Tornadoes · United States · Wisconsin · 2018
EF1 tornado, New Holstein to Kiel, Wisconsin, August 28, 2018
From New Holstein to Kiel, this EF1 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Calumet and Manitowoc counties on August 28, 2018, touching down at 4:33 PM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $75,000 of property damage.
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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.
The record
- Rating
- EF1
- Date
- August 28, 2018
- Touchdown
- 4:33 PM CDT (21:33 UTC)
- Lifted
- 4:35 PM CDT (21:35 UTC)
- On the ground
- 2 minutes
- Path length
- 1.0 miles (1.6 km)
- Path width
- 75 yards (69 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $75,000
- Counties
- Calumet and Manitowoc counties
- Touchdown point
- 43.951, -88.042
- Lift-off point
- 43.950, -88.023
- Record number
- 1808281533-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Severe thunderstorms produced wind damage, including a tornado, over east-central Wisconsin. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted and power lines downed. The storms also produced torrential rainfall that caused urban flooding and flash flooding in parts of the Green Bay area and Fox Valley. There were numerous reports of 2 to 4 inches of rain, along with a few even higher totals.
A tornado touched down just inside the Calumet County line and moved east into Manitowoc County. A tree was uprooted near Meggers Road.
The tornado that began just inside the Calumet County border near Meggers Road moved into Manitowoc County and destroyed a barn (DI 1, DOD 5,6). The tornado produced sporadic tree damage along its path and dissipated less than two minutes after it formed.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
6 minutes of warning. NWS GRB issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:27 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:45 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 18:18 UTC and running to 22:23 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04:09 UTC | 10:15 UTC | Flood Advisory | GRB |
| 18:18 UTC | 22:23 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | GRB |
| 20:50 UTC | 23:45 UTC | Flood Advisory | GRB |
| 21:03 UTC | 21:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB |
| 21:27 UTC | 21:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | GRB |
| 21:53 UTC | 00:45 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | GRB |
| 23:42 UTC | 02:00 UTC | Flood Advisory | GRB |
Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.
The forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:44 UTC.
SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.
The air that afternoon
The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.
Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), 12:00Z
9.6 hours before the tornado, 59 km from the path. August 28, 2018.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 41 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -407 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 29 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1253 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 13 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 138 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 152 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.8 K/km
Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), 00:00Z
2.4 hours after it, 59 km from the path. August 29, 2018.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 101 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -150 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 88 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 840 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 18 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -62 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -75 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.6 K/km
