Wisconsin Forums

[AJE]

Today marks the 10th year anniversary of a F5 tornado ripping apart central Wisconsin. I remember sitting outside of my home with my parents watching the spectacular outburst and my mother remarking “God help the poor souls getting hit by that supercell.” (Little was I too know at that time my hometown years later was to be devastated by its own tragic weather phenomenon on May 12, 2000.) We actually found out before the general public did when my father bumped into a local state trooper while filling for gas. The officer said he’s been activated for duty in Fond Du Lac county where a tornado just hit. At that time he couldn’t disclose any more information, but did say he’d be letting us know what transpired.

:arrow: On July 18, 1996 the town of Oakfield, Wisconsin was all but destroyed by a powerful and rare F5 tornado. Oakfield residents only were notified of the storm via a mere 8 minutes before the tornado struck the village.

This violent whirlwind developed in Fond du Lac County and moved southeastward across Wisconsin taking direct aim at Oakfield. At 7:15 PM the large tornado struck the small town, injuring 17 people. Damage estimates later were totaled over $40 million as 60 of 320 homes and buisnesses were completely destroyed. Governor Tommy declared a “state of emergency” for the small town. Heck, damage must have been severe since the general public wasn’t allowed access for over a month after the disaster occurred. Many, times had my family tried to witness the damage, but each time we were shooed away by authorities. Our only indication was the patches of terribly mangled tree grooves, which were seen just off of Hwy 151 and the SE line that followed straight toward the town. Even with binoculars we really couldn’t take scoop of the damage.

Then one day the state trooper made a special stop at our home to let us personally know that we now were able to get into the town. But with his visit wasn’t the least of it he also brought a home video with 20 minutes of footage of that massive twister, many photographs of the damage and the amazing stories of its survivors which he was able to meet. For example he spoke about a man whom a week after the storm hit Oakfield was mailed his lost wallet from someone living in Michigan where the wallet was dumped onto the lawn. The very next day we were back in the car and on the way. Its one thing to read and hear about the event but if you really want a brunt understanding of the true forces of nature you really do need to see it for yourself. We came into town from the back way and didn’t see too much damage. We entered Oakfield from the far eastern side of town up on the hill and although we did see severe damage it wasn’t extreme. It was when the road began the decline to the lower section of town that we started to cry.

There was nothing left of the inner village but only the skeleton foundation slabs of what used to be homes and business. It’s amazing that no one perished. Thank God the storm happened on a weekend and not during the busy day. Homes, businesses and churches were amongst the 60 structures destroyed by the July storm and what the storm didn’t destroy was by the hands of man in the process of rebuilding the town. The core width of the most intense damage was about 150 to 200 yard swath, although at times, some secondary damage was observed in a 400-yard wide path. (Which is a half-mile.)

An addition 130 homes and businesses were just damaged and in need of a touch up job but they were still useable and not condemned. The tornado was powerful enough to level the Friday Canning Company, while picking up millions of empty cans and leaving them sprawled over a 50-mile distance. There was eyewitnesses to a couple o automobiles became airborne missiles for a distance of about 400 feet.

Besides structural damage to buildings the tornado was quite costly to farmers like about $900,000 in losses. Crops, livestock, and farm equipment were also destroyed. In the rural areas along the tornadoes path, 18 barns and many sheds were destroyed or sustained damaged, and about 500 acres of crops were wiped out with burn marks to prove the strength.

The original National Weather Service report from Milwaukee categorized the tornado to be a F3 to with winds of 158-260 mph, but was later upgraded to an F5 with winds greater than 261 mph, the most severe tornado possible on the Fujita scale. F5 tornadoes are very rare, only occurring, on average, every other year in the United States. In the last 100 years Wisconsin has seen a grand total of 3 super mesocyclone monsters. :twisted: The F5 rank was issued based on the inspection of the damage to the Oakfield area. Doppler indicated the tornado stayed on the ground for over 20 minutes as it moved southeastward for nearly 20 miles before finally dissipating.