The National Weather Service office in Green Bay is still looking into reports of a funnel cloud in Manitowoc on July 19 and whether it reached the ground, becoming a tornado.
The NWS received reports of damage and may send a survey team to investigate on July 20 or 21, according to Scott Berschback, a meteorologist at the Green Bay bureau.
NWS could have more information in the coming hours, he added.
Videos posted to social media showed the rotation happened at about 4:30 p.m. near I-43 and Stone Road, just west of Manitowoc and Francis Creek.
What’s the difference between a funnel cloud and tornado? The spinning column must either reach the surface or pick up debris to be considered a tornado.
It’s fairly uncommon for pop-up thunderstorms to produce a weak tornado, Berschback said, but it’s definitely possible in the summertime with heat and humidity.
Surface boundaries, including one off Lake Michigan yesterday, can make it more likely for a thunderstorm to produce a short-lived tornado.
“It does happen every once in a while,” Berschback said.
If a tornado is confirmed, it would become the fifth to occur in Wisconsin this week. Four tornados were confirmed during July 16 thunderstorms across southern Wisconsin.
Contact Hope Karnopp at HKarnopp@gannett.com or on X at @hopekarnopp.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: National Weather Service looking into possible tornado in Manitowoc