Severe weather prompted strong wind gusts to southeast Wisconsin on Wednesday. Power remains out to just over 4,400 We Energies customers as of 3PM Wednesday afternoon. At its peak, 21,500 customers were affected early Wednesday afternoon.
Well, that escalated quickly! We’re gathering information on what all happened this morning/early afternoon with the likely tornadoes to document what happened and where. If you have any photos/videos, please post/pass them along to us. Thanks in advance! #wiwx pic.twitter.com/kRUiAJiSjb
— NWS Milwaukee (@NWSMilwaukee) October 12, 2022
We are starting to see the damage left behind.
— Ubah Ali (@UbahDAli) October 12, 2022
– I’m in West Allis and you can see several trees down on this block.
Neighbors say the storm moved through very quickly and they’re surprised to see this much damage. pic.twitter.com/16RUAe199j
Downed trees and other damages have been reported in West Allis, where people on the ground at the time of the storm also captured video of a spin-up tornado.
This video has the looks of a spin up #tornado in West Allis earlier today. Courtesy of Kevin Flack #wiwx #weather pic.twitter.com/NUKq78TYZ5
— Brian Niznansky (@BrianNizTMJ4) October 12, 2022
Thunderstorms were in the forecast, but the severe weather caught weather officials by surprise.
“This wasn’t a classic outbreak,” said WTMJ meteorologist Craig Koplien. “Count me as surprised as anyone. This did not look like a severe weather situation. (But) conditions were ripe for the development of rotating thunderstorms. We had the ingredients to cause the storms to spin.”
The winds are picking up in Waukesha County. #TornadoWarning is still in effect. @620wtmj #WIWX pic.twitter.com/WbxhS54f8C
— Alex Crowe (@AlexCrowe38) October 12, 2022
The storms prompted evacuations and delays across the area. The Waukesha Holiday Parade trial was interrupted.
Darrell Brooks was interrupted while cross examining a man whose daughter was hit in the parade last year. Judge Dorow noted tornado warning in the area and ordered the jury out. Court is now in recess for lunch break. @620wtmj
— Alex Crowe (@AlexCrowe38) October 12, 2022