Storms leave Wisconsin and counties take stock of tornado damage

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

3 3 minutes read

Severe weather hit southern Wisconsin on Saturday, with at least one confirmed tornado spotted near Janesville. Follow the storm live:

More than 30,000 customers without power following storms and tornado sightings

More than 12,000 We Energies customers – mostly in southeastern Wisconsin – are without power as of 10 p.m. Saturday, following storms that swept through the region and triggered tornado watches and even warnings in some counties.

Alliant Energy reported about 20,000 customers affected by outages in its service area, which covers parts of Wisconsin and Iowa. Alliant Energy's outages were primarily concentrated in southern Wisconsin, including in and around Janesville, where a tornado was observed Saturday evening.

Janesville likely suffered 'significant damage' to its south side from reported tornado

Emergency responders are assessing the extent of damage in Janesville, where a tornado was spotted Saturday evening, said Mark Elland, team leader at the Rock County Communications Center.

“From what we're hearing, we probably have significant tornado damage in south Janesville,” Elland told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a brief interview around 9:30 p.m.

The county's 911 center received calls reporting everything from downed trees and power lines to flooded roads and damage to homes, Elland said.

A tornado warning was in effect for several areas of southern Wisconsin Saturday evening after sightings of tornadoes near Watertown, Janesville and other cities, while other areas of southern Wisconsin remain under a tornado watch until 10 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

A tornado warning was issued for southeast Kenosha County until 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Severe thunderstorms capable of producing a tornado were located along a line extending from near Kenosha to near Antioch shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday, according to the NWS.

A tornado warning was in effect for southwest Walworth County until 8:45 p.m. Saturday. A tornado warning was also in effect until 8 p.m. Saturday for northeast Jefferson and south-central Dodge counties, and until 8:15 p.m. for east-central Rock County, according to the NWS.

That's after a tornado was spotted near Watertown, located about halfway between Madison and Milwaukee, around 7:35 p.m. Saturday, and was nearly stationary, according to an NWS bulletin.

Another tornado was observed just south of Janesville at 7:52 p.m.

“A large and extremely dangerous tornado was located over Janesville, moving east at 40 mph,” the NWS said.

The National Weather Service advised people in areas under a tornado warning to seek shelter.

A previous bulletin said a tornado warning was in effect until 7:45 p.m. for east-central Dane, northwest Jefferson and south Dodge counties. That bulletin said a tornado was spotted over Marshall around 7:15 p.m., moving east at a speed of 25 miles per hour.

A tornado warning was also in effect until 7:30 p.m. for northeast Green County, according to the NWS.

A tornado watch is in effect until 10 p.m. across southern Wisconsin, including the following counties: Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Kenosha, Lafayette, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Rock, Sauk , Walworth, Washington and Waukesha. , according to the National Weather Service.

A tornado watch is less severe than a tornado warning. A watch is issued when weather conditions favor thunderstorms producing tornado conditions in or near the “watch” area, according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service noted that in addition to the possibility of tornadoes, southern Wisconsin could experience damaging wind gusts and large hail.

Several southern Wisconsin counties were also under flash flood warnings until 10:45 p.m. Saturday, including parts of Columbia, Dane, Dodge and Jefferson counties. Rock County was under a flash flood warning until 11 p.m. and Sauk County was under a warning until 9:45 p.m., according to NWS bulletins issued around 8 p.m.

Saturday's storms came on a busy music day, with several outdoor concerts planned for Saturday in Milwaukee and the area, including Summerfest concerts, the second annual Tacos and Tequila Festival at Franklin Field and a Dave Matthews Band concert in Alpine Valley. Musical theater in East Troy.

Alpine Valley Music Theater posted on social media Saturday evening that the Dave Matthews Band concert was postponed to a later date. The venue previously posted on Facebook that it was evacuating the venue and asking people to take shelter in their vehicles.

Meanwhile, several shows at Summerfest were suspended around 7:45 a.m. due to weather.

Anime, the opening act for R&B superstar SZA, suspended its Summerfest show around 8:20 p.m. Saturday due to weather.

Weather radar for Wisconsin

Weather Warnings in Wisconsin

Journalists Jessica Rodriguez, Piet Levy and Chris Foran contributed to this story.

More than 30,000 customers without power following storms and tornado sightings

Janesville likely suffered 'significant damage' to its south side from reported tornado

Weather radar for Wisconsin

Weather Warnings in Wisconsin

Lina Portman

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