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National Weather Service confirms early December storm spawned 8 tornadoes

Storm produced 3 EF-2 tornadoes, 3 EF-1 tornadoes, 2 EF-0 tornadoes

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Storm damage is seen in Stanley, Wis. on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021
Storm damage is seen in Stanley, Wis. on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, after a powerful wind storm swept through the state overnight. Rich Kremer/WPR

The National Weather Service has confirmed a rare December wind storm spawned eight tornadoes across west-central Wisconsin.

The Dec. 15 storm swept across multiple states.The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Sunday that the storm produced three EF-2 tornadoes, three EF-1 tornadoes and two EF-0 tornadoes. The EF-2s touched down in Clark County and in Stanley, a city in Chippewa and Clark counties.

An EF-1 touched down in Homer, Minnesota, before ending on a Mississippi River island on the Wisconsin side. The other EF-1s touched down in Levis, along the Trempealeau and Jackson County line and in Clark County.

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The EF-0s touched down in Eau Claire County and in the village of Trempealeau.

The wind storm was part of an unprecedented December weather system that included record-high temperatures across the state and a mid-December tornado warning for a powerful, multi-state storm system.

Earlier this month, the weather service office in the Twin Cities confirmed damage in the city of Stanley, near Chippewa Falls, was from a tornado. A tweet from the office said it was an EF2 with a maximum wind speed of 120 mph.

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