Two tornadoes confirmed in area from last Thursday's storms

EAU CLAIRE — The National Weather Service has confirmed a pair of tornadoes in northwestern Wisconsin during last week’s severe weather. Both were weak by the standards of such storms.

The first of the two was in Pierce County, near Beldenville. It touched down at about 6:06 p.m. last Thursday and stayed on the ground for about nine minutes. At its widest the tornado was 25 yards wide.

The tornado moved northwest for 6.6 miles. The damage summary says it “uprooted or broke limbs off of several dozen trees” with winds that peaked at 80 mph.

The second tornado touched down in St. Croix County and could have been dangerous despite winds that peaked at 70 mph. It began immediately south of I-94 near Wilson and crossed the interstate.

The tornado lasted only two minutes and tracked over the course of a mile. Like the Pierce County tornado it topped out at a width of 25 yards. Fortunately the damage was primarily to trees.

Tornadoes are ranked on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which goes from EF0 to EF5. Since both of the tornadoes was below 85 mph experts classify them as EF0.

August is the fourth-busiest month for tornadoes in Wisconsin, historically. According to the National Weather Service the month does have one notable thing about it: more tornadoes touched down in the state on Aug. 18, 2005 than any other single day. That outbreak saw 27 confirmed tornadoes and helped pace the year’s 62 tornadoes, which is also a record.