Tornadoes · United States · Wisconsin

2008 tornadoes in Wisconsin

38 tornadoes touched down in Wisconsin in 2008, 81 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2007 2009 The whole country in 2008

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Wisconsin in 2008

January 7 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 74:02 PM CSTEF3Walworth10.820015$14 million
January 74:39 PM CSTEF1Kenosha2.575$7.9 million

April 25 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 255:18 PM CDTEF1Columbia21.175$600,000
April 255:20 PM CDTEF0Columbia0.225
April 255:44 PM CDTEF0Green Lake7.130

May 25 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 255:55 PM CDTEF0Dunn3.550$200,000
May 259:00 PM CDTEF0Marathon0.110

June 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 62:58 PM CDTEF0Racine3.450$20,000

June 7 13 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 71:52 PM CDTEF0Grant0.130$750
June 71:57 PM CDTEF1Marquette5.1100$302,000
June 72:32 PM CDTEF2Columbia8.63,5206$2.5 million
June 73:05 PM CDTEF0Dodge2.225
June 73:08 PM CDTEF1Columbia2.975$200,000
June 73:16 PM CDTEF0Sauk0.425
June 73:25 PM CDTEF0Dane0.525
June 73:38 PM CDTEF0Dane0.225
June 73:49 PM CDTEF0Jefferson0.150
June 74:40 PM CDTEF1Dane3.8150$429,000
June 75:37 PM CDTEF0Waukesha0.120
June 75:45 PM CDTEF1La Crosse6.0200$93,000
June 75:48 PM CDTEF0Vernon0.450$15,000

June 12 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 122:29 PM CDTEF0Grant0.350$3,000
June 124:34 PM CDTEF0Columbia5.350
June 124:42 PM CDTEF0Green Lake0.220
June 125:01 PM CDTEF1Green1.650
June 125:15 PM CDTEF1Green12.3100
June 125:30 PM CDTEF0Green1.350
June 126:19 PM CDTEF0Dane2.650
June 126:25 PM CDTEF0Dodge0.120

July 7 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 77:04 PM CDTEF1Green Lake1.175$30,000

July 10 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 105:33 PM CDTEF1Green Lake1.150$150,000
July 106:00 PM CDTEF1Dodge1.050$20,000

July 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 118:51 PM CDTEF0Polk0.125

July 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 163:37 PM CDTEF1Sheboygan1.575$350,000

July 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 1910:44 PM CDTEF1Winnebago0.540$75,000

July 29 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 294:27 PM CDTEF0Marathon0.115
July 294:59 PM CDTEF0Marathon0.225
July 296:44 PM CDTEF0Wood1.625

Crossed into Wisconsin

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Wisconsin. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 255:15 PM CDTEF0Washington, MN to WI1.350$300,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in WisconsinThe live radar over Wisconsin

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.