3 tornadoes confirmed in destructive thunderstorms in Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE – At least three tornadoes hit Wisconsin amid powerful thunderstorms that caused extensive damage and left tens of thousands of people without power, officials said Thursday.

Severe weather spread from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan and began Wednesday evening in northwestern Wisconsin. By 2 a.m. Thursday, the many tornado warnings around the state had expired.

The National Weather Service inspected hard-hit areas in southeastern Wisconsin and confirmed that a tornado, likely rated EF1, caused damage around the Jefferson County community in Concord – where the storm knocked down farm buildings and left a path of destruction. Cows could be seen grazing among the debris that landed in the farm fields. On Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service confirmed that at least two other tornadoes were also responsible for damage near Waukesha and Watertown.

Governor Tony Evers signed a declaration imposing a state of emergency in Wisconsin. Evers Order directs state agencies to help those affected by storms. It also allows the Wisconsin National Guard to be activated to support local authorities in recovery efforts.

The Weather Service warned on Wednesday that severe weather sweeping through the upper Midwestern states could include hurricane-force winds and tornadoes and turn into a derecho – a rare type of storm that’s often described as an interior hurricane.

Andy Boxell, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Sullivan, said a derecho had not materialized. “It’s not what we got last night,” he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Utility crews worked to restore service to thousands of electricity customers. Electricity has been cut for about 90,000 customers across Wisconsin, according to the PowerOutage tracking website in the United States. As of late Thursday afternoon, nearly 24,000 customers were still without electricity.