Kennan-Ogema Tornado in Price County Wisconsin on June 14, 2019

Tornado:

Tornado - Kennan/Ogema, WI Price County, WI Date June 14, 2019 Time (Local) 6:54 to 7:36 PM CDT EF Rating EF-0 Est. Peak Winds 65-75 mph Path Length 17.4 miles Max Width 50 yards Injuries/Deaths 0/0 Summary: The tornado began at 654 PM CDT just east of Rusk Road and north of US Highway 8 in a wooded area and moved toward the east- southeast. Large hardwood branches were broken on County Road J just north of US Highway 8 northwest of Kennan. The tornado crossed US Highway 8 near County Highway N on the northeast side of Kennan with no visible damage. The tornado crossed Midway Road east of Woodlawn Road to the west-southwest of Catawba and flipped a chicken coop and removed a roof from an outbuilding. The tornado continued east-southeast and crossed County Road I between Main Street and Moonshine Alley where a farmstead lost shingles off a single family home and several trees were damaged. The tornado was at its peak intensity as it move over this location. The tornado continued to move toward the east-southeast with little damage observed until it crossed County Road O and Otteson Road west of Ogema. A softwood tree and several large branches were broken as it crossed County Road O. As the tornado crossed Otteson Road it dished in overhead doors attached to an outbuilding, rolled a farm tractor onto its side, pushed a shed several yards, and partially removed the shingles from the same shed. The tornado lifted at 736 PM CDT in a wooded area south of Otteson Road and west of 10 Crossing Road. Track Map Downloadable KMZ File

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Photos & Video

Coming Soon

The Kennan-Ogema Tornado seen from north of Kennan, WI. (Photo Courtesy Becky Kempen )

Radar

Radar imagery from KDLH radar in Duluth, MN, which is approximately 105 miles away from where this tornado occurred.

Storm Reports

Individual damage reports used in the damage assessment are listed below. An interactive map with photos included (when available) can be found on the experimental NWS Damage Assessment Viewer.

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0654 PM     TORNADO          4 WNW KENNAN            45.55N 90.67W
06/14/2019                   PRICE              WI   EMERGENCY MNGR

            START POINT OF KENNAN/OGEMA TORNADO. TIME
            ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.

0702 PM     TORNADO          1 NW KENNAN             45.54N 90.60W
06/14/2019                   PRICE              WI   EMERGENCY MNGR

            SEVERAL HARDWOOD TREE BRANCHES BROKEN. TIME
            ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.

0709 PM     TORNADO          1 WSW CATAWBA           45.53N 90.55W
06/14/2019                   PRICE              WI   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            CHICKEN COOP FLIPPED OVER AND TIN ROOF BLOWN
            OFF SHED. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. THIS
            REPORT CORRECTS PREVIOUS THUNDERSTORM WIND
            DAMAGE REPORT FROM 1 WSW CATAWBA.

0711 PM     TORNADO          1 S CATAWBA             45.53N 90.53W
06/14/2019                   PRICE              WI   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            SHINGLES BLOWN OFF ROOF AND TREES DOWN. TIME
            ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. THIS REPORT CORRECTS
            PREVIOUS THUNDERSTORM WIND DAMAGE REPORT
            FROM 1 S CATAWBA.

0734 PM     TORNADO          3 WNW OGEMA             45.46N 90.35W
06/14/2019                   PRICE              WI   EMERGENCY MNGR

            SOFTWOOD TREE AND SEVERAL BRANCHES BROKEN.
            TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.

0735 PM     TORNADO          3 W OGEMA               45.45N 90.35W
06/14/2019                   PRICE              WI   EMERGENCY MNGR

            DAMAGE TO OVERHEAD DOORS ON OUTBUILDING.
            PUSHED A SHED OFF FOUNDATION AND REMOVED
            SHINGLES. ROLLED TRACTOR ONTO ITS SIDE. TIME
            ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.

0736 PM     TORNADO          2 W OGEMA               45.44N 90.34W
06/14/2019                   PRICE              WI   EMERGENCY MNGR

            END POINT FOR KENNAN/OGEMA TORNADO. TIME
            ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.

Environment

All maps are valid at 00:00 UTC June 15 (7:00pm CDT June 14), which is centered on the time of the tornado. On the synoptic scale, an upper low was located over northwest Ontario. Upper level flow was out of the northwest across Price County, with mid level winds from the west-northwest.

Figure 1: 250 mb chart	Figure 2: 500 mb chart	Figure 3: 850 mb chart

At the surface, an east-west oriented warm frontal boundary was analyzed across northern Wisconsin. Along and south of this warm front, dew point values (blue numbers on Figure 5) were in the low to mid 60s, which lower (drier) dew points were observed to the north of the front. Surface-based instability values were analyzed to be around 500-1000 j/kg in Price county, which around 50 j/kg CIN for surface-based parcels.

Figure 4: Surface Analysis	Figure 5: Surface Observations (ASOS/AWOS Only) [Interactive Map]	Figure 6: Surface-based CAPE

Low level helicity (a measure of the change in wind speed and turning with height) was critical to developing a tornado in this environment. Effective storm-relative helicity values were analyzed to be around 200-300 m2/s2 at the time of the tornado, which is fairly favorable for rotating supercells. While the instability (CAPE) values were not extreme, combined with the helicity values and "short" nature of the storm, a so-called mini supercell was able to develop and produce a tornado. This was an otherwise very weak storm with only occasional lightning and radar echo tops around 30-40 kft (compared to most strong to severe storms that have echo tops around or exceeding 50 kft).

Figure 7: 0-1 km SRH	Figure 8: 0-3 km SRH	Figure 9: Effective SRH and Storm Motion