Tornadoes · United States · Wisconsin · 2026

EF0 tornado, Jackson County, Wisconsin, July 20, 2026

This EF0 tornado ran 2.3 miles across Jackson County on July 20, 2026, touching down at 7:47 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.

Preliminary. This is NWS ARX's damage survey, filed in the Damage Assessment Toolkit as SW of Black River Falls, WI. The rating, the path and the casualties are the survey's and can change while it is revised. The Storm Prediction Center compiles the official record of 2026 from these surveys and publishes it in the spring of 2027; this page moves to that tornado's permanent address when it does.

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 mphthis tornado

    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.

The survey

Rating, as surveyed
EF0, preliminary
Date
July 20, 2026
Touchdown
7:47 PM CDT (00:47 UTC)
Lifted
7:53 PM CDT (00:53 UTC)
On the ground
6 minutes
Path length
2.3 miles (3.7 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Jackson County
Touchdown point
44.268, -90.923
Lift-off point
44.270, -90.877
Highest wind the damage implies
60 mph
Surveyed by
NWS ARX
The office's name for it
SW of Black River Falls, WI
Survey last edited
August 6, 2026
Record number
None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

What the survey found

This tornado was observed via webcam images and produced an impressive TDS, but no damage was found via a partner survey or in Sentinel satellite imagery. Given that it went over trees, it is rated EF0 vs. EFU.

Written by NWS ARX in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

The warnings

1 minute of warning. NWS ARX issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:46 UTC, 1 minute before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
00:46 UTC01:15 UTCTornado WarningARX

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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:57 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.

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), 00:00Z

0.8 hours before the tornado, 223 km from the path. July 21, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2026-07-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 256 joules per kilogram, CIN -208, lifted condensation level 1707 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2026-07-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 62 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
256 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-208 J/kg
Surface CAPE
948 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1707 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
139 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4
0-3 km lapse rate
6.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), 12:00Z

11.2 hours after it, 223 km from the path. July 21, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2026-07-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 10 joules per kilogram, CIN -2, lifted condensation level 920 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2026-07-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 82 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 51 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
10 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Surface CAPE
51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
920 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
82 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Black River Falls (BCK), 4 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
22:55 UTC85.572.5220° 8 kt1004.4
23:15 UTC8673.4220° 10 kt161004.1
23:35 UTC8573.4220° 7 kt151004.1
23:55 UTC8472.7220° 9 kt141003.7
00:15 UTC8373.2220° 10 kt1003-RA
00:35 UTC8174220° 6 kt1003.4-RA
00:55 UTC78.376.5170° 8 kt1003RA
01:15 UTC7877.40° 0 kt1003.4-RA
01:35 UTC78.376.5220° 3 kt1003.7
01:55 UTC7776.6210° 3 kt1003.7
02:15 UTC76.676.5230° 3 kt1003.7
02:35 UTC7676240° 3 kt1004.1

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:48 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
23:20 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD2 Nw AugustaEau Claire, WIVideo shared by the spotter is inconclusive on whether there was any ground contact. There have been no damage reports to investigate.
00:49 UTCTORNADO4 Wsw Black River FallsJackson, WIA brief tornado occurred just southwest of Black River Falls based on radar and pictures from traffic cameras.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 20, 2026

13 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 203:35 PM CDTEF1Franklin, IA0.425
July 203:49 PM CDTEF1Butler, IA3.125
July 203:56 PM CDTEF1Butler, IA4.425
July 204:00 PM CDTUnratedGrundy, IA2.00
July 206:31 PM EDTUnratedMarquette, MI2.80
July 206:47 PM CDTEF1Menominee, MI0.135
July 206:48 PM CDTEF0Wabasha, MN2.320
July 207:58 PM EDTEF1Delta, MI0.30
July 207:03 PM CDTUnratedMarathon, WI2.00
July 207:11 PM CDTEF0Trempealeau, WI0.920
July 207:15 PM CDTEF0Marathon, WI8.225
July 207:57 PM CDTEF0Menominee, WI7.820
July 208:26 PM CDTUnratedShawano, WI8.80

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

Sources

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.