EF0 tornadoes are 1st to hit Milwaukee suburbs in decades

Allison Finch
·2 min read
Milwaukee Tornadoes 10/12

Severe weather rumbled across Wisconsin on Wednesday, spawning at least four tornadoes and causing thousands of power outages across the state.

On Thursday evening, the NWS in Milwaukee confirmed on Twitter that they had found four EF0 tornado damage paths near Milwaukee. The strongest twister began in West Allis and tracked 3 miles southeast with 75 mph winds over a 10-minute period, ending about 5 miles shy of downtown Milwaukee. Another tornado was east of Lake Geneva, and one was near Hartland. One tornado traveled 4 miles near the town of Burlington.

Milwaukee Tornadoes 10/12

Locations of tornado reports and confirmed tornadoes (with EF ratings) near Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 12, 2022. The Milwaukee metro area (Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee Counties) is shown in yellow.

Reports of damage from the Hartland tornado were sent quickly after the event, with a note that debris fell on cars near local Highway 16 and Highway 83. One Twitter user shared a video of the tornado that spun near Burlington.

FOX6 News crews, a local news station in Milwaukee, took shelter in the basement as the station's meteorologists gave life-saving information on the air.

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Students, staff, facility and visitors were evacuated from Marquette University as the tornado threat neared. People found shelter in the parking garage as the storm passed.

Staff and customers at the Hartland Pick N' Save supermarket found shelter in the basement. After the storm had passed the area, the power had gone out and employees used flashlights to search the store for anyone who might have stayed.

"Well, that escalated quickly," the NWS office stated after the tornado reports.

In New Berlin, another southwestern Milwaukee suburb, a warning siren blared across an eerie storm atmosphere:

Tornadoes are rare but not unheard of. The immediate Milwaukee area has not seen a tornado since the year 2000, when an EF1 tornado moved through the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.

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