Around 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, a damaging tornado slashed through Oconto County, leaving twisted hardwoods and shredded rooftops between Oconto and Lena. Frantic calls poured in as the roaring vortex gouged a ragged path across the Wisconsin countryside, scattering debris across soy fields and gravel lanes.
The National Weather Service had already issued multiple tornado warnings when sharp-eyed residents spotted the funnel. While survey crews will verify the twister’s strength after sunrise, preliminary accounts mention barns stripped to their frames and century-old maples snapped like matchsticks.
Images captured by NBC 26 photojournalist Noah Cornelius reveal mangled power lines and corrugated metal tangled in corn-stalk rows. On air, Chief Meteorologist Cameron Moreland traced a classic hook echo swirling over US Highway 41, the radar’s bright reds and greens twisting together as the storm pulsed eastward.
Witnesses describe a freight-train roar followed by an eerie hush, punctuated only by the hiss of wind-driven rain. Through the night, fire crews cleared splintered limbs from County Road J while utility teams hustled to re-string lines and restore power to darkened farmsteads.
At first light Thursday, NWS experts will walk the scarred landscape, measuring path width, cataloging damage, and assigning an Enhanced Fujita rating. For residents, the reckoning has already begun: a collapsed silo here, a crumpled porch swing there—each ruptured landmark a fresh reminder of the storm’s sudden, savage force.
