Wisconsin Tornado Outbreak Of August 2005
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The Wisconsin tornado outbreak of 2005 was an outbreak of
tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
es that occurred primarily in southern
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
on August 18, 2005. A system of storms unleashed a total of 28 tornadoes, 27 of which were confirmed in southern
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, and 1 confirmed in
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
. This outbreak set a new record for the most tornadoes observed in the state in a single day, breaking the previous record of 24 tornadoes set on May 8, 1988. The system generating the Stoughton tornado was also accompanied by many reports of severe winds and hail throughout the region. The Stoughton tornado was documented on an episode of The Weather Channel's ''
Storm Stories ''Storm Stories'' is an American non-fiction television series that airs on The Weather Channel (TWC) and Zone Reality. It is hosted and narrated by meteorologist and storm tracker Jim Cantore. ''Storm Stories'' showcases various types of severe w ...
''.


Tornadoes


August 18 event


Stoughton, Wisconsin

By far the most significant tornado of the day developed 2.0 miles (3.2 km) north of
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
at 6:15 p.m.. This large, intense multiple-vortex tornado tracked 20.0 miles (32.2 km) into Jefferson County from
Dane County Dane County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin. The county seat is Madison, which is also the state capital. Dane County is the ...
, devastating the town of Stoughton. East of Oregon the tornado tore through several farms before impacting residential subdivisions in Stoughton. One person was crushed to death in their basement from fireplace and chimney bricks that crashed through the floor. Numerous homes, businesses, farm buildings, vehicles, power-lines, trees, and other personal effects were either damaged or destroyed along its path that grew to a maximum width of about 600 yards north of Stoughton. As for residential structures, 220 sustained minor damage, 84 had major damage, and 69 were destroyed. As for business structures, 6 sustained minor damage, 1 had major damage, and 1 was destroyed. As for agricultural structures, 5 sustained minor damage, 5 had major damage, and 40 were destroyed. Several vehicles were flipped and tossed as well. Some homes in town were completely leveled, and an F4 rating was considered. Further investigation revealed that the homes were not well-built, and the slow (sometimes nearly stationary) forward movement of the tornado negated a rating higher than F3. After striking Stoughton, the tornado caused damage to trees and crops north of Busseyville before dissipating. Debris from this tornado was lofted by the parent updraft and carried downstream to scattered locations in the counties of Jefferson, Waukesha, Milwaukee, Walworth, Racine, and Kenosha. 23 people were injured. Ten years later to the day, three tornadoes touched down outside of
Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial lak ...
, Big Bend, and Waukesha. There were no injuries or fatalities from those tornadoes.


See also

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List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks These are some notable tornadoes, tornado outbreaks, and tornado outbreak sequences that have occurred in North America. #''The listing is U.S.-centric, with greater and more consistent information available for U.S. tornadoes. Some North Americ ...
*
Tornadoes of 2005 This page documents notable tornadoes and tornado outbreaks worldwide in 2005. Strong and destructive tornadoes form most frequently in the United States, Bangladesh, Argentina, Brazil and Eastern India, but they can occur almost anywhere under ...
*
Southern Ontario tornado outbreak of 2005 The Southern Ontario tornado outbreak of 2005 was a series of thunderstorms on the afternoon of August 19, 2005, that spawned tornadoes damaging homes in the Conestoga Lake, Fergus, and Tavistock areas. A tornado was reported within the Toronto ...
– An outbreak the following day produced by the same area of low pressure.


References


External links


Stoughton Tornado Website (Jonathon G. Lampe)National Weather Service Milwaukee reportNWS La Crosse reportPhotos from spotter organization MidWest SSTRC. (Dale Bernstein-President, and Dan H.)Video about The Tornado and Church Fire
from Stoughton's
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channel {{Wisconsin tornado events F3 tornadoes Tornadoes of 2005 Tornadoes in Wisconsin 2005 natural disasters in the United States 2005 in Wisconsin August 2005 events in the United States