Thunderstorms, some severe, may produce heavy to excessive rainfall over portions of the Central/Southern Plains, Mississippi Valley and Southeast. Dry and windy conditions will pose an elevated fire weather risk over parts of western Florida. Read More >
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Tornadoes in northeast Iowa, southeast Minnesota, and southwest & central Wisconsin |
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| Background Information | Statistics (1850-Present) | Records (1850-Present) |
| Date | Time | Location | Other Counties Affected |
Length (miles) |
Width (yards) |
Deaths** | Injuries** | EF-Scale | ||
| Month | Day | Year | ||||||||
| 5 | 22 | 2011 | 1505-1528 CST | Mound Prairie 2.7S (Houston County, MN) to Herrington 1.4NNW (La Crosse County, WI) | La Crosse (WI) | 13.79 | 150 (Houston) 125 (LaCrosse) |
0 | 0 | EF2 |
| This EF2 tornado cut a path across northeast Houston County from around 5 miles southwest of Hokah, through the very southern part of Hokah to the Target Lake area southeast of La Crescent, before crossing the Mississippi River. Near the beginning of the track, significant damage to some residences, barns and farm outbuildings occurred. In the same area, numerous 100 foot tall and 3-foot diameter trees were either uprooted or snapped off. Around a mile west of Hokah, 2 barns were significantly damaged and a residence received minor damage. Some minor roof damage and extensive tree damage was done on the south side of the town of Hokah. Tree damage was noted east of Hokah into the Mississippi River. Damages from the tornado were estimated to be almost $250 thousand.
Around 3:20 pm CST, the tornado crossed the Mississippi River into La Crosse near Target Lake. The first damage occurred on Green Island where numerous mature trees were snapped off and substantial damage occurred to the Green Island ice arena. The tornado then moved into a residential area where buildings sustained partial roof removal and garages were heavily damaged. Buildings in a small industrial area near the intersection of Green Bay Street and West Ave had walls partially collapse causing the roofs to subsequently collapse and a small apartment complex had its roof cleanly removed. After this, the tornado tracked primarily through residential areas until it dissipated causing mainly tree damage and light structural damage to homes and garages. An estimated 200 homes and businesses were damaged, 9 homes were destroyed and another 6 buildings condemned and uninhabitable. An emergency shelter was set up where up to 40 people sought refuge at times with 14 spending the night. This tornado was the first to hit the city of La Crosse since 1966 when a tornado moved across the airport. Total damages were estimated to be just over $15 million. An estimated 6,300 customers lost power as a result of the tornado. There was not a single ambulance call right after the tornado, but some did occur during the following days during clean up. Overall, this tornado was on the ground for almost 14 miles and it caused a total of $15.44 million. More on this tornado can be found at the following web site: https://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/?n=may2211 |
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| 6 | 7 | 2008 | 1550 CST | Perkins 3NNW | None | 0.05 | 25 | 0 | 0 | EF0 |
| Law enforcement officials and the public confirmed a tornado touched down briefly just northwest of Perkins. The tornado was captured on video and lasted only a couple of seconds. No damage was reported. | ||||||||||
| 8 | 23 | 1997 | 2006-2010 CST | Caledonia 3NW to Caledonia 2.5NW | None | 0.5 | 80 | 0 | 0 | F0 |
| A brief tornado touchdown heavily damaged a farmhouse. Boards were blown through a bedroom wall and glass debris was strewn throughout the house. | ||||||||||
| 4 | 8 | 1991 | 1200 CST | Freeburg | None | 3 | 30 | 0 | 0 | F1 |
| A tornado skipped along a 3-mile path from west to east of Freeburg. A chimney was blown off the top of a roof and many large trees snapped in half killing two head of livestock. Numerous farm buildings were damaged or destroyed. | ||||||||||
| 5 | 29 | 1978 | 1425 CST | ? | None | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | F1 |
| 6 | 27 | 1977 | 2000 CST | ? | None | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | F1 |
| 8 | 25 | 1965 | 1800 CST | ? | None | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | F1 |
| 5 | 5 | 1965 | 2000-2020 CST | Money Creek 1NW to Mindoro 1W | La Crosse (WI) Winona |
30 | 150 | 0 | 1 | F3 |
| Moved east-northeast from northwest of Money Creek, crossing the Mississippi River near Dakota, MN, and passing between Mindoro and Stevenson, WI. Several barns and a brick schoolhouse were destroyed. A dozen Wisconsin farms lost buildings and 1 person (La Crosse County) was injured when a car was thrown 75 feet. | ||||||||||