The surface observations
Sheboygan (SBM), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:35 UTC | 160° 7 kt | 1009.1 | ||||
| 19:40 UTC | 170° 7 kt | 1009.1 | ||||
| 19:45 UTC | 170° 8 kt | 1009.5 | ||||
| 19:50 UTC | 160° 6 kt | 1009.5 | ||||
| 19:53 UTC | 78 | 72 | 170° 6 kt | 1009.5 | ||
| 19:55 UTC | 160° 6 kt | 1009.5 | ||||
| 20:00 UTC | 160° 5 kt | 1009.1 | ||||
| 20:05 UTC | 150° 6 kt | 1009.1 | ||||
| 20:10 UTC | 170° 9 kt | 1009.5 | ||||
| 20:15 UTC | 140° 5 kt | 1009.5 | ||||
| 20:20 UTC | 150° 5 kt | 1009.8 | ||||
| 20:30 UTC | 140° 6 kt | 1009.8 | ||||
| 20:35 UTC | 140° 6 kt | 1009.5 | ||||
| 20:40 UTC | 150° 8 kt | 1009.5 | ||||
| 20:50 UTC | 160° 7 kt | 1009.1 | ||||
| 20:53 UTC | 76 | 72 | 140° 6 kt | 1009.1 | ||
| 20:55 UTC | 130° 6 kt | 1009.1 | ||||
| 21:05 UTC | 150° 6 kt | 1009.5 | ||||
| 21:10 UTC | 150° 6 kt | 1009.1 | ||||
| 21:15 UTC | 170° 8 kt | 1009.8 | ||||
| 21:20 UTC | 170° 8 kt | 1009.8 | ||||
| 21:25 UTC | 160° 7 kt | 1009.8 | ||||
| 21:30 UTC | 170° 8 kt | 1010.5 | ||||
| 21:35 UTC | 7 kt | 1010.5 | ||||
| 21:40 UTC | 180° 7 kt | 1010.2 | ||||
| 21:45 UTC | 220° 6 kt | 1010.8 | ||||
| 21:50 UTC | 300° 26 kt | 1013.5 | -RA BR | |||
| 21:53 UTC | 71 | 67 | 300° 25 kt | 37 | 1012.9 | +RA BR |
| 21:59 UTC | 67 | 65 | 310° 19 kt | 37 | 1013.2 | +RA BR |
| 22:04 UTC | 67 | 65 | 340° 19 kt | 34 | 1012.2 | +RA BR |
| 22:05 UTC | 21 kt | 1012.2 | +RA BR | |||
| 22:09 UTC | 67 | 65 | 340° 18 kt | 32 | 1011.9 | +RA BR |
| 22:10 UTC | 340° 18 kt | 1011.9 | +RA BR | |||
| 22:12 UTC | 68 | 65 | 350° 19 kt | 32 | 1011.9 | +RA BR |
| 22:20 UTC | 10° 12 kt | 1012.2 | -RA | |||
| 22:25 UTC | 10° 9 kt | 14 | 1012.5 | -RA | ||
| 22:35 UTC | 30° 5 kt | 1013.2 | -RA | |||
| 22:40 UTC | 0° 0 kt | 1013.9 | -RA | |||
| 22:45 UTC | 220° 6 kt | +RA BR | ||||
| 22:50 UTC | 210° 8 kt | 1015.6 | +RA BR | |||
| 22:53 UTC | 67 | 65 | 210° 8 kt | 1015.6 | +RA BR | |
| 23:00 UTC | 310° 3 kt | 1014.6 | +RA BR | |||
| 23:05 UTC | 320° 4 kt | 1014.6 | RA BR | |||
| 23:10 UTC | 310° 7 kt | 1013.9 | -RA BR | |||
| 23:14 UTC | 67 | 65 | 330° 8 kt | 1013.5 | -RA | |
| 23:15 UTC | 330° 7 kt | 1013.5 | -RA | |||
| 23:20 UTC | 340° 6 kt | 1013.2 | -RA | |||
| 23:25 UTC | 340° 5 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 23:30 UTC | 340° 5 kt | 1013.2 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Green Bay radar (KGRB), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:32 UTC.
Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track
Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:41 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 1.44 | Ashwaubenon | Brown, WI | IN THE LAST 1 HOUR. |
| 20:43 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | N Oshkosh | Winnebago, WI | INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 41 AND 76. |
| 20:57 UTC | TSTM WND GST 62 | Neenah | Winnebago, WI | |
| 21:00 UTC | TSTM WND GST 54 | Oshkosh | Winnebago, WI | |
| 21:03 UTC | TSTM WND GST 49 | Appleton | Outagamie, WI | |
| 21:04 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Ne Waupun | Fond Du Lac, WI | A NWS STORM SURVEY FOUND EF-1 RATED TORNADO DAMAGE NORTHEAST OF WAUPUN, OR SOUTHWEST OF OAKFIELD. THE TORNADO HAD AN ESTIMATED PEAK WIND OF 94 MPH, WITH A PATH LENGTH OF 4.54 MILES. |
| 21:08 UTC | TORNADO | 3 S Oakfield | Fond Du Lac, WI | A NWS STORM SURVEY FOUND EF-0 RATED TORNADO DAMAGE SOUTH OF OAKFIELD, JUST NORTH OF THE DODGE COUNTY LINE. THE TORNADO HAD AN ESTIMATED PEAK WIND OF 80 MPH, WITH A PATH LENGTH OF 0.14 MILES. |
| 21:08 UTC | TORNADO | 3 S Oakfield | Fond Du Lac, WI | |
| 21:09 UTC | TORNADO | 1 W South Byron | Fond Du Lac, WI | |
