In a severe storm on June 23, 2024, five tornadoes tore through Southern Wisconsin, causing widespread damage and leaving thousands without power. The most affected areas were Dane County near Marshall, Jefferson County near Watertown, Walworth County with two tornadoes around Delavan and Geneva Lake, Rock County near Janesville, and parts of Janesville itself. According to the National Weather Service, an EF-1 tornado hit Dane County and Jefferson County while two EF-1 tornadoes struck Walworth County. An EF-2 tornado was confirmed in Rock County. The storms resulted in significant damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure; several buildings had missing roofs and flipped campers. Power poles were down, large trees were snapped in half, and many roads were closed due to disaster response. The city of Janesville activated its Emergency Operations Center to provide resources for residents impacted by the severe weather event. Officials are looking for volunteers to help with storm cleanup.
The tornadoes caused considerable damage on the south side of Janesville, with buildings flattened and power outages across the area. The city officials reported significant damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure. Drone video from Chicago and Midwest Storm Chasers captured several homes with missing roofs and flipped campers as a result of the tornado. In addition to Janesville, damage was also reported in Lafayette County west of the city. The tornado destroyed Apple Grove Lutheran Church in Argyle, Wisconsin on Saturday evening.
As a result of the storms, thousands were without power across the Great Lakes and Midwest regions, including nearly 12,000 in Wisconsin and 22,000 in Illinois. Most of the outages in Wisconsin were in Rock and Walworth counties. The National Weather Service will need to assess the destruction to confirm the strength of the tornadoes based on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.
