‘Extremely dangerous’ tornado hits northeast Wisconsin
By Meteorologist Dakota Smith, CNN
(CNN) — An “extremely dangerous” tornado hit parts of Appleton and Menasha, Wisconsin, Monday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
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It prompted the agency to issue a particularly dangerous situation tornado warning — the second-highest level warning.
After hitting Menasha, the tornado moved over Lake Winnebago and dissipated over water. It was observed for at least 20 minutes from near Appleton to the northern coast of the lake.
The storm that spawned this tornado may produce more as it charges south across eastern Wisconsin and the National Weather Service says it is watching this storm carefully.
Video from Menasha obtained by CNN shows homes missing parts of roofs, structures stripped of their exteriors amid piles of debris, downed power poles and uprooted trees. In one video, a vehicle is seen flipped over next to a road.
“We are aware of severe damage in broad areas. We are asking the public to stay indoors, watch out for downed power lines, do not drive around road closures, and do not drive around the area unless absolutely necessary,” the Menasha Police Department posted on Facebook Monday afternoon.
The entire city of Menasha may be without power, according to a post from Menasha Utilities, a municipally owned company. More than 15,000 customers are without power in Winnebago and Calumet counties, where Menasha is located, according to PowerOutage.us. More than 18,000 customers are without power in neighboring Outagamie County, where Appleton is primarily located.
CNN has reached out to authorities for more information.
Earlier Monday, a 29-year-old man was killed in Whitewater, Wisconsin, from a suspected lightning strike as storms moved across the area, according to a news release from Whitewater Fire and EMS. The man was part of a tree trimming crew for an area energy utility.
“The supervisor of the crew reported that there was a ‘loud bang and a flash’ and they believed the tree had been struck by lightning,” just before 10 a.m. local time, according to the release. Police and the Walworth County Medical Examiner are still investigating.
More than 390,000 customers were without power in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana as severe thunderstorms with damaging winds tracked across the region. One cluster of storms from south of Chicago into neighboring northwest Indiana was warned for wind gusts up to 100 mph.
A Level 3 of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms is in effect Monday for a large part of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, primarily for these powerful winds. Large hail is also a threats in these regions, but additional isolated tornadoes are possible.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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CNN’s Sharif Paget and Ritu Prasad contributed to this report.
