...TORNADO AND SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK IS APRIL 20-24...
...TODAY/S TOPIC IS...PART 4...TORNADO STATISTICS...
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IN 2008...WISCONSIN HAD 38 DOCUMENTED TORNADOES. THESE TORNADOES DID
NOT RESULT IN ANY FATALITIES...BUT DID RESULT IN 20 DIRECTLY-RELATED
INJURIES.
THERE HAVE BEEN 1394 DOCUMENTED TORNADOES IN WISCONSIN SINCE
1844...CAUSING 510 DIRECTLY-RELATED DEATHS AND AT LEAST 3021
DIRECTLY-RELATED INJURIES. DATA PRIOR TO 1950 IS INCOMPLETE BECAUSE
IN MANY CASES...ONLY LARGE TORNADOES WERE REPORTED AND MANY RURAL
TORNADOES WENT UNDETECTED.
THE FOLLOWING ARE WISCONSIN TORNADO OCCURRENCES BY MONTH...
J F M A M J J A S O N D TOTAL
1844-2008 3 0 18 98 223 412 294 181 124 29 6 6 1394
Only 2008 2 0 0 2 3 22 9 0 0 0 0 0 38
30 YEAR NORMAL /1971-2000/ ...21 TORNADOES PER YEAR IN WISCONSIN.
THE YEAR OF 2005 HAD THE GREATEST STATE TOTAL WITH 62 TORNADOES.
OTHER YEARLY WISCONSIN TOTALS INCLUDE...
1980...43 1981...21 1982...16 1983...31 1984...34
1985...16 1986...14 1987...16 1988...35 1989...17
1990...09 1991...10 1992...26 1993...37 1994...35
1995...07 1996...21 1997...14 1998...11 1999...11
2000...18 2001...12 2002...26 2003...14 2004...36
2005...62 2006...13 2007...18 2008...38
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THE FOLLOWING ARE STATISTICS FOR THE AVERAGE TORNADO IN WISCONSIN
FROM 1950 THROUGH JANUARY 2008...
DURATION....9.8 MINUTES
LENGTH......5.5 MILES
MAX WIDTH...121 YARDS
INTENSITY...1.1 ON THE EF-SCALE
THE FOLLOWING ARE STATISTICS FOR THE AVERAGE TORNADO IN WISCONSIN
FROM 1982 THROUGH JANUARY 2008...
DURATION...7.1 MINUTES
LENGTH.....3.7 MILES
WIDTH......118 YARDS
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...WISCONSIN`S WORST TORNADO...
NEW RICHMOND /ST. CROIX COUNTY/ TORNADO ON JUNE 12 1899...
KILLING 117...INJURING 125...AND DESTROYING OVER 300 BUILDINGS.
...OTHER COSTLY WISCONSIN TORNADOES INCLUDE...
OAKFIELD /FOND DU LAC COUNTY/ TORNADO ON JULY 18 1996...INJURING
ONLY 12 WITH DAMAGE PEGGED AT 40.4 MILLION DOLLARS /1996
DOLLARS/. IT BECAME A F5 TORNADO EAST OF OAKFIELD.
BARNEVELD/IOWA COUNTY/ TORNADO ON JUNE 8 1984...KILLED 9 AND
INJURING 200 WITH WITH DAMAGED PEGGED AT 40 MILLION DOLLARS
/1984 DOLLARS/. THIS WAS AN F5 TORNADO.
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...NUMBER OF THUNDERSTORM DAYS IN WISCONSIN...
ON AVERAGE...THE NUMBER OF DAYS PER YEAR WITH THUNDERSTORMS RANGES
FROM AROUND 30 ALONG THE LAKE MICHIGAN SHORELINE TO AROUND 40 OVER
THE SOUTHWEST THIRD OF THE STATE.
...NUMBER OF TORNADO DAYS IN WISCONSIN...
IN THE TORNADO DEPARTMENT...SOUTHWESTERN WISCONSIN NEAR THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER AVERAGES ABOUT 1 DAY PER YEAR WITH A TORNADO. THIS
AVERAGE DECREASES DOWN TO 0.7 DAYS PER YEAR FOR THE MADISON AREA...
0.6 TORNADO DAYS PER YEAR FOR MILWAUKEE AREA...0.4 DAYS PER YEAR
FOR THE GREEN BAY AREA...AND 0.2 TORNADO DAYS PER YEAR FOR NORTHERN
WISCONSIN.
...NUMBER OF WARNINGS PER YEAR IN WISCONSIN...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES THAT SERVICE WISCONSIN ISSUE...ON
AVERAGE...ONLY 1 TO 2 TORNADO WARNINGS AND 5 TO 10 SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS PER COUNTY PER YEAR FOR THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES.
THE AVERAGES ARE LESS FOR NORTHERN WISCONSIN COUNTIES.
...NUMBER OF WATCHES PER YEAR IN WISCONSIN...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WISCONSIN ISSUES ON AVERAGE ABOUT
29 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCHES PER YEAR THAT COVER AT LEAST SOME PART
OF WISCONSIN. THE NUMBER FOR TORNADO WATCHES IN WISCONSIN IS ABOUT
11 PER YEAR.
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THE U.S. NATIONAL AVERAGES FOR THE PERIOD 1982-2008...
...1120 TORNADOES PER YEAR
...59 DEATHS PER YEAR
...21 KILLER TORNADOES PER YEAR
YEAR-BY-YEAR BREAKDOWN FOR U.S. FOR 1982-2008 FOLLOWS...
YEAR TORNADOES DEATHS KILLER TORNADOES
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1982 1047 64 31
1983 812 34 26
1984 907 122 33
1985 684 94 20
1986 713 15 11
1987 656 59 14
1988 698 32 19
1989 856 50 13
1990 1133 53 17
1991 1127 39 15
1992 1297 39 16
1993 1173 33 16
1994 1085 68 23
1995 1234 29 14
1996 1173 25 13
1997 1148 67 22
1998 1417 130 33
1999 1300 95 29
2000 1071 40 14
2001 1216 40 23
2002 941 55 28
2003 1376 54 23
2004 1819 36 20
2005 1264 38 13
2006 1103 67 25
2007 1098 81 26
2008 1691 126 37
/TOTAL OF 1819 IN 2004 IS AN ALL-TIME YEARLY RECORD/
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT TORNADOES...PLEASE REFER TO:
http://spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/pagelist.htm
FOR ADDITIONAL SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION...UP TO DATE FORECASTS...
AND ANY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES PLEASE VISIT:
http://weather.gov/mkx
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