.

Zoomed in map of western Kenosha county, far southeastern Walworth county and far southwestern Racine County. The track of the EF 3 Wheatland Tornado started to the east of Pell Lake near HWY 12 in Walworth county. The tornado moved northeast until it hit Wheatland before traveling east northeast ending just before highway 75. — *Map of the EF-3 Wheatland tornado*

The tornado that went through the Wheatland/New Munster area in Western Kenosha County was given an EF-3 rating, with estimated top winds between 150-160 mph. This places the tornadic winds at the higher portion of the EF-3 scale, which ranges from 136 mph to 165 mph.

Two aerial photos side by side of damage near Fox River as the tornado turns to the east north east. On the left, there is a line of tree damage through a forested area with some moderate home damage. On the right is another subdivision that was hit with tree damage and some moderate structural damage. — *Damage near the Fox River as the tornado turned east*

Northern Kenosha Tornado

Two photos of structural damage in a subdivision on the north side of Kenosha county. Left is some minor roof damage to a home with multiple layers of shingles missing. Right is more moderate roof damage with the garage blown in and the roof of the garage lifted off the foundation. The roof of the attached garage is leaning on the rest of the house. — *EF-1 tornado damage from the north side of Kenosha*

Tornadoes can occur anytime of the year, but experiencing a tornado in January for Wisconsin is extremely rare. In fact, it had only happened once between 1950 and 2007, when an F3 tornado affected parts of Green and Rock Counties on January 24, 1967. That tornado in South Central Wisconsin was part of a much larger outbreak of 30 tornadoes across mostly Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. Wisconsin ended up with 30 tornadoes in 1967. The 30-year average (1981-2010) annual number of tornadoes in Wisconsin is 23.

WSR-88Ds have been around for several years and in the early 2010s received an upgrade introducing dual polarization technology. Dual-polarization, or dual-pol, is part of the NWS vision to build a weather-ready nation to better protect lives and livelihoods. This new technology provides 14 new radar products that will support our mission to serve our partners and customers.