This week is Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week in Wisconsin . The peak tornado season is May through August, but tornadoes have occurred in every month except for February in Wisconsin . Before the two Kenosha County tornadoes this January, Wisconsin had one tornado in January since records have been kept. That was January 24, 1967 when an F3 tornado moved through Rock and Green Counties . The earliest tornado in Milwaukee County was near the airport and St Francis back on March 8, 2000.

Since 1844, Wisconsin has experienced 96 tornadoes in April, 220 in May, 390 in June, 285 in July, 181 in August, and 124 in September. While most powerful tornadoes happen in the summer months, today is the anniversary of the 1974 tornadoes that ripped through Oshkosh and Sheboygan Counties . An F4 tornado developed near Oshkosh , injuring 35 and killing 3 and causing $12 million in damage. The storm moved east and dropped 3 tornadoes in Sheboygan County . Howards Grove was the hardest hit with an F3 tornado that injured 7 and killed a 4 year old boy when a tree fell on the car he was in.

An average Wisconsin tornado is on the ground for 10 minutes or about 6 miles. Last June’s F3 tornado was on the ground for 40 miles in Menominee and Oconto Counties . That was the longest tornado track in the last year.