US Tornado Season 2026

[Astronuc]

Menasha and Appleton, Wisconsin were hit yesterday, July 25, by an EF-2 tornado. Many structures (home, buildings, silos, . . . ) were destroyed or heavily damaged. Menasha straddles the border of Winnebago and Calumet counties, while Appleton is located in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, about 90 miles (140 km) NNW of Milwaukee, or about 31 miles (49.7 km) SW of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

https://www.postcrescent.com/story/...damage-after-tornado-storm--live/91069036007/

Significant damage was left in Menasha, Grand Chute, Appleton and Doty Island as the strong storm cell made its way across the area.

The National Weather Service said Menasha received at least EF-2 tornado damage, which means wind gusts were between 111 and 135 mph.

Menasha Mayor Austin Hammond declared a local state of disaster due to the widespread damage in the city.

Spotters, video and radar confirmed a tornado struck the northern end of Lake Winnebago as the warning was first issued.

The tornado warning for Appleton expired at 12:45 p.m. as the storm weakened and no longer appeared to be capable of producing tornadoes. Hail up to 2 inches wide was also confirmed.

Shortly after the warning in Appleton expired, the weather service issued a tornado warning for Fond du Lac and Dodge County that expired at 1:45 p.m. It was Dodge County's second tornado warning of the day.

Wisconsin tornado causes extensive damage and cuts power to thousands of homes
https://abc7news.com/post/wisconsin...s-appleton-menasha-winnebago-county/19590344/

‘Extremely dangerous’ tornado rips roofs off homes and knocks out power for thousands in northeast Wisconsin
https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/27/weather/wisconsin-tornado-great-lakes-midwest-severe-storms-climate

https://abcnews.com/US/destructive-...onsin-leaving-trail-damage/story?id=135129826

The most destructive tornado, confirmed by the NWS, touched down south of Appleton, Wisconsin, in Outagamie County southwest of Green Bay. The tornado moved through the cities of Neenah and Oshkosh, in Winnebago County.

At least three other tornadoes were reported on Monday in Wisconsin and Illinois, but have yet to be confirmed by the National Weather Service (NWS).

One local estimate put the damage as caused by an EF-3 tornado.
https://www.postcrescent.com/story/...ut-damage-tornado-path-ef-rating/91073744007/

https://www.accuweather.com/en/seve...-storms-leave-thousands-without-power/1916035

Grapefruit-sized hail was reported in Gresham, Wisconsin. Dozens of other reports described hail ranging from quarter-sized to egg-sized across Wisconsin and Illinois.

A powerful line of storms knocked out power to nearly 400,000 customers from Wisconsin to Ohio by Monday evening.

Outages climbed to more than 130,000 in Wisconsin. Nearly 250,000 ComEd customers in Illinois were without power as of early Monday afternoon, a company spokesperson told WBBM Radio.

https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/tornadoes/

Where is Tornado Alley?

Tornado Alley is a nickname invented by the media to refer to a broad area of relatively high tornado occurrence in the central United States. Various “Tornado Alley” maps look different because tornado occurrence can be measured many ways: by all tornadoes, tornado county-segments, strong and violent tornadoes only, and databases with different time periods.

However, the idea of a “tornado alley” can be misleading. The U.S. tornado threat shifts from the Southeast in the cooler months of the year, toward the southern and central Plains in May and June, and the northern Plains and Midwest during early summer. Tornadoes can occur and have been reported in all fifty states!

When are tornadoes most likely?

Tornado season usually refers to the time of year the U.S. sees the most tornadoes. The peak “tornado season” for the southern Plains (e.g., Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas) is from May into early June. On the Gulf coast, it is earlier in the spring. In the northern Plains and upper Midwest (North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota), tornado season is in June or July. But, remember, tornadoes can happen at any time of year. Tornadoes can also happen at any time of day or night, but most tornadoes occur between 4–9 p.m.

Even without a tornado, microbursts of high winds from heavy downpour, as well as the downpour itself, can cause severe damage to trees and light structures. Downed power lines are another consequence.

In the NE US in the Mid Hudson Valley, there were severe localized thunderstorms that produced high winds and heavy rain on July 4. About 250,000 people were without power, some for as long as 3 to 4 days. There have been recent tornado watches, and the region is not considered tornado alley, but tornadoes have been recorded in E New York into Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

https://www.wcax.com/2026/06/19/2-ef-1-tornadoes-confirmed-vermont-thursdays-severe-storms/ - June 19, 2026
https://www.tornadopath.com/vermont (July appears to be peak month, June 2nd, and May and August about the same in terms of tornado frequency).
https://data.burlingtonfreepress.com/tornado-archive/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornadoes_in_Massachusetts#1900_–_1999

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Connecticut_tornadoes#2000–present

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I'm about an hour south in Milwaukee. We had a small tornado reported by the airport tower back in April.

 

[Astronuc]

According to some diagrams, the tornado started as an EF-1 over Appleton then proceeded south through Menasha by which time it had achieved EF-3 status. It proceeded south over Lake Winnebago where it produced a water spout.

https://fox11online.com/good-day-wi...appleton-wisconsin-road-closures-power-outage

The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado that struck Menasha was an EF-3 Tuesday morning.

The tornado was 1,500 yards wide and traveled 12.1 miles with 140 mph wind speeds.

 

[robphy]

My colleague at a university in Appleton said that that parts of the town to the west of campus suffered some damage, but the campus was okay.