A storm that blasted through central Wisconsin on Wednesday evening left downed trees and power outages in its wake, officials say.
The strong thunderstorms hit central Wisconsin and moved northeast, with the most severe storms missing the Fox Valley and the Green Bay area, according to the National Weather Service.
Wood County Sheriff's Office Capt. Charlie Hoogestegar said his department got a lot of calls from midnight to 3 a.m.
"A lot of power poleswere snapped off," Hoogestegar said. "There were a lot of trees in the roadway."
The Sheriff's Office was able to work with local municipalities to get the roads cleared up, Hoogestegar said. Calls started coming into the Wood County Sheriff's Office again Thursday morning as people started driving to work, he said.
Wisconsin Rapids Water Works and Lighting sent a message on social media that about 5,000 of its customers on the east side of thecity were without power overnight.
Hoogestegar said Port Edwards and Nekoosa were hit hard in Wood County.The Port Edwards School Districtclosed on Thursday because of no electricity, according to a Facebook post by the police department.
The village had downed power lines and streets blocked by trees, according to the post. The Port Edwards Police Department asked people to not travel through the village if possible. The department advised drivers to stay away from downed power lines.
It doesn't appear Portage County had any serious damage, Portage County Sheriff Mike Lukas said.
"We just got a lot of trees down and power outages, but not a lot of major damage," he said.
Marathon County Emergency Management DirectorPhilip Rentmeester said he had people out in the community assessing the damage caused by the storm. About 5,500 Marathon County residents had been without power, he said. Rentmeester said he couldn't comment on damage in the county Thursday morning until his staff finish its assessment.
EF-2 tornado reported in Clark County
Surveyors with the National Weather Service office in La Crosse on Thursday confirmed an EF-2 tornado north of Neillsville in Clark County.
Neillsvillewas one of two places so far where surveyors confirmed a tornado was produced during overnight storms. An EF-0 tornado was confirmed near Lewiston, Minnesota.
The weather service reported trees and power lines in Neillsville had fallen over roads and roofs were damaged.
An EF-2 tornado is one with winds of 111 to 135 mph.
The weather service also received a report of a funnel cloud Wednesday night roughly 15 miles east in Chili.
Tornadoes are extremely rare for December in Wisconsin. Between August 2020 and August 2021, the most recent data available, Wisconsin experienced 40 tornadoes. All took place between the months of June and September, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Stanley sees significant damage
The Stanley Police Department reported damage across the community early Thursday as a result of the late-night storm that swept through Chippewa and Clark counties on its march across the state.
The police department, on its Facebook page, said about 75% of Excel Energy customers had been without power since 9:15 p.m. Wednesday as utility crews were "working feverishly" to restore service.
The department advised people to "resist the temptation" to travel around Stanley on Thursday morning to see the damage because of the danger of downed and active power lines.
Police also posted photos showing some of the damage, but reported no known deaths or injuries.
Wisconsin weather breaks plenty of records
Several cities throughout Wisconsin set record high temperatures on Thursday. Some exceeded the record by 10 to 15 degrees. According to the National Weather Service in Green Bay, records set on Thursday included:
• Antigo: 51 (43, set in 1894 and 1913)
• Green Bay: 65 (49 in 1998)
• Marshfield: 59 (47 in 1997)
• Oshkosh: 63 (51 in 1984)
• Rhinelander: 54 (48 in 1993)
• Wausau: 58 (48 in 1997)
• Wisconsin Rapids: 63 (49 in 1923)
Some areas also set record high minimum temperatures. They included:
• Green Bay: 39 (tied 39 set in 2014)
• Manitowoc: 42 (39 in 1928 and 1998)
• Oshkosh: 45 (40 in 2014)
• Rhinelander: 37 (tied 37 in 2014)
• Wausau: 39 (tied 39 in 2014)
— USA TODAY Network-Wisconsin staff contributed to this report
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