Swarms of at least 30 tornadoes blasted portions of the Midwest from southwest Missouri to southeast Wisconsin Monday afternoon and evening, producing at least one fatality, numerous injuries and swaths of devastation. Prior to Monday, the state of Wisconsin had only one January twister on record, occurring near Janesville back in 1967, while the closest twister to northeast Illinois struck near Kankakee on January 24, 1950.
All that changed in less than an hour on an unseasonably warm mid 60ยบ January afternoon as a series of twisters inflicted major damage along a line from just north of Rockford to just west of Racine in southeast Wisconsin. At least three people were injured in Boone county where storm debris made roads impassible near Poplar Grove. Some of the worst damage was inflicted near New Munster, Wisconsin west of Kenosha where 12 homes were destroyed.
--By Steve Kahn, WGN Weather Center Meteorologist
