Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2008
EF0 tornado, Sutter to Elvaston, Illinois, April 10, 2008
From Sutter to Elvaston, this EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Hancock County on April 10, 2008, touching down at 6:33 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $20,000 of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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.
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
- EF0
- Date
- April 10, 2008
- Touchdown
- 6:33 PM CDT (23:33 UTC)
- Lifted
- 6:34 PM CDT (23:34 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.2 miles (0.3 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $20,000
- County
- Hancock County
- Touchdown point
- 40.330, -91.280
- Lift-off point
- 40.332, -91.278
- Record number
- 0804101733-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Heavy rain-producing thunderstorms moved across Northeast Missouri, Eastern Iowa, and west central & northwest Illinois during the late afternoon and evening hours of April 10th. Some of the storms produced tornadoes ranging in intensity from EF0 to EF1.
An EF1 tornado moved northeast from 1.3 miles east of Sutter to 2.6 miles east northeast of Sutter. A garage, barns, and sheds were destroyed. Another barn was blown off its foundation, and a church roof, hog confinement, some homes, outbuildings, and several trees were damaged. Time estimated.
An EF0 tornado moved to the northeast beginning just east of Elderville. A roof to a house and a tree were damaged. Time estimated.
An EF0 tornado briefly touched down just northeast of Elvaston. One residence sustained roof and tree damage, as well as damage to a garage door. Time estimated.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:55 UTC and running to 01:57 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06:00 UTC | 02:07 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | DVN |
| 21:55 UTC | 01:57 UTC | Tornado Watch | DVN |
| 22:47 UTC | 23:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | DVN |
| 23:47 UTC | 00:07 UTC | Tornado Warning | DVN |
| 02:46 UTC | 14:55 UTC | Flood Warning | DVN |
| 03:00 UTC | 10:32 UTC | Flood Warning | DVN |
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, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:10 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
11.6 hours before the tornado, 158 km from the path. April 10, 2008.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -93289 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 475 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 305 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 419 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 1.4 K/km
Davenport, (KDVN), 00:00Z
0.4 hours after it, 158 km from the path. April 11, 2008.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 325 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -57 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 466 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 106 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 717 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 704 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.4
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.8 K/km
The surface observations
Keokuk Municipal (EOK), 19 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:35 UTC | 68 | 60.8 | 130° 11 kt | 994.6 | ||
| 21:36 UTC | 68 | 61 | 130° 11 kt | 994.6 | ||
| 21:46 UTC | 68 | 61 | 130° 11 kt | 994.2 | ||
| 21:55 UTC | 68 | 60.8 | 130° 12 kt | 993.9 | ||
| 21:56 UTC | 68 | 61 | 130° 12 kt | 993.9 | ||
| 22:06 UTC | 68 | 61 | 130° 10 kt | 993.9 | ||
| 22:15 UTC | 68 | 60.8 | 130° 12 kt | 993.2 | ||
| 22:16 UTC | 68 | 61 | 130° 11 kt | 993.2 | ||
| 22:26 UTC | 68 | 61 | 130° 8 kt | 993.6 | ||
| 22:35 UTC | 66.2 | 60.8 | 120° 10 kt | 993.2 | ||
| 22:36 UTC | 67 | 61 | 110° 10 kt | 992.9 | ||
| 22:46 UTC | 67 | 61 | 130° 9 kt | 993.2 | ||
| 22:55 UTC | 66.2 | 60.8 | 140° 9 kt | 993.9 | RA | |
| 22:56 UTC | 67 | 61 | 130° 11 kt | 993.6 | ||
| 23:06 UTC | 66 | 61 | 120° 15 kt | 992.9 | ||
| 23:15 UTC | 64.4 | 60.8 | 130° 12 kt | 17 | 993.2 | RA |
| 23:16 UTC | 65 | 61 | 130° 10 kt | 17 | 993.2 | |
| 23:26 UTC | 66 | 61 | 140° 10 kt | 19 | 992.9 | |
| 23:35 UTC | 64.4 | 60.8 | 180° 6 kt | 17 | 992.9 | |
| 23:36 UTC | 65 | 61 | 180° 7 kt | 17 | 992.9 | |
| 23:46 UTC | 65 | 60 | 190° 11 kt | 17 | 992.9 | |
| 23:55 UTC | 64.4 | 59 | 160° 9 kt | 992.9 | ||
| 23:56 UTC | 65 | 60 | 160° 10 kt | 992.9 | ||
| 00:06 UTC | 65 | 60 | 160° 8 kt | 993.2 | ||
| 00:15 UTC | 62.6 | 59 | 140° 8 kt | 993.2 | ||
| 00:16 UTC | 64 | 59 | 140° 8 kt | 993.2 | ||
| 00:26 UTC | 63 | 59 | 150° 6 kt | 993.6 | ||
| 00:35 UTC | 62.6 | 57.2 | 160° 7 kt | 993.6 | ||
| 00:36 UTC | 63 | 58 | 160° 7 kt | 993.6 | ||
| 00:46 UTC | 63 | 58 | 160° 6 kt | 993.6 | ||
