Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Watches in 2026
Tornado Watch 501
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 20, 2026, 4:49 PM EDT for 11 counties in Michigan; 22 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 20, 2026, 4:49 PM EDT (20:49 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 21, 2026, 12:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 65 kt
All 33 counties
Alger County, MI, Baraga County, MI, Delta County, MI, Dickinson County, MI, Gogebic County, MI, Houghton County, MI, Iron County, MI, Marquette County, MI, Menominee County, MI, Ontonagon County, MI, Schoolcraft County, MI, Brown County, WI, Calumet County, WI, Door County, WI, Florence County, WI, Forest County, WI, Kewaunee County, WI, Langlade County, WI, Lincoln County, WI, Manitowoc County, WI, Marathon County, WI, Marinette County, WI, Menominee County, WI, Oconto County, WI, Oneida County, WI, Outagamie County, WI, Portage County, WI, Shawano County, WI, Vilas County, WI, Waupaca County, WI, Waushara County, WI, Winnebago County, WI, Wood County, WI
The radar
The Marquette radar (KMQT), 105 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:53 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
- 60%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 40%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 60%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 60%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 40%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 40%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 90%
Warnings issued inside it
34 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 5:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Baraga, Marquette | 66 min |
| Jul 20, 5:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Dickinson, Gogebic, Iron | 45 min |
| Jul 20, 5:29 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Dickinson, Marquette | 37 min |
| Jul 20, 5:30 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MQT | Dickinson, Iron | 34 min |
| Jul 20, 5:34 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MQT | Dickinson, Marquette | 41 min |
| Jul 20, 5:46 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MQT | Marquette | 44 min |
| Jul 20, 5:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Florence, Forest | 47 min |
| Jul 20, 6:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Dickinson, Iron | 36 min |
| Jul 20, 6:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Delta, Dickinson, Marquette, Menominee | 52 min |
| Jul 20, 6:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Alger, Marquette, Schoolcraft | 62 min |
| Jul 20, 6:22 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MQT | Delta, Dickinson, Marquette, Menominee | 38 min |
| Jul 20, 6:22 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MQT | Alger, Marquette | 38 min |
| Jul 20, 6:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Dickinson, Menominee | 49 min |
| Jul 20, 6:53 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MQT | Delta | 27 min |
| Jul 20, 6:58 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MQT | Alger | 26 min |
| Jul 20, 7:13 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | MQT | Alger | 2 hr |
| Jul 20, 7:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Alger, Schoolcraft | 19 min |
| Jul 20, 7:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Menominee | 44 min |
| Jul 20, 7:23 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | MQT | Delta, Menominee | 52 min |
| Jul 20, 7:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MQT | Delta, Schoolcraft | 19 min |
| Jul 20, 8:12 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Door | 32 min |
| Jul 20, 8:32 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Forest, Marinette | 43 min |
| Jul 20, 8:36 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Marathon | 39 min |
| Jul 20, 8:37 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Marathon | 38 min |
| Jul 20, 8:43 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Langlade, Menominee, Shawano | 47 min |
| Jul 20, 8:53 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Marinette | 26 min |
| Jul 20, 8:55 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Wood | 50 min |
| Jul 20, 9:04 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Marathon, Portage | 41 min |
| Jul 20, 9:06 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Marathon, Shawano, Waupaca | 54 min |
| Jul 20, 9:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Door | 29 min |
| Jul 20, 9:41 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Portage, Waupaca | 37 min |
| Jul 20, 9:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Door | 40 min |
| Jul 20, 10:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Door | 30 min |
| Jul 20, 11:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Brown, Outagamie | 27 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 431 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 982 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -242 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1013 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 299 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 288 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.2
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 9:37 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baraga, Delta, Dickinson, Houghton, Iron, Menominee and 1 more | 113 min |
| Jul 20, 2:53 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Gogebic | 2 hr |
| Jul 20, 6:15 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baraga, Delta, Dickinson, Iron, Marquette | 2 hr |
| Jul 20, 7:17 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet and 9 more | 118 min |
| Jul 20, 7:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Clare, Crawford and 14 more | 6 hr |
| Jul 20, 4:03 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Crawford, Grant, Richland, Vernon | 7 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2026Tornado Watches in Michigan, 2026Every tornado watch in 2026
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.