Public Information Statement
Issued by NWS Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI

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NOUS43 KMKX 292002
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WIZ046-047-051-052-056>060-062>072-300815-

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Milwaukee/Sullivan WI
302 PM CDT Wed Apr 29 2026

...NWS Damage Surveys for 4/17/26 Tornado Event...

.Overview...A pair of tornadic supercell thunderstorms
tracked from far northern Illinois on into south central
and southeast Wisconsin during the late evening hours.
The supercell thunderstorms merged over Rock County, where
a number of brief tornadoes were confirmed by storm chasers
and lofted damage.  Previously, the track east of Janesville
was plotted as being one continuous tornado over toward
Richmond.  However, after viewing storm chaser reports and
having large areas without any damage, have broken that one
path into three: La Prairie, Emerald Grove and Richmond.
As the storm churned to the east, it formed a squall line,
similar to the transition that occurred the previous Tuesday
night.  Numerous mesovorts developed along this line and
produced tornadoes and high wind damage.

10 total tornadoes occurred: 6 EF-1s and 4 EF-0s.

.La Prairie...

Rating:                 EF1
Estimated Peak Wind:    90 mph
Path Length /statute/:  1.91 miles
Path Width /maximum/:   75 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start Date:             04/17/2026
Start Time:             06:02 PM CDT
Start Location:         5 NW Clinton / Rock County / WI
Start Lat/Lon:          42.6062 / -88.9434

End Date:               04/17/2026
End Time:               06:05 PM CDT
End Location:           5 SE Janesville / Rock County / WI
End Lat/Lon:            42.6327 / -88.9345

Survey Summary:
Brief tornado that caused damage near Maple Ln southeast of
Janesville.  Storm chaser video confirmed a brief tornado in this
area.  Damage further west and east of this point is from rear
flank downdraft.

.Emerald Grove...

Rating:                 EF1
Estimated Peak Wind:    100 mph
Path Length /statute/:  2.07 miles
Path Width /maximum/:   100 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start Date:             04/17/2026
Start Time:             06:05 PM CDT
Start Location:         6 ESE Janesville / Rock County / WI
Start Lat/Lon:          42.6494 / -88.9028

End Date:               04/17/2026
End Time:               06:10 PM CDT
End Location:           7 N Clinton / Rock County / WI
End Lat/Lon:            42.6598 / -88.8648

Survey Summary:
Brief tornado went through Emerald Grove, destroying a barn and
causing damage to an antique store.  Significant tree damage
along the path as well with debris lofted well to the ENE from
the structures.

.Richmond...

Rating:                 EF1
Estimated Peak Wind:    100 mph
Path Length /statute/:  4.41 miles
Path Width /maximum/:   75 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start Date:             04/17/2026
Start Time:             06:15 PM CDT
Start Location:         8 N Clinton / Rock County / WI
Start Lat/Lon:          42.6732 / -88.8419

End Date:               04/17/2026
End Time:               06:21 PM CDT
End Location:           5 NNW Darien / Walworth County / WI
End Lat/Lon:            42.6742 / -88.7559

Survey Summary:
Multivortex tornado documented southwest of Richmond.  Originally
thought it may go up toward Richmond, but think that that damage
was downburst wind related.  Multiple sheds with sheet metal
damage along County Highway M before entering Walworth County.

.Delavan 1...

Rating:                 EF1
Estimated Peak Wind:    100 mph
Path Length /statute/:  2.98 miles
Path Width /maximum/:   75 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start Date:             04/17/2026
Start Time:             06:39 PM CDT
Start Location:         2 NNW Darien / Walworth County / WI
Start Lat/Lon:          42.6362 / -88.7222

End Date:               04/17/2026
End Time:               06:46 PM CDT
End Location:           2 W Delavan / Walworth County / WI
End Lat/Lon:            42.6322 / -88.6672

Survey Summary:
The tornado appeared to start north of School Section Rd and west
of Old 89 Rd with mainly tree damage going to the east-northeast.
 The tornado then tracked along near State Road 11 going east
toward Delavan.  About 4 farmsteads had damage to them, including
one empty silo that was blown down from about halfway up.  The
tornado then continued east-southeast along Hwy 11 and ended near
Redwood Ct on the west side of Delavan where it caused some tree
damage.

.Delavan 2...

Rating:                 EF1
Estimated Peak Wind:    100 mph
Path Length /statute/:  3.07 miles
Path Width /maximum/:   75 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start Date:             04/17/2026
Start Time:             06:43 PM CDT
Start Location:         3 WNW Delavan / Walworth County / WI
Start Lat/Lon:          42.6509 / -88.6897

End Date:               04/17/2026
End Time:               06:46 PM CDT
End Location:           2 NNW Delavan / Walworth County / WI
End Lat/Lon:            42.6645 / -88.6396

Survey Summary:
Tornado appeared to begin along Turtle Creek west of Klug Rd and
south of County Road M.  The tornado destroyed an open facing
barn shed along Klug Rd.  It then tracked to the northeast and
caused damage to 3 barns, a garage and a house along County Road
P. It then continued to the northeast and crossed Dam Rd before
ending near Turtle Creek again.