| 21:09 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Wsw South Byron | Fond Du Lac, WI | A NWS STORM SURVEY FOUND EF-1 RATED TORNADO DAMAGE JUST SOUTH OF SOUTH BYRON. THE TORNADO HAD AN ESTIMATED PEAK WIND OF 100 MPH AND A PATH LENGTH OF 0.92 MILES. |
| 21:10 UTC | TORNADO | Brownsville | Dodge, WI | SURVEY STILL ONGOING. MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW. |
| 21:11 UTC | TORNADO | 2 W Brownsville | Dodge, WI | A NWS STORM SURVEY FOUND EF-2 RATED TORNADO DAMAGE STARTING WEST OF BROWNSVILLE IN EXTREME NORTHERN DODGE COUNTY. THE TORNADO HAD AN ESTIMATED PEAK WIND OF 125 MPH, WITH A PATH LENGTH OF 3.95 MILES. |
| 21:11 UTC | TORNADO | 2 W Brownsville | Dodge, WI | |
| 21:11 UTC | TORNADO | South Byron | Fond Du Lac, WI | A NWS STORM SURVEY FOUND EF-1 RATED TORNADO DAMAGE IN SOUTH BYRON. THE TORNADO HAD AN ESTIMATED PEAK WIND OF 80 MPH, WITH A PATH LENGTH OF 0.15 MILES. |
| 21:11 UTC | TORNADO | South Byron | Fond Du Lac, WI | |
| 21:12 UTC | TORNADO | Brownsville | Dodge, WI | A NWS STORM SURVEY FOUND EF-1 TORNADO DAMAGE NEAR BROWNSVILLE. THE TORNADO HAD AN ESTIMATED PEAK WIND OF 107 MPH , WITH A PATH LENGTH OF 2.7 MILES. |
| 21:12 UTC | TORNADO | Brownsville | Dodge, WI | |
| 21:14 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ene Brownsville | Dodge, WI | A COUPLE OF SEMI TRUCK TRAILERS TIPPED OVER AT QUAD GRAPHICS PLANT. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 21:15 UTC | TORNADO | Oakfield | Fond Du Lac, WI | DEBRIS VISIBLE FROM HWY Y LOOKING EAST OF OAKFIELD. |
| 21:16 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lomira | Dodge, WI | MULTIPLE REPORTS OF LARGE TREES DOWN AND SOME UPROOTED IN LOMIRA. |
| 21:16 UTC | TORNADO | 3 E South Byron | Fond Du Lac, WI | A NWS STORM SURVEY FOUND EF-1 RATED TORNADO DAMAGE EAST OF SOUTH BYRON. THE TORNADO HAD AN ESTIMATED PEAK WIND OF 90 MPH, WITH A PATH LENGTH OF 3.05 MILES. |
| 21:16 UTC | TORNADO | 3 E South Byron | Fond Du Lac, WI | PATH MAY BE LENGTHENED TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST. |
| 21:20 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 2.18 | Appleton | Outagamie, WI | RAINFALL TOTAL THIS AFTERNOON. MINOR STREET FLOODING AND LOW-LYING AREAS. |
| 21:22 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Sse Eden | Fond Du Lac, WI | A NWS STORM SURVEY FOUND EF-1 RATED TORNADO DAMAGE SOUTH OF THE VILLAGE OF EDEN. THE TORNADO HAD AN ESTIMATED PEAK WIND OF 90 MPH, WITH A PATH LENGTH OF 4.48 MILES. |
| 21:25 UTC | FLOOD | Neenah | Winnebago, WI | 6-8 INCHES OF STANDING WATER ON ROADS. COUPLE CARS STRANDED. |
| 21:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 S Mount Calvary | Fond Du Lac, WI | DAMAGE TO OUTBUILDING. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 21:27 UTC | TORNADO | 6 Ene Eden | Fond Du Lac, WI | DAMAGE SURVEY FROM SOUTHWEST OF MULLET LAKE. ONE BARN DIRECTLY HIT WITH DEBRIS CARRIED DOWNSTREAM THROUGH THE FIELDS. PEAK WIND EST AT 100MPH. |
| 21:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Sse Meggers | Manitowoc, WI | BARN DOWN ON HWY X AND 67. DELAYED REPORT TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 21:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | New Holstein | Calumet, WI | LOTS OF TREES DOWN IN NEW HOLSTEIN. DELAYED REPORT BY LAW ENFORCEMENT. ESTIMATED TIME FROM PREVIOUS REPORT OF MESONET GUST. |
| 21:30 UTC | TSTM WND GST 54 | New Holstein | Calumet, WI | |
| 21:30 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | New Holstein | Calumet, WI | |
| 21:30 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Ene Dundee | Fond Du Lac, WI | A NWS STORM SURVEY FOUND EF-0 RATED TORNADO DAMAGE NEAR DUNDEE. THE TORNADO HAD AN ESTIMATED PEAK WIND OF 80 MPH, AND A PATH LENGTH OF 0.04 MILES. |
