Shiocton, Wisconsin- It was a scary night for some Shiocton-area residents as winds peaked at around 45 miles per hour, lightning could be seen from all directions, and skies could be seen "rotating."
It started at around 6:15 P.M. Clouds east of the Village of Shiocton got the attention of many. One area resident, Sharon Wichman, says that she "watched it as it swirled around. We were waiting to see if it was going to come down."
Janelle Tesch also witnessed this rotation as she was at Lake Park. She says that she watched the twisting clouds continue to move and eventually evolve to non-threatening skies.
Meanwhile, area residents had no idea what was in store.
At around 8:45 P.M., strong storms pushed their way to the east, moving right over Shiocton.
A lightning show followed by heavy rains and strong winds were just minor problems compared to what meteorologists were looking at on the radar.
Storm-chasers and meteorologists were very suspicious when this showed up on the velocity radar. The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the area to let those nearby know that this storm was nothing to play around with.
Meteorologist Phil Kurimski said that he was "afraid" after a couple of radar scans and was wondering if there was a "quick spin up." However, he continued by saying that it looks "like a microburst."
According to the National Weather Service, a microburst "is a localized column of sinking air (downdraft) within a thunderstorm and is usually less than or equal to 2.5 miles in diameter."
Microbursts can cause extensive damage to property and lives. Luckily, it appears that this microburst was not that strong. When YNIS went out on the roads, we found numerous small trees/large branches down- some covering the roads. There were also electrical workers fixing, what seemed to be, a power outage.
Ashely May, a Hortonville resident, said that she left for dinner Wednesday evening. When she came back at around 10:00 P.M., she found her gazebo "twisted and mangled and collapsed." She added that the gazebo was "not saveable whatsoever."
Wind gusts of 45 miles per hour were reported along with pea-sized hail. No damage to houses were reported.
Check out some of these pictures that YourNewsInShiocton readers sent in....
Picture 1: Sharon Wichman
Pictures 2, 3, and 4: Janelle Tesch