Storm Record · Dane, Dodge, Jefferson, Sauk, Walworth, Waukesha Counties
June 8, 2011: Straight-line wind and a tornado across six counties
What the National Weather Service recorded
Forcing along an advancing cold front moving into a warm, moist unstable air mass over the region produced severe thunderstorms with a tornado, damaging winds and large hail over south-central and southeast Wisconsin during the evening hours of June 8th. The combination of instability, with surface-based CAPE of 3000 J/kg, and 0 to 6 km bulk shear of 40 knots produced supercell thunderstorms, with one of the cells developing an EF1 tornado over central Dane County that uprooted trees, felled power-lines, damaged three vehicles and crushed a garage. A cluster of supercell thunderstorms from Lafayette into Dane County then congealed into a bowing line that moved due east and created damaging wind gusts of 60 to 80 mph across much of the area along and south of Interstate-94. At the height of the event, over 27,000 customers had no electric power in Southeast Wisconsin, and probably another 15 to 20,000 customers in south-central Wisconsin lost power.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database · episode 54458
Every report, in the Weather Service's words
Where It Hit
| Location | County | Hazard | Size | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albion (3 NNW) | Dane | Wind | 81 mph wind | A grain bin was destroyed and and several large trees were uprooted. |
| Belleville | Dane | Wind | 81 mph wind | Several large trees were uprooted as the rain and small hail moved horizontally. |
| Hebron | Jefferson | Wind | 81 mph wind | Powerful thunderstorm winds pushed over several large trees. |
| Delavan (2 W) | Walworth | Wind | 81 mph wind | Powerful thunderstorm winds pushed over several large trees. Roof damage was inflicted on some buildings, but the extent is unknown. |
| Oregon | Dane | Wind | 81 mph wind | Powerful thunderstorm winds pushed over dozens of large trees, and broken tree branches snapped several power-lines in a 5-mile-wide swath. In Stoughton, the winds knocked over an empty semi-trailer which then impacted and damaged two other trailers. Also, a road sign in Stoughton was pushed over at a 45-degree angle. |
| Mt Horeb (2 WNW) | Dane | Wind | 75 mph wind | Powerful thunderstorm winds pushed over several large trees, and broken tree branches snapped a few power-lines in a 2 to 3 mile wide swath. A business's tower was toppled into its parking lot. |
| Verona (4 WSW) | Dane | Wind | 75 mph wind | Downburst tree damage was caused by downdrafts in a super-cell thunderstorm that spun up a nearby tornado that passed through the south side of Verona to north of McFarland. |
| Muskego (1 NE) | Waukesha | Wind | 75 mph wind | Powerful thunderstorm winds toppled several large trees. A few pieces of siding was removed from a home. |
| Darien (2 N) | Walworth | Wind | 75 mph wind | Powerful thunderstorm winds pushed over several large trees. |
| Sun Prairie (2 WSW) | Dane | Wind | 75 mph wind | Powerful thunderstorm winds pushed over several large trees, and a flag pole was pushed down. |
| Ft Atkinson (5 SW) | Jefferson | Wind | 75 mph wind | Powerful thunderstorm wind gusts toppled several large trees. One of the trees crashed onto and damaged a 5th wheel camper southwest of Ft. Atkinson. Elsewhere in the Ft. Atkinson area, a roof on a home's 3-season room was ripped off by the powerful winds, and another home received moderate damage when a large tree punctured down through the roof onto a bathtub. |
| Cambridge (2 NNE) | Jefferson | Wind | 75 mph wind | Powerful thunderstorm winds raked the area from around Cambridge east to the Jefferson area. Dozens of large trees were uprooted, and a number of power-lines and power-poles were snapped by broken tree branches. In Jefferson, three buildings were damaged: one of them had extensive damage to its roof and interior ceilings, a business's outdoor sign was damaged, and motel had a roof peel and several imploded windows. A fence in a subdivision east of Cambridge was blown down. A few roads were temporarily closed until tree debris was removed. |
| Lake Mills | Jefferson | Wind | 75 mph wind | Powerful thunderstorm wind gusts toppled several large trees. One of the trees crashed onto a home and resulted in minor damage. |
| Mc Farland | Dane | Wind | 70 mph wind | A gust of 70 mph was measured on a home weather station. Numerous branches were knocked down in the McFarland area. The gusts were probably related to the rear flank downdraft of the supercell tornado that tracked just northeast of McFarland around 2000 CST (8 pm CDT). |
| Mc Farland | Dane | Wind | 70 mph wind | Several large trees were uprooted by powerful thunderstorm winds. |
| Lake Geneva | Walworth | Wind | 62 mph wind | Powerful thunderstorm winds pushed over several large trees. |
| Oak Hill (3.66 NE) | Jefferson | Wind | 60 mph wind | Powerful thunderstorm winds broke numerous large tree branches and toppled several large trees in the vicinity of the Milwaukee/Sullivan WFO. |
| Mt Horeb (2 S) | Dane | Hail | 2.75" hail | This report was received from WMTV-15 in Madison. |
| Verona (1 E) | Dane | Hail | 1.75" hail | |
| Mc Farland (3 NE) | Dane | Hail | 1.75" hail | |
| Downtown Madison (2 W) | Dane | Hail | 1.5" hail | |
| Plain (2 N) | Sauk | Hail | 1.5" hail | |
| Monona | Dane | Hail | 1" hail | |
| Shorewood Hills | Dane | Hail | 0.88" hail | |
| Fox Lake | Dodge | Hail | 0.88" hail | |
| Verona (2.73 W) | Dane | Tornado | EF0 | This tornado spun up southwest of Verona about 1/2 mile southwest of the intersection of CTH G and Sugar River Road, and traveled east-northeast to about 3 miles northeast of McFarland about 1.5 miles east-northeast of the intersection of Interstate 39/90 and STH 12/18. The damage path was sporadic. On the south side of Verona, numerous trees were uprooted, a garage was crushed by a fallen tree, and 3 vehicles were damaged by fallen trees. Several power lines were pulled down by broken tree branches. Scattered uprooted trees and/or broken tree branches were seen along the remainder of the tornado path. However, most of the damage occurred in the Verona area. Maximum winds in this EF1 tornado were about 95 mph based on DI 27 (TH), DOD 3. The actual starting location was 42.98002/-89.58399 and the ending location was 43.05538/-89.26050. The average path width was about 70 yards. |
Service areas this storm touched