First Alert Weather Update: First confirmed tornadoes in western Wisconsin

Wisconsin (WSAW) - The National Weather Service in Twin Cities/Chanhassen, MN has confirmed that an EF0 tornado struck to the east of the Village of Bruce and just south of Stanley on Thursday, June 24th.

Large hail, damaging winds, heavy rainfall, and possible tornadoes were reported.(WSAW)

Strong to severe storms developed on June 24th in western Wisconsin, initially to the north and west of Eau Claire. As the storms slowly pushed east, they intensified. Wind damage and large hail up to 2″ in diameter were reported in Bloomer. The severe storms rolled in Rusk County, spawning the first tornado of 2021 in Wisconsin to the east of the Village of Bruce at just after 3:30 PM. A trained storm spotter with the fire department and video from the severe storms showed the tornado tracking through the area, blowing the roof off of a shed, knocking over concrete blocks, ripping the siding off a house, and damaging several trees.

This tornado impacted locations east of Bruce in Rusk County on June 24th.(WSAW)

As the storms continued to slip to the east, about an hour later at 4:33 PM, severe storms produced a brief tornado to the south of Stanley on the eastern edge of Chippewa County. This was an EF0 tornado that was on the ground for less than a quarter of a mile. There were no reports of damage from this potential tornado. In addition, no injuries or deaths were reported in the wake of the two possible tornadoes.

An EF0 tornado has been confirmed south of Stanley on June 24th.(WSAW)

This was the 3rd latest date for the first confirmed tornado in Wausau since 1950. June is the peak for severe storms and tornadoes in the Badger state, with over 400 tornadoes occurring since 1950. The average number of tornadoes per year in Wisconsin is 23.

June 24, 2021 is the third latest date for the first confirmed tornado in Wisconsin since 1950.(WSAW)

Severe storms produced large hail and damaging winds on Thursday evening.(WSAW)

North Central Wisconsin was not spared the effects of severe storms. Two rounds of storms, one during the morning, and the second in the early evening hours, produced damaging winds, up to golf ball sized hail and heavy rainfall. Stevens Point was most impacted by large hail, with 1″ diameter hail occurring at 7:30 AM Thursday, followed 11 hours later by hail of 1.75″ in size at 6:30 PM. The severe storms moved out of the region after 9 PM on Thursday with the passage of a cold front.