Severe Weather from Wisconsin to Texas - 4/25/08

News Stories
Storms in Wisconsin included reported tornado east of Portage (StarTribune)
Possible tornados in Bell and Williamson counties (Austin American-Statesman)
Storms, tornado batter state (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal)
Tornado touches down near Wyocena; no one injured; minor damage reported (Portage Daily Register)
Off-duty deputy, sons barely avoid tornado (Portage Daily Register)
Tornado Hits Columbia County (TMJ 4 Milwaukee)

10:25 PM CDT
Nine tornado reports from today's storms: Three in Iowa, two in Wisconsin (from Associate Chaser Tim Purington), three in Texas... and one in WASHINGTON STATE. Link to today's severe weather reports

8:50 PM CDT
Storm in Williamson County, TX has merged with others into a long line stretching from Cameron to Rocksprings. Tornado Warning expired. Still a whole host of Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Watches from Lake Michigan to the Mexico/Texas border.

7:50 PM CDT
Strong tornadic cell in Williamson County, TX. Dennis Sherrod has the storm on live camera!

6:00 PM CDT
Tornado Warning for Montgomery and Polk counties in Arkansas.
Tornado Warning for Bell County, Texas
Tornado Warning for Fond du Lac and Green Lake counties in Wisconsin.

5:40 PM CDT
Tim Purington reporting tornado on the ground in Columbia County, WI. Debris in the air just south of Pardeeville, WI. Damage near Wyocena, WI including half a house damaged and boats thrown around at a repair shop.

5:05 PM CDT
Tornado Warning for Columbia and Sauk County, WI, including the city of Portage, WI. SevereStreamer Tim Purington is on the storm!

5:00 PM CDT
Tornado Warning for Hill, Limestone, and Navarro counties in Texas. Dennis Sherrod is on the cell. Watch his live video feed on the ChaseCam Network page!

3:52 PM CDT
The northern 2/3 of the Severe Thunderstorm Watch in Illinois has now been upgraded to a Tornado Watch.

Ben is about to blast west on I-88 to intercept.

3:00 PM CDT
A couple Tornado Warnings in effect west of the Muscatine, IA area.

Tornado Watch now in effect for southern Wisconsin.

2:20 PM CDT
Ben Holcomb is near St. Joeseph, MI, heading toward Chicago and points west.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect for eastern Iowa, western and northern Illinois, and central and northeastern Missouri until 8:00 PM.

12:30 PM CDT
A new Mesoscale Discussion has been issued for IL/IA. A weather watch will likely be issued shortly. Ben will be hitting the road here in a matter of a few minutes to head to Illinois.

VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILES ARE MORE THAN ADEQUATE TO SUSTAIN DISCRETE SUPERCELL STRUCTURES...ALTHOUGH STRONG FORCING MAY ULTIMATELY RESULT IN A SQUALL LINE WITH EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS. EVEN SO...IT APPEARS SEVERE THREAT...INCLUDING ISOLATED TORNADOES...IS INCREASING

11:15 AM CDT
Liking the last model runs and the visible satellite showing clearing over eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. Will be hitting the road in about 90 minutes to shoot down I-69 from Lansing and west on I-94 to the MI/IN border. Will be evaluating where to go from there, whether it be a target west or Northwest of Chicago.

8:15 AM CDT
Not as impressed today of the setup. Will still probably target somewhere around Chicago this afternoon and try and chase after anything which may pop up. The Storm Prediction Center seems to be on board at this point that it isn't as great as originally anticipated. Morning convection seems that it may stabilize the atmosphere and ruin the chances for any supercells later this afternoon.

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6:15 AM CDT 4/24
At this time it appears that Severe Weather will be possible from Southern Wisconsin down to Texas, with the greatest risks being in Northern Illinois and Texas. We will provide more details throughout the day today on severe thunderstorm risks for tomorrow. It is possible that SevereStudios Chaser Ben Holcomb will be in Northern Illinois tomorrow to bring you live streaming video!

This text is from the National Weather Service in Lincoln, IL:
INSTABILITY/MOISTURE/SHEAR PARAMETERS ARE ALL COMING TOGETHER FOR A POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK ALONG AND JUST SOUTHEAST OF THE LOW TRACK...WITH THE MOST FAVORED LOCATION FOR SEVERE STORMS BEING ACROSS EASTERN IOWA/NORTHWEST ILLINOIS/SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN FRIDAY AFTERNOON.