Tornadoes · United States · Wisconsin · 2026
Unrated tornado, Merrillan, Wisconsin, June 19, 2026
This Unrated tornado ran 0.2 miles across Jackson County on June 19, 2026, touching down at 7:45 PM CDT and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody.
Preliminary. This is NWS ARX's damage survey, filed in the Damage Assessment Toolkit as SE of Merrillan, 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.
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 mph
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.
Unratedthis tornado
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
- Unrated, preliminary
- Date
- June 19, 2026
- Touchdown
- 7:45 PM CDT (00:45 UTC)
- Lifted
- 7:47 PM CDT (00:47 UTC)
- On the ground
- 2 minutes
- Path length
- 0.2 miles (0.4 km)
- Path width
- 30 yards (27 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Jackson County
- Touchdown point
- 44.440, -90.807
- Lift-off point
- 44.439, -90.803
- Surveyed by
- NWS ARX
- The office's name for it
- SE of Merrillan, WI
- Survey last edited
- June 25, 2026
- Record number
- None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.
What the survey found
Photo showing a faint lofting of dust with a surface circulation. Location estimated from radar and photo triangulation.
Written by NWS ARX in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.
The damage survey
1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ARX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EFU.
- Photo showing a faint lofting of dust with a surface circulation. Location estimated from radar and photo triangulation.
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
What the Weather Service recorded
During the evening hours on June 19th, a couple of severe storms produced large hail, damaging wind gusts and two brief tornadoes. One of these storms trekked through Trempealeau County where it produced golf ball sized hail in Osseo as well as a weak EF-0 tornado which resulted in minor damage. An additional tornado was documented in Jackson County, but no damage was verified which resulted in an EF-U rating.
Photo evidence of a very short-lived tornado lofting dust underneath a funnel cloud was correlated with a rotational signature on radar near Merrillan.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 19, 6:25 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
- Increasing likelihood (60-80%) for storms this afternoon- evening. A few stronger storms possible mainly north of I-90, with isolated severe hail/winds (<15% chance).
- Isolated showers may impact Taylor and northern Clark counties Saturday afternoon (20% chance).
- Rain potential on Sunday increases heading south from I-90 (30-60%), highest just south of our forecast area.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 19, 6:25 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service La Crosse WI 625 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Increasing likelihood (60-80%) for storms this afternoon- evening. A few stronger storms possible mainly north of I-90, with isolated severe hail/winds (<15% chance). - Isolated showers may impact Taylor and northern Clark counties Saturday afternoon (20% chance). - Rain potential on Sunday increases heading south from I-90 (30-60%), highest just south of our forecast area. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 1251 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026 Scattered storms this afternoon, a few strong to possibly severe Scattered showers and storms will be the story for this afternoon and evening ahead of an approaching upper level shortwave advancing into northern Minnesota. Dewpoints are in the low to mid 50s west of the Mississippi River and in the mid to upper 40s east, but there will be a slight uptick in moisture transport from the west this afternoon ahead of the shortwave. Main question is how much instability we can build this afternoon with incoming decaying midday showers and associated clouds. However, there's been a large portion of central/western Minnesota under few clouds that has seen strong insolation through the morning, and RAP mesoanalysis suggests this growing pool of instability will creep eastward through late afternoon with rather steep low and mid level lapse rates. RAP suggests potentially 1000-1500 J/kg SBCAPE north of I-90 (likely a bit high due to over-mixing), though HREF mean SBCAPE is more on the order of 750-1000 J/kg. Regardless, there will be ample instability, especially north of I-90. Deep layer bulk shear profiles will be robust with 0-6km values on the order of 30-60+ knots everywhere except maybe Taylor and northern Clark counties. Hodographs are somewhat messy but generally straight, suggesting potential for some splitting storms. Certainly favorable dynamics for some supercell structures, but forecast soundings only show deeper CAPE profiles for a brief window of 2-3 hours depending on location so storms will probably be more low-topped. Hail is likely to be the main hazard and should mostly be small, but any stronger/deeper/rotating updrafts could potentially grow isolated severe hail to around quarter size or slightly larger. DCAPE is marginal at best, so not expecting much of a severe wind threat but can't rule it out entirely. Activity will exit our area by late evening. Isolated showers in north-central Wisconsin Saturday afternoon In northwest flow on Saturday, steep 0-3km lapse rates will promote marginal afternoon instability. CAMs have been coming into agreement on the potential for diurnal showers popping up over northern Wisconsin heading into the afternoon. So have added small PoPs (20%) to Taylor into northern Clark counties to account for this, fizzling out toward sunset. Sunday rain chances will be highest just to our south Continuing to monitor Sunday's system and accompanying rain potential. A developing lee cyclone will rapidly advance from Kansas into MO/IA/IL with favorable upper dynamics. Strong low level moisture transport from the Gulf will feed into this system as it passes by to our south. There is wide north-to-south spread among ensemble guidance as to this surface low's track, but all GEFS/GEPS/ENS members keep it south of Wisconsin along with the heaviest rain. There remains low confidence in whether northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin will be brushed by some of the wrap around rainfall, if they will miss out entirely, or if the rain advances even a bit further north. Recent ensemble mean trends all exhibit slight north-to-south fluctuations that keep the forecast a bit muddled. So will continue to run with NBM PoPs for now which still paint a broad brushed 30-40% all the way north to I-90 with 60% in our far south. Seasonal into next week Not seeing any big pattern shifts or temperature swings further out in the extended period. Tuesday looks to bring the next substantial chance (70%) for rain as an upper wave drops through in northwest flow aloft. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SUNDAY/... Issued at 623 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026 Showers and storms continue moving through the region this evening as an area of low pressure shifts eastward across northern Wisconsin. These showers/storms are expected to mainly impact areas along and north of I-90, bringing MVFR/IFR visibility and MVFR ceilings, before moving out of the area by 05z. Behind them, VFR conditions are expected, continuing through the overnight and into Saturday morning for most, although those north of I-94 have the potential to see MVFR ceilings develop through mid Saturday morning (40-60% per the 19.18z REFS). Gusty southwest winds continue over the next few hours, generally 20-30KT, before diminishing to less than 10KT overnight and veering to the northwest Saturday morning. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. IA...None. && DISCUSSION...Kurz AVIATION...Falkinham
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 19, 1:01 PM CDT, 6 hours 44 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service La Crosse WI 101 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029- 032>034-041>044-053>055-061-201200- Mitchell-Howard-Winneshiek-Allamakee-Floyd-Chickasaw-Fayette- Clayton-Wabasha-Dodge-Olmsted-Winona-Mower-Fillmore-Houston- Taylor-Clark-Buffalo-Trempealeau-Jackson-La Crosse-Monroe-Juneau- Adams-Vernon-Crawford-Richland-Grant- 101 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southeast Minnesota...northeast Iowa and southwest into central Wisconsin. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight A few stronger storms will be possible this afternoon and evening with isolated large hail and gusty winds. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated this afternoon. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... No webinar is scheduled. Kurz
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jun 19, 3:33 PM CDT, 4 hours 12 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service La Crosse WI
333 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026
MNZ096-192100-
Houston MN-
333 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT SOUTHEASTERN HOUSTON COUNTY
THROUGH 400 PM CDT...
