Wisconsin Tornado Outbreak of August 2005

Wisconsin tornado outbreak of 2005

Photograph of Stoughton tornado (via NWS)
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	August 18, 2005
Tornadoes confirmed	28 confirmed
Max rating1	F3 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak2	8 hours, 40 minutes
Damage	$42.537 million
Casualties	1 fatality, 24 injuries
Areas affected	Minnesota, Wisconsin
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado

¹Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

The Wisconsin tornado outbreak of 2005 was an outbreak of tornadoes that occurred primarily in southern Wisconsin on August 18, 2005. Another tornado touched down in Minnesota. A total of 27 tornadoes were confirmed that day in Wisconsin, the most tornadoes recorded in the state in a single day. This broke the previous record of 24 tornadoes set on May 8, 1988. The system generating the Stoughton tornado was also accompanied by many reports of severe winds and hail throughout the region. The Stoughton tornado was documented on an episode of The Weather Channel's Storm Stories.

By far the most significant tornado of the day developed 2.0 miles (3.2 km) north of Oregon at 6:15 p.m.. This large, intense multiple-vortex tornado tracked 20.0 miles (32.2 km) into Jefferson County from Dane County, devastating the town of Stoughton.

East of Oregon the tornado tore through several farms before impacting residential subdivisions in Stoughton. One person was crushed to death in their basement from fireplace and chimney bricks that crashed through the floor. Numerous homes, businesses, farm buildings, vehicles, power-lines, trees, and other personal effects were either damaged or destroyed along its path that grew to a maximum width of about 600 yards north of Stoughton. As for residential structures, 220 sustained minor damage, 84 had major damage, and 69 were destroyed. As for business structures, 6 sustained minor damage, 1 had major damage, and 1 was destroyed. As for agricultural structures, 5 sustained minor damage, 5 had major damage, and 40 were destroyed. Several vehicles were flipped and tossed as well. Some homes in town were completely leveled, and an F4 rating was considered. Further investigation revealed that the homes were not well-built, and the slow (sometimes nearly stationary) forward movement of the tornado negated a rating higher than F3. After striking Stoughton, the tornado caused damage to trees and crops north of Busseyville before dissipating. Debris from this tornado was lofted by the parent updraft and carried downstream to scattered locations in the counties of Jefferson, Waukesha, Milwaukee, Walworth, Racine, and Kenosha. 23 people were injured.