EF1 tornado, Merrill to Granite Hgts, Wisconsin, July 28, 2021

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

July 28, 2021

Touchdown

8:40 PM CDT (01:40 UTC)

Lifted

8:44 PM CDT (01:44 UTC)

On the ground

4 minutes

Path length

2.7 miles (4.3 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Lincoln and Marathon counties

Touchdown point

45.140, -89.600

Lift-off point

45.101, -89.594

Record number

2107281940-01

Thunderstorms developed across northeast Wisconsin during the evening hours ahead of an approaching cold front. The strongest storms produced a swath of damaging winds, with wind gusts of 60 to 80 mph, and isolated tornadoes.

A tornado formed at 8:40 PM CDT near Pine River in southern Lincoln County and produced damage to dozens of trees, (DI 28, DOD 2,3,4), continuing south and entering Marathon County at 8:42 PM CDT. Total path length is estimated to be 2.68 miles long, with a width of 300 yards. Peak wind estimated to be 90 mph.

The tornado that formed at 8:40 PM CDT in southern Lincoln County crossed the county line at 8:42 PM CDT. The tornado continued south and produced damage to dozens of trees, (DI 28, DOD 2,3,4) before ending near the intersection of Shady Lane Road and Hazelwood Lane at 8:44 PM CDT. Total path length is estimated to be 2.68 miles long, with a width of 300 yards. Peak wind estimated to be 90 mph.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 00:17 UTC and running to 03:32 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:04 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 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.

The Green Bay radar (KGRB), 136 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:39 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 tornado in WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are

10 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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