PALMYRA, Wis. — The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado peaking at 95 miles per hour landed about 1.4 miles northeast of Palmyra in Jefferson County last Friday.
According to the NWS, the tornado began near the southwest tip of Upper Spring Lake. The tornado toppled a number of trees along Mill Road. "The worst damage was near the intersection of County Road Z and Mill Road where most of the trees on the south side of a residence were snapped or uprooted. The tornado dissipated over an open field one half mile east of County Road Z," their report reads.
The report of a tornado is still preliminary and subject to change, the agency said.
This now brings Wisconsin's tornado count to 19 for 2023. The last tornado recorded was near Avalon on July 13.
The agency also outlined the EF scale used to judge the strength of tornadoes:
EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH
EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH
EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH
EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH
EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH
EF5...VIOLENT...>200 MPH
Read their announcement and more TMJ4 News reporting of the severe storms:
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI 1254 PM CDT MON JUL 31 2023 ...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 07/28/2023 TORNADO EVENT... .TORNADO #1... RATING: EF-1 ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 95 MPH PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 1.25 MILES PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 50 YARDS FATALITIES: 0 INJURIES: 0 START DATE: JUL 28 2023 START TIME: 10:28PM CDT START LOCATION: 1.4 MILES NE OF PALMYRA START LAT/LON: 42.885 N / 88.558 W END DATE: JUL 28 2023 END TIME: 10:31PM CDT END LOCATION: 2.7 MILES ENE OF PALMYRA END LAT/LON: 42.883 N / 88.533 W THE TORNADO BEGAN NEAR THE SW TIP OF UPPER SPRING LAKE. NUMEROUS TREES WERE TOPPED, SNAPPED OR UPROOTED ALONG MILL ROAD. THE WORST DAMAGE WAS NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROAD Z AND MILL ROAD WHERE MOST OF THE TREES ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF A RESIDENCE WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. THE TORNADO DISSIPATED OVER AN OPEN FIELD ONE HALF MILE EAST OF COUNTY ROAD Z. && EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES: EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH EF5...VIOLENT...>200 MPH NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT AND PUBLICATION IN NWS STORM DATA.
'A lot of lightning, thunder, thunder and my sump pump': A neighbor recounts severe storm
July 30, 2023 / By Megan Lee
KENOSHA, Wis. — Friday evening's storm brought power outages all over southeast Wisconsin. The strong storm system also brought plenty of damage. We Energies could be found restoring power to over 65,000 customers on Saturday.
"We saw reported winds of 70 miles per hour and it was kinda these pockets of wind. So they were knocking down trees, very large branches and that's what usually causes these outages. Things are falling into our power lines and falling into our power equipment. Snapping poles and taking down equipment,” Director of Media Relations at We Energies, Brendan Conway, said.
Some neighbors in Kenosha didn’t lose power. However, they did hear the loud noises.
"A lot of lightning, thunder, thunder and my sump pump" Kenosha resident, Myron Stalsberg, explained.
Myron Stalsberg lives right across from a live wire that was down in Kenosha Saturday evening. It's a danger crews have been seeing all over southeast Wisconsin. The live wire could be found behind the St. Joseph assisted living. Residents there tell me the power was out for just a moment. However, the strong storm system knocked out power for thousands.
"We have crews, and he is going from house to house in some cases. They have reported an outage and he has to go and troubleshoot it and get the power back on. Sometimes it could take 20 minutes, but sometimes it could take two hours. And then they'll move right back on,” Brendan Conway told us.
There was about 4 -5-inch hail in Waterford. Many drivers saw flooding in Milwaukee.
And lightning that filled the sky. Trees were down across various counties. Thankfully, no injuries have been reported. However, there are some long days ahead to restore power. The Friday night storm kept some up for hours.
"I tried to sleep, but I didn't get to sleep right away. Ha ha. It was raining, bangin' on the side because I sleep right here on the side and that's the way the rain and wind came,” Stalsberg said.
As always stay away from down power lines and treat them like they are live. If you're still without power, be sure to report that to We Energies.
Thousands without power as storms surge
Friday, July 28, 2023 / By Madison Goldbeck
Thousands are without power after storms raced through Southeast Wisconsin Friday night, according to the We Energies outage map.
All warnings and watches have expired.
Check out viewer-submitted storm photos here.
LIVE BLOG
Saturday, July 29:
2:15 p.m. update: We Energies issued another statement Saturday afternoon, providing an update on power outages. You can read the statement below:
We Energies has restored power to nearly 50,000 customers from Friday night’s strong storm. We have crews from across Wisconsin — including specialized electric and forestry crews — working around the clock on restoration efforts. Extra outside crews are headed this way to assist in the cleanup.
We are finding widespread damage including downed trees and power equipment that needs to be replaced.
More than 75% of customers who lost power will have their power restored by midnight tonight and 95% restored by Sunday night. The remaining customers will have their power restored or outage assigned by the first part of Monday.
Customers can get the latest information for their outage, including restoration updates, on our online outage map or the We Energies app.
Customers should stay at least 25 feet away from any downed wires, and report the downed wire to We Energies or a local law enforcement agency right away.
