Summer-like conditions with record temperatures lead to first Wisconsin tornadoes in February

EVANSVILLE, Wis. (news agencies) — The first tornadoes ever recorded in Wisconsin in the usually frigid month of February tore through mostly rural areas on a day that broke records for warmth, setting up the perfect scenario for the type of severe weather normally seen in the late spring and summer.

The storms left a swath of destruction that included dead and missing cows, roofs blown off of homes, destroyed storage sheds and barns, trashed vehicles and shattered windows.

At least two tornadoes were confirmed south of Madison and the National Weather Service was investigating reports of several more spawned from storms that swept across the southeastern part of the state around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, said meteorologist Taylor Patterson.

One confirmed tornado near Evansville was a “high end” F2, the weather service said. Those tornadoes are described as “significant,” with winds topping out at 135 mph (220 kph). Another tornado that touched down near Juda was an F2. Those tornadoes are considered “significant” with maximum winds of 110 mph (180 kph). Surveyors were still assessing damage late Friday afternoon, the weather service said.

There were no reports of significant injuries. Local emergency management officials reported dozens of buildings, power lines and other structures that were damaged in the path of the storm that formed in eastern Iowa and died out near Milwaukee. The temperature was a record high for the date: 59 degrees (15 Celsius).

Connie Arndt, 72, stood in disbelief Friday among the debris of a rental house she owned outside Evansville.

“All of us are in denial that this is February,” she said. “It’s an absolute shock.”

Matt Artis, 34, said he had just got out of the shower in his family’s Town of Porter farmhouse on Thursday evening when he heard a “big bang.” He got his mother and their dog, Dixie, into the bathroom just as the tornado hit. He said he emerged from the bathroom, looked up and saw nothing but the night sky. The tornado had torn the roof from their home.