Tornado confirmed with severe storms near Sparta

Sparta, Wis. (WSAW) - The National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF-0 tornado struck the Town of Wells, SE of Sparta, in Monroe County Thursday evening.

This was a quick spinup type tornado that developed along a line of severe storms moving across western and central Wisconsin along a warm front Thursday night. The EF-0 tornado with maximum winds of 85 mph, developed at 8:20 PM and was on the ground for 1 minute. During that time, it had a width of 35 yards and tracked a little more than a quarter of a mile.

Damage to a shed, a nearby house, and a number of trees was documented by storm surveys that provided information to the National Weather Service. In addition, a camper was flipped over and completely destroyed by the tornado.

This is the 4th tornado to impact Wisconsin in 2022. So far there have been 2 EF-0 tornadoes, including this twister near Sparta, and in western Dunn County on May 9th, as well as 2 EF-1 tornadoes which took place in eastern Dunn County on May 9th and in southeast Dane County on March 11th.

Last year in Wisconsin there were 41 confirmed tornadoes. The average number of tornadoes in a year for the state is 23.

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