Severe weather hit southern Wisconsin on Saturday. At least one tornado was spotted near Janesville. Follow live coverage of the storm:
More than 30,000 customers without power after storms and tornadoes
More than 12,000 We Energies customers – most of them in southeastern Wisconsin – have been without power since 10 p.m. Saturday after storms swept through the region, triggering tornado warnings and even alerts in some counties.
Alliant Energy reported about 20,000 affected customers in its service area, which includes parts of Wisconsin and Iowa. Alliant Energy’s outages were concentrated in southern Wisconsin, including in and around Janesville, where a tornado sighting was reported Saturday evening.
Janesville likely suffered “significant damage” on its south side from reported tornado
Emergency crews are assessing the extent of damage in Janesville, where a tornado was spotted Saturday night, said Mark Elland, shift supervisor at the Rock County Communications Center.
“From what we’re hearing, we probably have significant tornado damage on the south side of Janesville,” Elland told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a brief interview around 9:30 p.m.
The county’s emergency dispatch center has received calls reporting everything from downed trees and power lines to flooded roads and damage to homes, Elland said.
Tornado warning for parts of southern Wisconsin, tornado sighted near Janesville
According to the National Weather Service, a tornado warning was in effect in several parts of southern Wisconsin Saturday evening after tornadoes were spotted near Watertown, Janesville and other cities, while other parts of southern Wisconsin remain under a tornado watch until 10 p.m.
According to the National Weather Service, a tornado warning has been issued for southeast Kenosha County until 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
According to the NWS, severe thunderstorms capable of producing a tornado were observed shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday along a line stretching from Kenosha to near Antioch.
A tornado warning was in effect for southwestern Walworth County until 8:45 p.m. Saturday. A tornado warning was also in effect for northeastern Jefferson and south-central Dodge County until 8 p.m. Saturday and for eastern Rock County until 8:15 p.m., according to the NWS.
This comes after a tornado was spotted near Watertown, about halfway between Madison and Milwaukee, around 7:35 p.m. Saturday, which came to a near standstill, according to an NWS bulletin.
Another tornado was spotted south of Janesville at 7:52 p.m.
“A large and extremely dangerous tornado was recorded over Janesville, moving east at 40 miles per hour,” the NWS said.
The National Weather Service advised people in areas under tornado warnings to seek shelter.
An earlier bulletin said a tornado warning was in effect until 7:45 p.m. for east central Dane County, northwest Jefferson County and southern Dodge County. That bulletin said a tornado was spotted over Marshall around 7:15 p.m., moving east at 25 mph.
According to the NWS, a tornado warning was also in effect for northeast Green County until 7:30 p.m.
Tornado warning until 10 p.m. throughout southern Wisconsin
According to the National Weather Service, the tornado warning is in effect until 10 p.m. for all of southern Wisconsin, including the following counties: Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Kenosha, Lafayette, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Rock, Sauk, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha.
A tornado warning is less serious than a tornado warning. A warning is issued when weather conditions favor thunderstorms that produce tornado conditions in or near the “warning area,” according to the National Weather Service.
The National Weather Service warned that in addition to the possibility of tornadoes, southern Wisconsin could experience destructive wind gusts and heavy hail.
Flash flood warnings are in effect until 10:45 p.m. in Columbia, Dane, Dodge and Jefferson counties
Several southern Wisconsin counties also had flash flood warnings in effect until 10:45 p.m. Saturday, including parts of Columbia, Dane, Dodge and Jefferson counties. According to NWS bulletins released around 8 p.m., Rock County was under a flash flood warning until 11 p.m. and Sauk County was under a flash flood warning until 9:45 p.m.
Dave Matthews Band concert in Alpine Valley postponed to a later date
Saturday’s storms came on a very busy day musically: Several outdoor concerts were scheduled for Saturday in Milwaukee and the surrounding area, including Summerfest concerts, the second edition of the Tacos and Tequila Festival at Franklin Field and a concert by the Dave Matthews Band at the Alpine Valley Music Theater in East Troy.
The Alpine Valley Music Theatre posted on social media Saturday night that the Dave Matthews Band concert would be postponed to a later date. The venue had previously posted on Facebook that it was evacuating the venue and asking people to shelter in their vehicles.
Meanwhile, several shows at Summerfest were interrupted around 7:45 p.m. due to the weather.
Anime, the opening act for R&B superstar SZA, suspended his show at Summerfest on Saturday around 8:20 p.m. due to the weather.
Wisconsin Weather Radar
Weather warnings for Wisconsin
Reporters Jessica Rodriguez, Piet Levy and Chris Foran contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Storms move out of Wisconsin, counties take stock of tornado damage
