One year anniversary of the Chetek tornado, the longest tornado on record
Just one year ago today, a tornado in Western Wisconsin tore through four counties on its way to the longest tracked tornado on record. The tornado was on the ground for 83 miles, a state record. It was given a grade of an EF-3 with winds close to 140 miles per hour. Chetek, a community in Barron County of just over 2000 was hit the hardest with damage.
The tornado was on the ground for almost an hour and a half; it raged through Polk, Barron, Rusk, and Price Counties before dissipating. It was the strongest tornado of the year, and brought with it the first death in Wisconsin from a tornado in nearly 10 years.
The previous longest Wisconsin tornado path was also a tornado in northwest Wisconsin, an 80-mile path through Burnett, Piece, Polk, and St Croix Counties around the same time of year on May 10th, 1953.
Wisconsin had 23 tornadoes in 2017 with the average being that same number. So far in 2018, we have two tornadoes in the Badger State, one in our viewing area last week in Washington County.
Pictures and information courtesy: National Weather Service Twin Cities