A large portion of Wisconsin was under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. that has since shifted into a severe thunderstorm watch for much of the state.
The tornado watch, which did not include Milwaukee County, stretched from Ozaukee County to across the Iowa border to the west. The National Weather Service issued the advisory the afternoon of April 13 and it comes after a weather system’s warm front was expected to bring thunderstorms, hail and more severe weather to the state.
Most parts of Wisconsin under the watch had about a 5% chance of a tornado forming, said Taylor Patterson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Sullivan office. A small area – the Wisconsin Dells, northeastern Columbia County and the western edge of Marquette County – had a 10% chance of seeing a tornado form.
While those chances might be low, the storms are expected to be most active later in the evening and Patterson said it’s important to have a way to receive warnings, she said. What’s more certain, is those areas under watch will see thunderstorms the evening of April 13, Patterson said.
“There is higher confidence they are going to see storms,” she said. “The uncertainty comes in on if they become tornadic or not.”
Western Wisconsin has already seen significant storm activity, according to the La Crosse office of the National Weather Service. Storms keeping close to the Minnesota border have produced large amounts of hail and, looking to the evening, there’s a chance for flash flood in the central part of the state.
In Milwaukee, the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch at 9:40 p.m. It said a line of severe thunderstorms, anticipated to reach Milwaukee between 2 to 3 a.m., would bring damaging winds as its primary threat.
There’s also the chance for isolated tornadoes, localized flooding and hail, according to the weather service.
The severe thunderstorm watch covers significant portions of the state, from Kenosha to La Crosse and north of Appleton.
That comes after the weather service issued what it calls a “hazardous weather outlook” for Milwaukee County ahead of the evening. That outlook warned of strong to severe thunderstorms beginning April 13 and through the rest of the week, but the service has yet to issue other watches or warnings for the city and surrounding area.
Patterson said storms are actively developing over central Wisconsin and the system’s ultimate track will determine what occurs in Milwaukee and other areas south of the tornado watch.
“It’s just ‘how far south do they get?'” she said, “Do you guys get clipped by them or get a nice swath of thunderstorms tonight.”
Wisconsin weather warnings
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Severe thunderstorm watch issued for Milwaukee, large part of Wisconsin
Reporting by David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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