.Honey Lake...

Rating:                 EF0
Estimated Peak Wind:    75 mph
Path Length /statute/:  1.85 miles
Path Width /maximum/:   50 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start Date:             04/17/2026
Start Time:             07:22 PM CDT
Start Location:         4 WNW Burlington / Walworth County / WI
Start Lat/Lon:          42.6982 / -88.3661

End Date:               04/17/2026
End Time:               07:25 PM CDT
End Location:           3 W Burlington / Walworth County / WI
End Lat/Lon:            42.6855 / -88.335

Survey Summary:
The tornado began along Spring Prairie Road and moved to the
southeast. This tornado had an intermittent path with a few trees
uprooted, some shingles peeled from the south side of a roof,
another roof peeled back on the southeast corner, and siding
damage to a garage. The track continued to the southeast with
several limbs snapped from the tops of trees, ending near Old
County Highway DD north of Highway 11.

.NW Waterford...

Rating:                 EF0
Estimated Peak Wind:    70 mph
Path Length /statute/:  1.43 miles
Path Width /maximum/:   50 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start Date:             04/17/2026
Start Time:             07:32 PM CDT
Start Location:         3 WNW Waterford North / Racine County / WI
Start Lat/Lon:          42.8096 / -88.2781

End Date:               04/17/2026
End Time:               07:36 PM CDT
End Location:           2 NW Waterford North / Racine County / WI
End Lat/Lon:            42.8134 / -88.2506

Survey Summary:
Tornado started in a mainly open field to west of Highway 83. A
few branches were downed. Along the intermittent path, multiple
trees were downed in different directions. A port-a-potty was
displaced and pushed over. The tornado continued to northeast
into in accessible field. No damage noted along Marsh Rd.

.Muskego Lake...

Rating:                 EF0
Estimated Peak Wind:    70 mph
Path Length /statute/:  0.62 miles
Path Width /maximum/:   70 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start Date:             04/17/2026
Start Time:             07:52 PM CDT
Start Location:         2 N Wind Lake / Waukesha County / WI
Start Lat/Lon:          42.8548 / -88.1492

End Date:               04/17/2026
End Time:               07:55 PM CDT
End Location:           2 SSW Muskego / Waukesha County / WI
End Lat/Lon:            42.8601 / -88.1394

Survey Summary:
The tornado began over a farm field where a few small limbs were
downed. The tornado continued to the northeast, snapping a few
trees and downing several large limbs. Further to the northeast,
the view was not accessible with the tornado ending southwest of
Big Muskego Lake, south of the Big Muskego Lake Wildlife area.

.TMKE South...

Rating:                 EF0
Estimated Peak Wind:    80 mph
Path Length /statute/:  3.67 miles
Path Width /maximum/:   50 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start Date:             04/17/2026
Start Time:             07:55 PM CDT
Start Location:         5 ESE Wind Lake / Racine County / WI
Start Lat/Lon:          42.7898 / -88.0732

End Date:               04/17/2026
End Time:               08:00 PM CDT
End Location:           4 S Franklin / Racine County / WI
End Lat/Lon:            42.8298 / -88.0324

Survey Summary:
Tornado started near Raynor Ave and tracked to the northeast
while crossing 5 Mile and 6 Mile Rd before ending near 7 Mile Rd.
 Most damage was minor but some sheet metal was lofted from a
barn. Tornado tracked just to the east of the Milwaukee Airport
Terminal Doppler radar.

.TMKE North...

Rating:                 EF1
Estimated Peak Wind:    100 mph
Path Length /statute/:  5.23 miles
Path Width /maximum/:   75 yards
Fatalities:             0
Injuries:               0

Start Date:             04/17/2026
Start Time:             07:56 PM CDT
Start Location:         4 E Wind Lake / Racine County / WI
Start Lat/Lon:          42.8151 / -88.0808

End Date:               04/18/2026
End Time:               08:05 PM CDT
End Location:           2 SSE Franklin / Milwaukee County / WI
End Lat/Lon:            42.8514 / -87.9912

Survey Summary:
Tornado started near 6 Mile Rd west of Raynor Ave and tracked to
the northeast, ending in southern Milwaukee county.  Possible
that this tornado merged with the other one directly to the
south.

&&

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

EF0.....65 to 85 mph
EF1.....86 to 110 mph
EF2.....111 to 135 mph
EF3.....136 to 165 mph
EF4.....166 to 200 mph
EF5.....>200 mph

NOTE:
The information in this statement is preliminary and subject to
change pending final review of the events and publication in
NWS Storm Data.


$$

Halbach/BMiller/Gagan/Patterson