| 00:55 UTC | 62.6 | 57.2 | 170° 7 kt | 993.9 | ||
| 00:56 UTC | 63 | 58 | 160° 7 kt | 993.9 | ||
| 01:06 UTC | 63 | 58 | 190° 9 kt | 993.9 | ||
| 01:15 UTC | 62.6 | 57.2 | 180° 6 kt | 994.2 | ||
| 01:16 UTC | 63 | 58 | 180° 6 kt | 994.2 | ||
| 01:26 UTC | 63 | 58 | 190° 6 kt | 994.6 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 154 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:33 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23:00 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Nw Lima | Adams, IL | TORNADO REPORTED ON THE GROUND BY A TRAINED SPOTTER |
| 23:00 UTC | TORNADO | Lima | Adams, IL | POWER WIRES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 96 IN AND AROUND LIMA ... WITH TRAILERS AND MOBILE HOMES MOVED AND DAMAGED IN AND SOUTH OF LIMA ... |
| 23:25 UTC | TSTM WND GST 65 | 1 N Loraine | Adams, IL | 65 TO 75 MPH WINDS ESTIMATED. |
| 23:30 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 2 E Sutter | Hancock, IL | TIME IS APPROXIMATE. INTENSITY RATING WAS EF-1. ESTIMATED WINDS WERE 93 MPH. PATH WIDTH WAS 150 YARDS WIDE. PATH LENGTH WAS 1.6 MI. DAMAGE TO A ROOF AND TREE AT A CHURCH. GARAGE DESTROYED...AND DAMAGE TO OUT BUILDINGS... |
| 23:33 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 4 W Basco | Hancock, IL | TIME IS APPROXIMATE. INTENSITY RATING WAS EF-0. ESTIMATED WINDS WERE 79 MPH. PATH WIDTH WAS 50 YARDS WIDE. PATH LENGTH WAS 0.2 MI. DAMAGE TO A ROOF AND TREE AT A HOUSE. |
| 23:35 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 5 Wsw Carthage | Hancock, IL | TIME IS APPROXIMATE. INTENSITY RATING WAS EF-0. ESTIMATED WINDS WERE 85 MPH. PATH WIDTH WAS 75 YARDS WIDE. PATH LENGTH WAS 3/4 MI. DAMAGE TO A ROOF...GARAGE DOOR AND TREE AT A HOUSE. |
| 23:48 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Sutter | Hancock, IL | DAMAGE TO SUTTER HOG CONFINEMENT |
| 23:48 UTC | TORNADO | 8 W La Harpe | Hancock, IL | NEAR THE RTE 9/RTE 94 JUNCTION |
| 23:58 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | Stronghurst | Henderson, IL | PEA SIZED HAIL AND ESTIMATED 40 MPH WINDS |
| 23:59 UTC | TSTM WND GST 75 | 4 Se Blandinsville | Mcdonough, IL |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 10, 2008
32 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 10 | 1:35 AM CDT | EF1 | Brown, TX | 1.5 | 125 | $150,000 | ||
| April 10 | 3:03 AM CDT | EF1 | Somervell, TX | 7.6 | 75 | $200,000 | ||
| April 10 | 3:30 AM CDT | EF1 | Johnson, TX | 2.9 | 50 | $25 million | ||
| April 10 | 4:00 AM CDT | EF1 | Dallas, TX | 2.0 | 40 | $1.0 million | ||
| April 10 | 4:04 AM CDT | EF1 | Collin, TX | 7.2 | 175 | $12 million | ||
| April 10 | 4:05 AM CDT | EF0 | Bell, TX | 6.4 | 100 | $500,000 | ||
| April 10 | 4:29 AM CDT | EF1 | Sharp, AR | 1.0 | 200 | $10,000 | ||
| April 10 | 4:56 AM CDT | EF0 | Sequoyah, OK | 2.0 | 150 | |||
| April 10 | 5:15 AM CDT | EF2 | Adair, OK | 2.8 | 300 | $100,000 | ||
| April 10 | 5:26 AM CDT | EF2 | Adair, OK to AR | 9.0 | 400 | $125,000 | ||
| April 10 | 5:50 AM CDT | EF2 | Washington, AR | 3.0 | 600 | $125,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:02 AM CDT | EF1 | Madison, AR | 0.8 | 200 | $10,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:20 AM CDT | EF1 | Madison, AR | 10.7 | 900 | $100,000 | ||
| April 10 | 7:55 AM CDT | EF0 | Douglas, MO | 0.3 | 75 | $40,000 | ||
| April 10 | 8:12 AM CDT | EF2 | Bowie, TX | 5.5 | 200 | 1 | $1.0 million | |
| April 10 | 8:15 AM CDT | EF0 | Howell, MO | 3.3 | 150 | |||
| April 10 | 10:56 AM CDT | EF1 | Grant, AR | 15.1 | 175 | $30,000 | ||
| April 10 | 4:33 PM CDT | EF0 | Wayne, IA | 0.6 | 20 | |||
| April 10 | 4:49 PM CDT | EF0 | Wayne, IA | 0.4 | 20 | |||
| April 10 | 4:57 PM CDT | EF1 | Appanoose, IA | 2.0 | 30 | $75,000 | ||
| April 10 | 5:10 PM CDT | EF1 | Appanoose, IA | 2.9 | 50 | $75,000 | ||
| April 10 | 5:43 PM CDT | EF1 | Mahaska, IA | 3.0 | 50 | $100,000 | ||
| April 10 | 5:55 PM CDT | EF0 | Adams, IL | 9.1 | 50 | |||
| April 10 | 6:16 PM CDT | EF2 | Van Buren, IA | 1.8 | 220 | $150,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:21 PM CDT | EF1 | Poweshiek, IA | 7.6 | 50 | $100,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Van Buren, IA | 5.3 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:30 PM CDT | EF1 | Hancock, IL | 1.6 | 150 | $100,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:35 PM CDT | EF0 | Hancock, IL | 0.8 | 75 | $30,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:36 PM CDT | EF0 | Poweshiek, IA | 2.4 | 25 | $50,000 | ||
| April 10 | 7:03 PM CDT | EF0 | Keokuk, IA | 1.8 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| April 10 | 7:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Keokuk, IA | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| April 10 | 8:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Buchanan, MO | 0.3 | 30 | $70,000 |
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.