Hailstorms, tornadoes strike Midwest, cut power to 400,000
Baseball-sized hailstones, tornadoes and straight-line winds blasted the Midwest on Thursday afternoon through Thursday night, cutting power to over 400,000. And more storms are in the forecast.
Destructive tornadoes and pounding hail wreaked havoc on the Great Lakes area throughout the evening of May 15.
Tornadoes, baseball-sized hail and destructive winds jolted parts of the Midwest on Thursday afternoon and Thursday night, cutting power to hundreds of thousands amid a multi-day stretch of severe weather.
The worst of the storms on Thursday afternoon was focused on Wisconsin, including a tornado that struck New Richmond, Wisconsin, located about 40 miles northeast of Minneapolis. The extent of the damage is still unclear, but local resident Tara Olson captured footage of the twister swirling nearby. This was one of 11 tornadoes reported across the region.
A Beyonce concert in Chicago was delayed as heavy rain and thunderstorms rumbled through the city on Thursday evening, forcing thousands of attendees to take shelter.
A tornado spotted near New Richmond, Wisconsin, on May 15, 2025. (Tara Olson)
The severe weather threat shifted after sunset as an intense line of thunderstorms swept across Michigan, creating straight-line winds. Trees and power lines snapped as winds gusted between 60-80 mph.
Around 400,000 electric customers were without power on Friday morning in the wake of the storms, including over 250,000 in Michigan, according to PowerOutage.us. Dozens of schools across the state cancelled classes on Friday due to the widespread power outages.
Large hail was common with most of the severe storms, particularly on Thursday afternoon, with NOAA's Storm Prediction Center receiving more than 200 reports of severe hail, ranging from the size of quarters to baseballs. One of the hailstorms tracked directly over Madison, Wisconsin, around the evening commute with the largest hail near the city measuring 2 inches in diameter. Another hailstorm pelted Milwaukee in the early evening with quarter-sized hailstones.
Hailstones as large as baseballs pummeled Wisconsin on May 15, 2025, including this one that fell 35 miles west of Milwaukee. (X/@FieldPigeon)
The severe weather threat is predicted to escalate on Friday afternoon as the storms shift from the Midwest to the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys.
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