Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Wisconsin, July 16, 1997

Severe thunderstorms affected much of northern, central and east-central Wisconsin during the afternoon and evening of July 16 with tornadoes, downburst winds and large hail. Millions of dollars in damage resulted from the biggest severe weather outbreak to affect the region in years.The storms began to develop early in the afternoon across north-central Wisconsin. Hail the size of baseballs fell in Minocqua (Oneida co.), damaging nearly 200 vehicles. As those storms moved southeast and weakened, a new supercell thunderstorm developed over Lincoln county. This new storm produced wind damage in Tomahawk and softball size hail northeast of Merrill. About 20 minutes later, a tornado developed in southeast Lincoln county and moved southeastward into Marathon county. This tornado, rated F2, was on the ground for more than three miles. It damaged several homes, vehicles and silos, and destroyed numerous barns, sheds and crops. Twenty head of dairy cattle were killed or had to be destroyed. As the tornadic supercell moved southeast, it produced two other weak tornadoes. Total damage to crops and property from five tornadoes, hail and straight-line winds in Marathon county alone topped $10 million.Another supercell thunderstorm produced a downburst swath of damage over three miles wide and 14 miles long from southeast Langlade county, through western Menominee county, into extreme north-central Shawano county. Menominee county was especially hard hit, as tens of thousands of trees were felled in the heavily forested county. Authorities estimated that nearly 25 million board feet of lumber was on the ground; it was hoped that much of it was going to be salvaged. At the height of the storm, winds were estimated to be near 100 mph. As the storm weakened and moved into north-central Shawano county, a 70 mph wind gust was measured near Morgan. Another storm in western Shawano county produced a downburst which downed trees across the city of Wittenberg. Part of a roof was blown off an apartment building in the downtown area, and several houses and businesses sustained damage from the fallen trees. A Wittenberg man was injured by flying glass. Lightning set a house on fire, destroying the second story, in the township of Germania.Another storm struck Waupaca county, producing high winds. A power pole fell and hit a car in New London, injuring the driver.Shortly after 530 pm, a supercell thunderstorm produced numerous wind gusts over 65 mph across the Fox Valley, blowing over many trees, damaging buildings and causing a fatality. A 36 year-old male was killed when a tree fell on his minivan in Oshkosh (Winnebago co.). His young daughter was uninjured in the accident. A wind gust to 82 mph was measured in Appleton (Outagamie co.), and a gust to 67 mph was recorded in Oshkosh.Thunderstorms over Waushara county produced flooding rains, a brief tornado, strong winds and hail. Over five inches of rain fell in only three hours near Hancock, producing some basement and street flooding. A brief tornado also touched down in an open field in Hancock. Numerous trees and powerlines were blown down in Wautoma.A thunderstorm knocked trees and power lines down in Kiel (Calumet/Manitowoc co.), and damaged seven tents at a fair in Cleveland (Manitowoc co.).