| 5 | 5 | 1965 | 1945-2124 CST | Nora Springs 2N (IA) to Yucatan (MN) | Fillmore Floyd (IA) Howard (IA) Mitchell Winneshiek (IA) |
80 | 150 | 0 | 17 | F4 |
| Moved east-northeast from 2 miles north of Nora Springs, passing 3 miles north of Cresco and lifting near Yucatan, MN. The only F4 damage was to two large farmhouses, 3 miles northwest of Kendallville in Winneshiek County. About 28 farms lost buildings in Iowa. Six people were injured in Minnesota, as homes and barns were destroyed near Canton, Lenora, and Newburg (Fillmore County). Six people were injured in Floyd County and 5 in Howard County. | ||||||||||
| 6 | 10 | 1960 | 1945 CST | ? | None | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | F1 |
| 6 | 28 | 1942 | 2000 CST | Wilmington & Winnebago Townships | None | 10 | 30 | 0 | 0 | F2 |
| Moved east-northeast across the southern part of the county, in Wilmington and Winnebago townships. Two barns were destroyed with damage estimates at $10,000. | ||||||||||
| 5 | 23 | 1933 | 1500 CST | Reno 5S to Sparta | La Crosse (WI) Monroe (WI) Vernon (WI) |
35 | 100 | 0 | 3 | F2 |
| A family of two or three small tornadoes moved northeast from the southeast corner of Houston County, passing 3 miles south of Coon Valley and ending near Sparta. Two tornadoes may have actually crossed the Mississippi River. A dozen barns and farmhouses were unroofed, mostly near Coon Valley (Vernon Co.). | ||||||||||
| 6 | 6 | 1906 | 1630-1830 CST | Burr Oak, IA to Stoddard, WI to Coon Valley 10NE | Fillmore (MN), Houston (MN), La Crosse (WI), Vernon (WI), Winneshiek (IA) | 55 | 400 | 4 | 18 | F4 |
| "The tornado was flrst observed in northeastern Iowa at 430 pm, near Burr Oak. A large brick home was destroyed southeast of Newhouse (Houston County.), just inside the Minnesota border. Clothes from the home were found over three miles away. One boy was severely injured, and may have died later. He had been closing windows on the second floor when the tornado struck. This tornado then continues east-northeast to near Reno, MN, and Stoddard, WI where it crossed the Mississippi River at 5:40 pm. It was last observed at 6:30 pm in the town of Washington, La Crosse County, WI, about 2 miles west of Portland. Its path curved slightly to the northward as it progressed, and was about 55 miles in length. It destroyed all buildings in its path, killed 4 persons and injured 18. A mother and two children were killed as their farm near Freeburg, MN was leveled. One child was carried about half a mile. The other death occurred 2 miles east of Stoddard. The property loss was estimated at $70,000, exclusive of timber and crops, but the latter were not damaged to any great extent, because they were not far advanced. The tornado was characterized by many peculiar and violent phenomena usual to these storms. There was comparatively little electrical display, nor was the rainfall unusual. Its crossing the river near Stoddard was marked by well defined waterspout formation, and it destroyed a heavy wooden railway bridge across the Raccoon Creek nearby. Its action on the steep bluffs and in the deep ravines that mark the banks of the river was peculiar in that the windward or southwest exposures suffered far less damage, as shown by prostrated timber, than did the northeast slopes, where the full vorticular effect was very evident; whereas the southwest slopes, instead of showiug trees thrown in all directions, as is usual, showed trees, with few exceptions, thrown to the left across the entire breadth of the track. Many of the trees on these southwest slopes were broken off 10 to 15 feet above the ground. Another peculiar feature was the decreased violence on the top of the bluffs, which are here about 400 feet above the valley, and the immediate resumption of full destructive effect, not only in the deep ravines, but on the lee side of steepest declivities. Such destruction as occurred on the tops of steep hills crossed by the storm was most apparent on the farther edge, where trees invarlably were thrown in the direction of the storm, probably caused by the air rushing toward the vortex when it had resumed full violence at lower levels. The path of the storm averaged about 400 yards wide where its action could be determined in the timber. The vortex was quite distinct and regular, and, compared with the height of the bluffs which it crossed, seemed about 800 feet high, rapidly widening at the top. The vorticular motion was plainly discernible. Hail fell on the northwest side of the track. It took something less than 2 hours to travel its course." Source: Monthly Weather Review, Volume 34, Issue 6 (June 1906) | ||||||||||
| * The data in this table came from Storm Data and Significant Tornadoes--1680-1991 by Thomas P. Grazulis. ** Injuries and Deaths are for the entire tornado track. |
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Last Updated Friday, April 24, 2020 - Jeff Boyne
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