Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Watches in 2025

Tornado Watch 253

May 15, 20255 counties in Illinois; 48 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 15, 2025, 3:05 PM CDT for 5 counties in Illinois; 48 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 15, 2025, 3:05 PM CDT (20:05 UTC)
Expired: May 15, 2025, 8:41 PM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected: 3 in
Strongest gust expected: 60 kt

All 53 counties

Boone County, IL, Jo Daviess County, IL, McHenry County, IL, Stephenson County, IL, Winnebago County, IL, Adams County, WI, Brown County, WI, Calumet County, WI, Columbia County, WI, Crawford County, WI, Dane County, WI, Dodge County, WI, Door County, WI, Florence County, WI, Fond du Lac County, WI, Forest County, WI, Grant County, WI, Green County, WI, Green Lake County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Jefferson County, WI, Juneau County, WI, Kenosha County, WI, Kewaunee County, WI, Lafayette County, WI, Langlade County, WI, Lincoln County, WI, Manitowoc County, WI, Marathon County, WI, Marinette County, WI, Marquette County, WI, Menominee County, WI, Milwaukee County, WI, Oconto County, WI, Oneida County, WI, Outagamie County, WI, Ozaukee County, WI, Portage County, WI, Racine County, WI, Richland County, WI, Rock County, WI, Sauk County, WI, Shawano County, WI, Sheboygan County, WI, Vernon County, WI, Vilas County, WI, Walworth County, WI, Washington County, WI, Waukesha County, WI, Waupaca County, WI, Waushara County, WI, Winnebago County, WI, Wood County, WI

The radar

The Green Bay radar (KGRB), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:10 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes: 50%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes: 30%
Ten or more severe wind reports: 60%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more: 20%
Ten or more severe hail reports: 60%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more: 60%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports: 95%

Warnings issued inside it

57 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 3:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Iowa, Sauk	47 min
May 15, 3:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Richland	44 min
May 15, 3:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	La Crosse, Vernon	20 min
May 15, 3:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Columbia, Dane, Iowa, Marquette, Sauk	52 min
May 15, 3:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dane, Green	46 min
May 15, 3:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Juneau, Monroe, Vernon	46 min
May 15, 4:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Columbia, Sauk	26 min
May 15, 4:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Adams, Juneau	68 min
May 15, 4:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MKX	Columbia, Dane	44 min
May 15, 4:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Columbia, Dane, Sauk	57 min
May 15, 4:18 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Columbia, Sauk	27 min
May 15, 4:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Portage, Wood	55 min
May 15, 4:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Jackson, Juneau, Monroe	51 min
May 15, 4:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Columbia, Sauk	21 min
May 15, 4:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Boone, Ogle, Winnebago	52 min
May 15, 4:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Columbia, Green Lake, Marquette	65 min
May 15, 4:44 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Columbia, Green Lake, Marquette	46 min
May 15, 4:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Marathon	55 min
May 15, 4:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Columbia, Dane	53 min
May 15, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Washington, Waukesha	43 min
May 15, 5:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dodge	55 min
May 15, 5:06 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ARX	Adams	24 min
May 15, 5:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Portage, Wood	49 min
May 15, 5:12 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Marathon, Wood	48 min
May 15, 5:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Adams, Juneau	46 min
May 15, 5:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Portage, Waushara	66 min
May 15, 5:24 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Marathon	51 min
May 15, 5:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Dodge	49 min
May 15, 5:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Columbia, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake	26 min
May 15, 5:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Fond du Lac, Green Lake	68 min
May 15, 5:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Washington, Waukesha	50 min
May 15, 5:46 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Marathon, Portage	44 min
May 15, 5:46 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Portage, Waupaca, Waushara	44 min
May 15, 5:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Marquette	42 min
May 15, 5:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida, Portage, Wood	39 min
May 15, 5:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Boone, DeKalb, McHenry, Ogle, Winnebago	71 min
May 15, 5:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dodge	48 min
May 15, 5:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Dodge, Jefferson, Waukesha	44 min
May 15, 6:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Racine, Walworth, Waukesha	43 min
May 15, 6:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	MKX	Dodge, Fond du Lac, Washington	28 min
May 15, 6:05 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Marathon	55 min
May 15, 6:12 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Fond du Lac	16 min
May 15, 6:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Fond du Lac	50 min
May 15, 6:16 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Portage	34 min
May 15, 6:17 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Lincoln	17 min
May 15, 6:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	GRB	Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida	55 min
May 15, 6:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Milwaukee, Ozaukee	39 min
May 15, 6:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Fond du Lac, Sheboygan	37 min
May 15, 6:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Milwaukee, Racine, Waukesha	36 min
May 15, 6:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MKX	Ozaukee, Sheboygan, Washington	79 min
May 15, 6:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Portage, Waupaca	38 min
May 15, 6:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	DeKalb, Kane, McHenry	28 min
May 15, 6:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine	48 min
May 15, 6:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MKX	Milwaukee	24 min
May 15, 7:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Marathon, Shawano, Waupaca	44 min
May 15, 7:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Langlade, Lincoln	26 min
May 15, 7:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Langlade	16 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 2:14 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, McHenry and 4 more	2 hr
May 15, 3:07 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Massac, Pulaski	83 min
May 15, 3:22 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bureau, Christian, DeKalb, DeWitt, Ford, Grundy and 21 more	113 min
May 15, 5:15 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bureau, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Coles and 37 more	4 hr
May 15, 12:08 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Pierce, Polk, Saint Croix	3 hr
May 15, 12:46 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Buffalo, Burnett, Chippewa and 18 more	7 hr
May 15, 3:00 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Dunn, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Saint Croix	90 min
May 15, 5:36 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Calumet, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Lincoln, Marathon and 10 more	84 min
May 15, 6:07 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Door, Florence, Forest, Marinette, Vilas	83 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2025 Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2025 Every tornado watch in 2025

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.