Tornado count down this year in Wisconsin, U.S.

It has been a slow start to the severe weather season, and especially the tornado season. The slow start in spring had a lot to do with the cooler weather pattern and lack of spring like warmth that was hindered by the mid-April snowstorm.


In 2018, Wisconsin has only seen six tornadoes, all EF0s; this is the weakest of tornadoes on the enhanced fajita sale. The EF system measures the strength of a tornado by the damage it costs. The typical year will give us 12 tornadoes so far in the season, and the normal year ushers in 23 tornadoes around the Badger State.


Another interesting stat I came across is the absence of tornado watches. As of July 9th, there were only 63 tornado watches issued in 2018 for the whole county. The last 11 years, this is the time of year we typically see tornado watch “63”:



The tornado count is low as well for the U.S. - no surprise since the watches are low.  Through July 5th, the United States has only seen 604 tornadoes; on average through the end of July, the county sees almost 1,000! 

Even though it is a slow start for Wisconsin, it’s an especially sluggish start for the whole county. I think most of us will agree this isn’t a bad thing.  There's no clear indication if there's a change for the second half of the summer. It comes down to the ingredients being there; warm temperatures followed by cool down, more or less turbulence.  Without this, the slow severe weather season could continue!

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