Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2005

F0 tornado, Bald Bluff, Illinois, June 8, 2005

This F0 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Henderson County on June 8, 2005, touching down at 1:02 PM CDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F0
Date
June 8, 2005
Touchdown
1:02 PM CDT (18:02 UTC)
Path length
2.0 miles (3.2 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Henderson County
Touchdown point
41.050, -90.930
Lift-off point
41.050, -90.900
Record number
240

What the Weather Service recorded

Tornado developed on the apex of the bow echo and went through Big River State Forest. KDVN 88D data indicated a weak but persistent circulation that interacted with a outflow boundary near the Mississippi River in far northeast Des Moines County Iowa. The circulation became stronger with tornadogenesis taking place just across the river.

Rated high F0

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

11 minutes of warning. NWS DVN issued a tornado warning for this county at 17:51 UTC, 11 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 18:47 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:51 UTC18:47 UTCTornado WarningDVN

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 16:27 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Davenport, (KDVN), 12:00Z

6.0 hours before the tornado, 72 km from the path. June 8, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2005-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 546 joules per kilogram, CIN -138, lifted condensation level 1084 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2005-06-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 20 knots.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
546 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-138 J/kg
Surface CAPE
162 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1084 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Davenport, (KDVN), 00:00Z

6.0 hours after it, 72 km from the path. June 9, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2005-06-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 81 joules per kilogram, CIN -473, lifted condensation level 2033 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2005-06-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 9 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
81 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-473 J/kg
Surface CAPE
329 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2033 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Burlington (BRL), 36 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
16:53 UTC8672160° 6 kt1008.8
17:53 UTC6963320° 29 kt421011.5-RA
17:58 UTC6862.6320° 26 kt421011.5-RA
18:01 UTC66.262.6320° 26 kt421011.2+RA BR
18:07 UTC66.262.6330° 27 kt411011.5+RA FG
18:14 UTC66.262.6350° 24 kt401011.9+RA BR
18:22 UTC66.262.6350° 23 kt361011.9+RA BR
18:27 UTC66.262.6360° 22 kt351011.9RA
18:34 UTC66.262.610° 24 kt361011.5RA
18:53 UTC676220° 17 kt231011.2-RA
19:53 UTC676370° 17 kt1010.5-RA

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 68 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:02 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
17:29 UTCHAIL 0.25MolineRock Island, IL
17:41 UTCTSTM WND GST 705 W MonmouthWarren, IL
17:54 UTCTSTM WND DMGKeithsburgMercer, ILLARGE TREES DOWN IN CITY
17:57 UTCTSTM WND GST 593 Sw AledoMercer, IL
17:57 UTCTSTM WND GST 60KeithsburgMercer, ILWIND SUSTAINED FOR 5 MINUTES.
17:57 UTCHAIL 1.253 S AledoMercer, IL
18:02 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 N Bald BluffHenderson, ILTREES DOWN AN IRRIGATOR AND A BUILDING DAMAGED.
18:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGKeithsburgMercer, ILLATE REPORT POWER LINES DOWN
18:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGStronghurstHenderson, ILWIND DAMAGE TO A HOUSE.
18:15 UTCTSTM WND GST 52SeatonMercer, IL43 TO 52 MPH WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
18:15 UTCTSTM WND GST 705 W MonmouthWarren, IL
18:22 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD1 N AlexisMercer, IL
18:25 UTCTSTM WND DMGStronghurstHenderson, ILWIND DAMAGE TO A HOUSE.
18:25 UTCTSTM WND DMGStronghurstHenderson, IL24 INCH DIAMETER TREES DOWNED.
18:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGMonmouthWarren, ILTREE LIMBS DOWN AROUND TOWN. TIME ESTIMATED.
18:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGViolaMercer, ILSIGNS BLOWN DOWN AT A LOCAL BUSINESS
18:40 UTCTSTM WND GST 60ViolaMercer, IL
18:40 UTCHAIL 0.25ViolaMercer, IL
18:55 UTCTSTM WND DMGGalesburgKnox, IL*** 2 INJ *** NUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN TOWN OF GALESBURG. TWO MINOR INJURIES WHEN A TREE FELL ON A CAR.
18:55 UTCTSTM WND DMGGalesburgKnox, ILNUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN TOWN OF GALESBURG.
18:58 UTCHEAVY RAIN 1.8KeithsburgMercer, ILIN PAST TWO HOURS
19:05 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD7 N WoodhullHenry, IL

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 8, 2005

5 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 81:58 PM CDTF0Knox, IL0.110
June 84:27 PM CDTF0Pembina, ND3.050
June 84:37 PM CDTF1Pembina, ND5.0100
June 84:53 PM CDTF1Pembina, ND3.0100
June 85:28 PM CDTF0Jefferson, KS0.540$1,000

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.