Early-season EF-3 tornado damages home and multiple outbuildings near Union Center, Wisconsin
An EF-3 tornado struck rural areas west-northwest of Union Center, Wisconsin, between 17:33 and 17:52 CDT (22:33-22:52 UTC) on April 14, 2026, damaging a family home, destroying numerous outbuildings, and downing many trees along a 14.1 km (8.78-mile) path. The National Weather Service in La Crosse confirmed peak winds of 225 km/h (140 mph) in its preliminary damage survey.
Multiple supercell thunderstorms developed across northeast Iowa and west-central and southwestern Wisconsin during the afternoon of Tuesday, April 14, producing at least one tornado near Union Center, Wisconsin, and multiple reports of hail up to 8.89 cm (3.5 inches) in diameter across the region. Wind-driven hail up to baseball size damaged property in Westby, Cashton, and other parts of Vernon County.
An EF-3 tornado then tracked across rural parts of Vernon and Juneau counties, causing significant structural damage near Union Center during this early-season Upper Midwest severe weather outbreak. The National Weather Service office in La Crosse said the tornado was on the ground from 17:33 to 17:52 CDT (22:33–22:52 UTC), traveled 14.1 km (8.78 miles), and reached peak winds of 225 km/h (140 mph).
The tornado began about 2 km (1.2 miles) north-northeast of Hillsboro in Vernon County and moved northeast, ending about 8 km (5 miles) east of Elroy in Juneau County. The most severe damage occurred near Raese Road, where a family home sustained damage consistent with lower-end EF-3 intensity. Survey teams found that the remainder of the path was mostly in the EF-1 range, with estimated winds of about 160-170 km/h (100-105 mph).
Damage became more intermittent over the final 3.2-4.8 km (2-3 miles) of the tornado’s path. Even so, the storm destroyed numerous outbuildings and downed many trees across the affected rural corridor. The National Weather Service said the survey remains preliminary and may be updated in the final Storm Data.
The tornado formed within a broader severe weather outbreak that affected parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and neighboring states on April 13-14. The same regional setup produced multiple tornado reports and very large hail, including hailstones larger than 7.5 cm (3 inches) in parts of southern Minnesota.
Although April marks the start of the Upper Midwest severe weather season, stronger tornadoes are less common in Wisconsin this early in the year than during the late spring peak.
The April 14 event developed in an environment characterized by strong vertical wind shear, sufficient instability, and northward transport of Gulf moisture, supporting supercells capable of producing significant tornadoes.
References:
1 Public Information Statement – Damage Survey for 04/14/26 Tornado Event – NWS/La Crosse – April 15, 2026
Featured image: Tornado damage in Union Center, Wisconsin on April 14, 2026. Credit: Live Storms Media (stillshot from the video)
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
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