WISCONSIN — It’s been an exciting and memorable year for weather and celestial events across the U.S.

From dozens of tornadoes to a once-in-a-lifetime comet, there was nearly something happening every month.

As we close out the year, here’s a look back at Wisconsin’s major 2024 weather events.

Lots of tornadoes

During the first half of the year, severe weather reigned supreme.

With that came a whopping 45 tornadoes, including the first-ever tornadoes in February on record.

On Feb. 8, 2024, those tornadoes tore through mostly rural areas of the state on a day that also broke records for warmth. One was an F2 tornado in Evansville and the other was an F1 in Green County. Residents were shocked at the weather event.

May 7, 2024, began another busy month of severe weather. On this day, there were multiple rounds of strong and severe thunderstorms that affected the Badger State. It resulted in two confirmed tornadoes in Walworth County. Both tornadoes inflicted damage on barns. Then, later in May, more storms across the state brought more than 15 tornadoes to various places, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

(Spectrum News 1/Rhonda Foxx)

But Wisconsin wasn’t done with tornadoes yet. June came in with a vengeance. Another nine tornadoes touched down in a single severe weather event on June 22, 2024. One destroyed the Apple Grove Lutheran Church in Argyle, which is an hour southwest of Madison. The tornadic winds in that storm left destruction for many to clean up.

The Solar Eclipse

People traveled far and wide to catch a glimpse of the 2024 Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024. It took a path of totality through areas of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Wisconsin still had 80% to 90% coverage of the sun during the eclipse. As the sun dimmed across the U.S., many were gathering at local watch parties or at home to view it. Spectrum News 1’s team headed out onto the weather deck to take a look.

For a photo recap of the iconic day, click here.

Northern lights on repeat

It seemed as though every other month, there was a chance to view the northern lights this year. That’s because the sun’s magnetic field was at the peak of its 11-year cycle. It made solar storms and northern lights more frequent.

Much of the United States had a brilliant display in May of this year, with several solar flares from a cluster of sunspots erupting and sending plasma and magnetic fields from the sun into space toward Earth. The eruption resulted in a geomagnetic storm.

The northern lights could also be seen in Wisconsin during August and October. Here’s a look back at some of those moments:

Flooding in the northeast

In July, floodwaters from heavy rainfall caused a state of emergency in four northeastern Wisconsin counties, including Calumet, Outagamie, Waupaca and Winnebago counties.

It prompted evacuations and caused a dam to break, leading to more concerns regarding erosion. The flooding also damaged roads and left many with flooded basements.

Rare, once-in-a-lifetime comet

The northern lights weren’t the only thing making Wisconsinites look upward.

Gracing October’s sky this year was the rare comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas. It was visible in the state and across the U.S. roughly between Oct. 12-21.

The comet was discovered in 2023 and was named for observatories in China and South Africa.

It won’t return for another 80,000 years. So if you missed it this year, you’re out of luck.

Some Wisconsin photographers were able to capture it in different areas in the state.

Snow squalls return

It wasn’t the first time Wisconsin has experienced the unique winter weather phenomenon known as a snow squall. In early December this year, the sudden bursts of snow caused whiteout conditions in multiple areas of Wisconsin, including Green Bay, Milwaukee and Madison areas. The brief weather events caused messy travel conditions.

NWS first started issuing snow squall warnings in 2018.