Tornado Warning Issued for Columbia, Dane, and Dodge Counties in Wisconsin
This alert is no longer in effect.
NOAA issued it on August 18, 2026, 5 days ago. Warnings of this kind stay in effect for hours to a few days, so this page is a historical record of what was issued, not a current warning. For conditions where you are right now, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).
Areazine synthesizes this NWS weather alert directly from NOAA's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.
NWS Milwaukee/Sullivan has issued a Tornado Warning for southeastern Columbia County, northeastern Dane County, and southwestern Dodge County until 6:30 PM CDT on August 18, 2026.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Tornado Warning
- Affected area
- South Central Wisconsin
- Issued
- August 18, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Milwaukee/Sullivan WI
Tornado warnings are short-window notices for the named area. The issuing office is the authority on whether the warning remains active or has been replaced.
Record status: historical. It was issued 5 days ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in South Central Wisconsin.
Alert Details
A Tornado Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service in Milwaukee/Sullivan WI. The alert is effective from 5:45 PM CDT until 6:30 PM CDT on August 18, 2026. The event is classified as an actual alert with extreme severity, immediate urgency, and observed certainty.
Affected Areas
The warning covers southeastern Columbia County in south central Wisconsin, northeastern Dane County in south central Wisconsin, and southwestern Dodge County in southeastern Wisconsin. Locations impacted include Columbus and Fall River around 5:50 PM CDT, as well as East Bristol, Danville, and Otsego.
What You Should Do
TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.
Expected Conditions
At 5:44 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located 7 miles south of Rio, or 10 miles west of Columbus, moving east at 40 mph. Radar indicated rotation. Hazards include a tornado with flying debris that will be dangerous to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely. Maximum hail size is up to 0.75 inches.
Timeline
The Tornado Warning is in effect from 5:45 PM CDT to 6:30 PM CDT on August 18, 2026.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
Related Weather Alerts
All Weather Alerts →Nationwide notices with similar length or severity timing 8
Two Areazine-derived peer sets for this NWS weather alert: nearest notices by body length and by same severity near the same agency date. Peers come from other categories so they are not the same-feed Related list above.
Similar body length
Nearest notices by article body length (1,452 characters here).
Similar severity timing
Same severity (high) notices issued closest in time to August 18, 2026.
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