SHEBOYGAN COUNTY, WI (WHBL) - This week is Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week in Wisconsin, which helps get residents in the state ready for the upcoming dangers as the seasons change.
In Wisconsin, the greatest dangers is tornadoes. Sheboygan County Emergency Management Director Steven Steinhardt says our area does not see tornadoes often, but we are not immune to them. "Since the weather service started keeping track, Sheboygan County has had ten tornadoes confirmed," says Steinhardt. "I know of at least two of them in the past ten years."
However, the more common severe weather dangers are high winds and hail. The official declaration for a severe thunderstorm is when hail is at least one inch in diameter and/or winds gust up to at least 58 miles-per-hour.
Steinhardt says another force of nature has done far worse in recent years than tornadoes - flooding. "Flooding is probably the number one risk we have in Sheboygan County when it comes to damage to property and buildings," says Steinhardt. "Again, in the past ten years since I’ve been here we’ve had two different presidential declarations related specifically to floods."
All this week you can see stories on how you can be prepared for the annual severe weather season here on whbl.com.