| 21:33 UTC | TORNADO | 3 N Kiel | Manitowoc, WI | BRIEF TORNADO DESTROYED A BARN AND DAMAGED A FEW TREES ABOUT 2.5 MILES NORTH OF KIEL NEAR THE CALUMET/MANITOWOC COUNTY LINE. OTHER WIND DAMAGE NEAR NEW HOLSTEIN AND EAST OF KIEL WAS A RESULT OF STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS ASSOCI |
| 21:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Kiel | Manitowoc, WI | NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN AROUND THE KIEL AREA. DELAYED REPORT TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 21:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Kiel | Manitowoc, WI | TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN IN CITY. |
| 21:36 UTC | TORNADO | 3 N Cascade | Sheboygan, WI | STORM SURVEY NORTHWEST OF CASCADE. TWO HORSE SHEDS LOFTED AND CARRIED INTO A SOYBEAN FIELD WHICH HAD SOME SCOURING. MAX WINDS EST AT 100MPH. |
| 21:38 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 E Millhome | Manitowoc, WI | TREES DOWN. ESTIMATED 60 MPH WIND. DELAYED REPORT. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 21:43 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Waldo | Sheboygan, WI | 2 SEMI TRUCKS OVERTURNED ON HIGHWAY 57 IN WALDO. TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN THROUGH MUCH OF THE COUNTY. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 21:44 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Nw Cleveland | Manitowoc, WI | 5 TREES DOWN ON POWERLINES NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HWY X AND HWY 42. DELAYED REPORT. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 21:44 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | 4 E Kiel | Manitowoc, WI |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2018 tornado in WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of August 28, 2018
25 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 28 | 3:00 PM CDT | EF1 | Marquette, WI | 0.7 | 50 | |||
| August 28 | 3:03 PM CDT | EF1 | Marquette, WI | 1.8 | 75 | |||
| August 28 | 3:17 PM CDT | EF1 | Green Lake, WI | 3.1 | 90 | |||
| August 28 | 3:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Green Lake, WI | 2.1 | 50 | |||
| August 28 | 3:55 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 4.6 | 175 | |||
| August 28 | 4:00 PM CDT | EF0 | Fond du Lac, WI | 0.6 | 50 | |||
| August 28 | 4:04 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 4.4 | 100 | |||
| August 28 | 4:08 PM CDT | EF0 | Fond du Lac, WI | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| August 28 | 4:09 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 0.9 | 100 | |||
| August 28 | 4:11 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 0.1 | 80 | |||
| August 28 | 4:11 PM CDT | EF2 | Fond du Lac, WI | 3.9 | 150 | $169,000 | ||
| August 28 | 4:12 PM CDT | EF1 | Dodge, WI | 2.7 | 100 | |||
| August 28 | 4:16 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 2.8 | 100 | |||
| August 28 | 4:22 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 4.5 | 90 | |||
| August 28 | 4:27 PM CDT | EF1 | Fond du Lac, WI | 4.0 | 100 | |||
| August 28 | 4:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Fond du Lac, WI | 0.0 | 80 | |||
| August 28 | 4:36 PM CDT | EF1 | Sheboygan, WI | 5.3 | 100 | |||
| August 28 | 4:57 PM CDT | EF0 | Sheboygan, WI | 0.3 | 75 | |||
| August 28 | 7:27 PM EDT | EF0 | Lake, MI | 1.1 | 500 | $100,000 | ||
| August 28 | 7:30 PM EDT | EF1 | Lake, MI | 1.0 | 500 | $100,000 | ||
| August 28 | 7:49 PM EDT | EF0 | Antrim, MI | 6.6 | 70 | $80,000 | ||
| August 28 | 7:09 PM CDT | EF0 | Scott, IA | 4.1 | 25 | |||
| August 28 | 8:53 PM EDT | EF1 | Ogemaw, MI | 0.2 | 40 | $65,000 | ||
| August 28 | 8:58 PM EDT | EF0 | Arenac, MI | 0.4 | 40 | $45,000 | ||
| August 28 | 9:14 PM EDT | EF1 | Arenac, MI | 0.9 | 50 | $70,000 |
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.