At 332 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over
Caledonia, moving east at 40 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 40 mph and half inch hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is
possible.
This strong thunderstorm will be near...
Brownsville around 350 PM CDT.
Other locations impacted by this storm include Reno, County Roads 3
And 24, Willington Grove, Freeburg, County 5 And Peyton Road,
Wilmington, Lock And Dam 8, County 14 And White Tail Road, Dun Romin
Park Campground, and Eitzen.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
&&
LAT...LON 4361 9161 4371 9127 4365 9127 4364 9126
4363 9127 4361 9127 4358 9123 4356 9123
4354 9125 4352 9122 4350 9122 4350 9161
TIME...MOT...LOC 2032Z 259DEG 34KT 4360 9152
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.50 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH
NaylorSpecial weather statement, Jun 19, 6:54 PM CDT, 51 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service La Crosse WI
654 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026
WIZ032-200030-
Buffalo WI-
654 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT NORTHWESTERN BUFFALO COUNTY
UNTIL 730 PM CDT...
At 654 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 15
miles north of Wabasha, moving east at 35 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 40 mph and nickel size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is
possible.
Locations impacted include...
Mondovi, Modena, Maxville, The Big Swamp Area, Urne and Misha
Mokwa.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Monitor the weather situation closely and be alert for threatening
weather conditions.
This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.
&&
LAT...LON 4460 9165 4443 9172 4451 9205 4451 9204
4452 9204 4453 9205 4455 9204 4456 9204
4457 9203 4459 9203 4459 9201 4460 9200
TIME...MOT...LOC 2353Z 285DEG 28KT 4459 9210
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.88 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH
APFLocal storm report, Jun 19, 7:08 PM CDT, 37 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service La Crosse WI
708 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0647 PM Hail 2 ENE Osseo 44.59N 91.17W
06/19/2026 M1.00 Inch Trempealeau WI Trained Spotter
Report of quarter sized hail east of Osseo.
&&Special weather statement, Jun 19, 7:23 PM CDT, 22 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service La Crosse WI
723 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026
WIZ017-029-200115-
Clark WI-Taylor WI-
723 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT NORTHEASTERN CLARK AND
SOUTHEASTERN TAYLOR COUNTIES UNTIL 815 PM CDT...
At 723 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over
Owen, or 17 miles southwest of Medford, moving east at 20 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph and nickel size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is
possible.
Locations impacted include...
Colby, Owen, Stetsonville, Curtiss, Atwood, Riplinger and Gad.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Monitor the weather situation closely and be alert for threatening
weather conditions.
&&
LAT...LON 4483 9057 4499 9060 4512 9020 4503 9020
4503 9031 4495 9032 4490 9031 4483 9032
TIME...MOT...LOC 0023Z 250DEG 17KT 4494 9054
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.88 IN
MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH
APFLocal storm report, Jun 19, 7:27 PM CDT, 18 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service La Crosse WI
727 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0650 PM Tstm Wnd Dmg Osseo 44.58N 91.23W
06/19/2026 Trempealeau WI Law Enforcement
Power poles and trees downed in Osseo.
&&
APFSpecial weather statement, Jun 19, 7:27 PM CDT, 18 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service La Crosse WI
727 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026
WIZ029-034-200100-
Jackson WI-Clark WI-
727 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT SOUTHERN CLARK AND NORTHEASTERN
JACKSON COUNTIES THROUGH 800 PM CDT...
At 727 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Hatfield, or 9 miles southwest of Neillsville, moving east at 45 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph and nickel size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is
possible.
This strong thunderstorm will be near...
Shortville around 740 PM CDT.
Other locations impacted by this storm include Ballard Road And Pray
Avenue, East Fork Campground, Wildcat Mound, Highway 95 And 73, Bruce
Mound, The Neillsville Municipal Airport, Lake Arbutus, Pray, Sidney,
and The Highground.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.
&&
LAT...LON 4440 9093 4458 9092 4457 9043 4434 9048
TIME...MOT...LOC 0027Z 281DEG 39KT 4448 9074
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.88 IN
MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH
NaylorThe surface observations
Black River Falls (BCK), 21 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:43 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.
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 June 19, 2026
4 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.
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.