ALBANY - What is like Wisconsin's first February tornado touched down earlier today just outside of Albany, according to local authorities.

At approximately 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8, the Green County Sheriff’s Office – Communication Center received several 911 calls reporting damage from the storm in the Town of Decatur.  Albany Fire Department was in the area for storm watch and observed a funnel cloud and possible tornado touch down approximately 1.5 miles south of Village of Albany.  

Deputies, along with Albany Fire Department, Brodhead Fire Department, Alliant Energy and Green County Highway Department responded to the area. Three hours later, five residences had been confirmed to have damaged, including two mobile homes and several other structures. Alliant Energy was contacted and was working to restore power. There were no injuries reported within Green County.

Green County Emergency Management is monitoring the damage and will conduct necessarily follow up with property owners in the coming days, according to a press release from the Green County Sheriff's Office. Property owners that were affected can contact Green County Emergency Management at 608-328-9416 or email gziegler@greensheriff.com.

The potential for strong storms on the unusually warm February day was predicted in the days ahead by meteorologists. Late morning storms first hit the area just before lunchtime. A second round of storms came through about six hours later with temperatures in the mid-50s. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued by the National Weather Service at around 4:50 p.m. for Green County, with a tornado warning issued just 10 minutes later. According to radar, the turbulent storm cells were capable of producing strong winds, hail and a tornado was possible. Pea-sized hail and larger fell across Monroe and the area.

While Monroe was cleared of the tornado threat around 5:30 p.m., a new severe thunderstorm warning was put into effect for another 45 minutes. Meanwhile, the storm threatening tornadic activity continued moving northeast at around 40 miles per hour. A second tornado warning for the county was at 5:33 p.m. for the east and northeast quadrants. 

Authorities were tracking damage to buildings, fallen power lines and hazards on the roadways minutes later. Calls from Wis. 59, County FF, County F, Park Road, Wis. 104, and others followed the path of the unconfirmed tornado. The storm apparently continued along its line to the northeast, also causing damage around the Evansville area in Rock County.

If confirmed, the tornado or tornadoes would be the first in the month of February in Wisconsin history. Since 1844, there has not been a confirmed tornado touch down in the state during February, according to the National Weather Service. However, data prior to 1950 is incomplete because in many cases, only large tornadoes were reported and many rural tornadoes went unreported. There have been 1,537 documented tornadoes in Wisconsin history. Three confirmed tornadoes have hit in the month of January, six in December, nine in November and 18 in March. June is the state's most active month for tornadoes, with 449 confirmed in the past 74 years.