11:30 a.m. update: A viewer sent this photo of storm damage in Dousman.
10 a.m. update: We Energies released a statement Saturday morning saying its crews are working hard to restore power.
Read the full statement:
We Energies crews are working quickly and safely to restore power after severe storms brought strong wind gusts of more than 70 mph through our service area.
Our crews have restored power to more than 40,000 customers since the storms moved through.
We are encountering extensive damage including downed trees and damaged power equipment. As a result of the extensive and widespread damage, some customers may be without power through the weekend.
All available We Energies crews, including specialized forestry workers and extra contract crews, will continue to work around the clock to make repairs and restore power to customers affected by these severe storms.
Customers can get the latest information on the estimated time of restoration for their outage on our outage map [we-energies.com] online or on the We Energies app [wecenergygroup.com].
7 a.m. update: About 70,000 people are still without power after storms passed through SE Wisconsin late Friday night.
Jamie Haynes sent the photo below of hail in Waterford, Wis.
Friday, July 28:
12:08 a.m. update:
Some flooding on Capitol between 27th and 20th in Milwaukee. Be careful if you have to drive tonight! @tmj4 pic.twitter.com/UfTIahzptn
— Megan Lee (@MeganLeeNews) July 29, 2023
12:05 a.m. update:
About 82,000 We Energies customers are without power, according to their outage map.
12:02 a.m. update:
River Hills, Wisconsin traffic alert:
Incident Type: Weather County: MILWAUKEE Nearest City: RIVER HILLS On Highway: WIS 100 NB/SB At Location: N Spruce Road Lanes Affected: All Lanes Blocked (Both Directions) Incident Occurred: 07/28/2023 11:19 PM Estimated Duration: 2 Hours Handling Agency: River Hills Police Department Contact Name: River Hills Police Department Contact Phone: 414-247-2302 Alternate Route: Additional Info: All lanes blocked on Hwy 100 near N Spruce Road due to flooding. WSP CFS Number:
11:29 p.m. update: Over 76,000 people are without power.
11:14 p.m. update:
Greendale / Hales Corners border. 11:03p.:
10:52 p.m. update:
Wild how accurate the weather warning maps are. Right as scheduled, wind and rain hit our neighborhood. @tmj4 @BrianNizTMJ4 pic.twitter.com/8cDxNi4Iq7
— SUSAN KIM (@SusanKim4) July 29, 2023
10:39 p.m. update: Severe Thunderstorm Warning from 7/28/2023 10:39 PM to 11:30 PM CDT for Racine County, WI, Kenosha County, WI, Walworth County, WI
10:38 p.m. update: Over 20,000 without power.
10:33 p.m. update: Tornado Warning from 7/28/2023 10:33 PM to 11:00 PM CDT for Racine County, WI, Walworth County, WI, Waukesha County, WI
10:30 p.m. update: In less than 10 minutes, those without power jumped to 16,000 in total.
10:27 p.m. update: Severe Thunderstorm Warning from 7/28/2023 10:26 PM to 11:15 PM CDT for Washington County, WI, Ozaukee County, WI, Milwaukee County, WI, Waukesha County, WI.
10:20 p.m. update: The map showed about 7,600 were without power as of 10:20 p.m. In total, there are about 8,800 without power.
10:02 p.m. update: Severe Thunderstorm Warning from 7/28/2023 9:59 PM to 11:00 PM CDT for Walworth County, WI, Waukesha County, WI, Jefferson County, WI.
10:04 p.m. update: Severe Thunderstorm Warning from 7/28/2023 10:04 PM to 11:00 PM CDT for Washington County, WI, Fond du Lac County, WI, Dodge County, WI
9:48 p.m. update: Tornado Warning from 7/28/2023 9:44 PM to 10:30 PM CDT for Dodge County, WI, Jefferson County, WI.
9:43 p.m. update: Severe Thunderstorm Warning from 7/28/2023 9:27 PM to 10:30 PM CDT for Jefferson County, WI.
9:35 p.m. update:
9:23 p.m. update: Severe Thunderstorm Watch from 7/28/2023 9:22 PM to 7/29/2023 12:00 AM CDT for Racine County, WI, Kenosha County, WI, Washington County, WI, Ozaukee County, WI, Milwaukee County, WI, Sheboygan County, WI, Waukesha County, WI.
9:22 p.m. update: Severe Thunderstorm Warning from 7/28/2023 9:21 PM to 10:15 PM CDT for Fond du Lac County, WI, Dodge County, WI.
8:45 p.m. update: Viewers sent hail photos from Waterford, Wisconsin
8:38 p.m. update: Severe Thunderstorm Warning from 7/28/2023 8:37 PM to 9:15 PM CDT for Racine County, WI.
8:14 p.m. update: Severe Thunderstorm Warning from 7/28/2023 8:37 PM to 9:15 PM CDT for Racine County, WI.
7:59 p.m. update: Severe Thunderstorm Warning from 7/28/2023 7:58 PM to 8:45 PM CDT for Racine County, WI, Walworth County, WI, Waukesha County, WI.
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