As many as two dozen twisters raked sections of 14 Wisconsin counties late Friday in that area’s worst single outbreak of severe weather this year. By nightfall, authorities confirmed at least one fatality and six injuries in hard hit Stoughton, just southeast of Madison. But damage was widespread across state, in a broad corridor from near LaCrosse east to Lake Michigan. There were reports of shingles and debris falling from thunderstorms—which towered to fifty thousand feet—as they swept through Jefferson County and the nearby Milwaukee area.
Earlier, waves of thunderstorms produced blinding downpours in some of Chicago’s far northwest suburbs. Belvidere was swamped for a time by 3.50” while Woodstock in McHenry County was hit with 2” and Rockford’s 2.23” tally set a new record for August 18.
Thursday’s rains continued to help reduce the severity of this summer’s drought in Illinois.
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
