Thunderstorms developed across northwest Wisconsin during the late afternoon and evening of Tuesday May 16th. The storms dropped hail up to the size of golf balls. A very strong supercell thunderstorm, which tracked across northern Wisconsin (mainly south of NWS Duluth's forecast area) and developed a EF-3 tornado which hit Chetek, WI, tracked across southern Price County. A funnel cloud was reported with the storm when it moved across southern Price County.

Hail in BAYFIELD, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 18:35:00 to 16-MAY-17 18:35:00 (CST-6)
Location: IRON RIVER
Magnitude: 1.00 
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in WASHBURN, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 16:30:00 to 16-MAY-17 16:30:00 (CST-6)
Location: SHELL LAKE
Magnitude: 1.00 
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in WASHBURN, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 16:34:00 to 16-MAY-17 16:34:00 (CST-6)
Location: SPOONER
Magnitude: 1.00 
Reported by: Trained Spotter

The hail ranged in size from peas to quarters.

Hail in WASHBURN, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 16:39:00 to 16-MAY-17 16:39:00 (CST-6)
Location: SPOONER
Magnitude: 0.88 
Reported by: Trained Spotter

There multiple reports of pea to nickel sized hail in Spooner.

Hail in WASHBURN, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 16:42:00 to 16-MAY-17 16:42:00 (CST-6)
Location: SCHULTZ SPOONER ARPT
Magnitude: 0.88 
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in SAWYER, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 16:51:00 to 16-MAY-17 16:51:00 (CST-6)
Location: ROUND LAKE
Magnitude: 1.50 
Reported by: Amateur Radio

There were dime to ping pong ball sized hail.

Hail in ASHLAND, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 17:30:00 to 16-MAY-17 17:30:00 (CST-6)
Location: HIGH BRIDGE
Magnitude: 1.50 
Reported by: Amateur Radio

Hail in BURNETT, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 17:37:00 to 16-MAY-17 17:37:00 (CST-6)
Location: WEBB LAKE
Magnitude: 0.88 
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Hail in PRICE, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 18:02:00 to 16-MAY-17 18:02:00 (CST-6)
Location: KENNAN
Magnitude: 1.75 
Reported by: Public

The relayed by the Price County Sheriff.

Hail in BAYFIELD, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 18:20:00 to 16-MAY-17 18:20:00 (CST-6)
Location: PORT WING
Magnitude: 1.25 
Reported by: Post Office

A post office employee reported half dollar sized hail with enough on the ground to scoop up with his hands.

Hail in PRICE, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 18:26:00 to 16-MAY-17 18:26:00 (CST-6)
Location: OGEMA
Magnitude: 1.75 
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Thunderstorm Wind in PRICE, WISCONSIN
From 17-MAY-17 18:40:00 to 17-MAY-17 18:40:00 (CST-6)
Location: PHILLIPS
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Reported by: Trained Spotter

A couple trees, about 6 to 8 in diameter, were knocked down by the thunderstorm's winds in Phillips along Avon Avenue.

Hail in BAYFIELD, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 18:20:00 to 16-MAY-17 18:20:00 (CST-6)
Location: PORT WING
Magnitude: 1.75 
Reported by: Public

There was a photograph of numerous large hailstones, the largest being 1.8 inches in diameter.

Tornado in PRICE, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 17:56:00 to 16-MAY-17 18:10:00 (CST-6)
Location: KENNAN
Tornado F-scale: EF0
Reported by: NWS Storm Survey

A supercell thunderstorm tracked across northwest Wisconsin during the late afternoon and early evening of 5/16/2017. The storm produced a strong, 83-mile-long track tornado which affected 4 Wisconsin counties (Polk, Barron, Rusk, and Price). The tornado developed at 4:42 pm over southeastern Polk County, east of Clear Lake, then moved east-northeastward across southern Barron County, and then east across southern Rusk counties into southwest Price County. The tornado tore across the Prairie Lake Estate 50-unit mobile home park halfway between Chetek and Cameron in Barron County. Dozens of mobile homes were destroyed and damaged from high-end EF-2 wind speeds. About a couple dozen people were injured, one seriously, and one adult man lost his life. The most intense damage was north of the Village of Conrath in Rusk County. A family home was completely destroyed down to the foundation, which resulted in an EF rating of 3 (140 mph). The remainder of the tornado's path ranged from EF0 to EF1 with mainly tree damage and occasional structural damage. The damage in Price County, along the last miles of its track, was EF0. The tornado dissipated at 7:10 pm. The tornado lasted 2 hours and 28 minutes.
As of June 2017, this was Wisconsin's longest tracked tornado on record since modern National Weather Service tornado records were established in 1950.

Funnel Cloud in PRICE, WISCONSIN
From 16-MAY-17 18:46:00 to 16-MAY-17 18:46:00 (CST-6)
Location: SPIRIT
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

A trained weather spotter reported a funnel cloud moving along 102 toward Spirit, Wisconsin. The storm associated with the funnel cloud was the same storm that produced the tornado that traveled across 4 Wisconsin counties (Polk, Barron, Rusk, and Price).