Tornadoes · United States · Wisconsin

2018 tornadoes in Wisconsin

32 tornadoes touched down in Wisconsin in 2018, 52 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2017 2019 The whole country in 2018

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 2018

May 9 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 91:31 PM CDTEF0Grant1.670$25,000
May 94:50 PM CDTEF0Washington5.250$15,000

June 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 165:20 PM CDTEF0Columbia0.150$2,000

June 26 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 2610:42 AM CDTEF0Grant0.110
June 2611:30 AM CDTEF0Lafayette0.540$1,000
June 262:24 PM CDTEF0Lafayette1.847$15,000

July 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 2012:55 PM CDTEF0Waushara0.110

August 7 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 712:39 PM CDTEF0Burnett0.01

August 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 93:47 PM CDTEF0Dane0.725$50,000

August 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 208:01 PM CDTEF0Walworth0.7150$15,000

August 27 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 278:23 PM CDTEF1Monroe5.1150$25,000

August 28 19 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 283:00 PM CDTEF1Marquette0.750
August 283:03 PM CDTEF1Marquette1.875
August 283:17 PM CDTEF1Green Lake3.190
August 283:25 PM CDTEF0Green Lake2.150
August 283:55 PM CDTEF1Fond du Lac4.6175
August 284:00 PM CDTEF0Fond du Lac0.650
August 284:04 PM CDTEF1Fond du Lac4.4100
August 284:08 PM CDTEF0Fond du Lac0.150
August 284:09 PM CDTEF1Fond du Lac0.9100
August 284:11 PM CDTEF1Fond du Lac0.180
August 284:11 PM CDTEF2Fond du Lac3.9150$169,000
August 284:12 PM CDTEF1Dodge2.7100
August 284:16 PM CDTEF1Fond du Lac2.8100
August 284:22 PM CDTEF1Fond du Lac4.590
August 284:27 PM CDTEF1Fond du Lac4.0100
August 284:30 PM CDTEF0Fond du Lac0.080
August 284:33 PM CDTEF1Calumet1.075$75,000
August 284:36 PM CDTEF1Sheboygan5.3100
August 284:57 PM CDTEF0Sheboygan0.375

September 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 207:27 PM CDTEF0Pierce1.7140

October 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 37:08 PM CDTEF0Shawano1.025

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
September 207:16 PM CDTEF0Pierce, MN to WI3.2100$5,000

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.