National Weather Service confirms EF1 tornado south of Strum Monday evening

STRUM, Wis. (WEAU) - A tornado is confirmed to have touched down south of Strum in Trempealeau County during Monday evening’s storms.

According to the National Weather Service in La Crosse, the tornado packed peak winds of 105 miles per hour and stayed on the ground for 8.8 miles, lasting 16 minutes, according to preliminary survey data.

The tornado was rated as an EF1 and reached a maximum width of 75 yards. It touched down west of Highway 93 in the Town of Chimney Rock at 5:57 p.m., or about six miles north of Independence and traveled across Highway 93 and northeast through the Town of Hale before ending in the Town of Unity, or about 3.5 miles southeast of Strum, at 6:13 p.m.

While the tornado went through rural areas, it did damage several barns, outbuildings, and trees. At least one structure was destroyed while a house and cabin were also damaged. The strong winds toppled a semi near the intersection of Highway 93 and County Highway VV, injuring the driver. Nobody was killed in the storm.

At an estimated peak wind measurement of 105 miles per hour, the tornado fell just short of being graded an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, rating instead as a moderate tornado.

The National Weather Service in Milwaukee/Sullivan reports it’s the first Wisconsin tornado in September and the first tornado in Trempealeau County since July 19 of 2020, when an EF1 touched down near Osseo. Monday’s tornado is the 31st tornado in 2021 in Wisconsin, and also the 15th EF1 tornado in the state this year. The last year Wisconsin had as many tornadoes was 2018, when the state saw 33 of them, although more than half of them occurred on the same day in east-central Wisconsin that year.

For more information about Monday’s storms that swept through Wisconsin, you can visit the NWS-La Crosse storm summary page here.

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