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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. 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.

  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
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)ExpiredProductOffice
06:00 UTC02:07 UTCFlash Flood WatchDVN
21:55 UTC01:57 UTCTornado WatchDVN
22:47 UTC23:30 UTCTornado WarningDVN
23:47 UTC00:07 UTCTornado WarningDVN
02:46 UTC14:55 UTCFlood WarningDVN
03:00 UTC10:32 UTCFlood 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, 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2008-04-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -93289, lifted condensation level 475 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2008-04-10The 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 305 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Davenport, (KDVN), 00:00Z

0.4 hours after it, 158 km from the path. April 11, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2008-04-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 325 joules per kilogram, CIN -57, lifted condensation level 466 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2008-04-11The 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 717 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 106 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Keokuk Municipal (EOK), 19 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:35 UTC6860.8130° 11 kt994.6
21:36 UTC6861130° 11 kt994.6
21:46 UTC6861130° 11 kt994.2
21:55 UTC6860.8130° 12 kt993.9
21:56 UTC6861130° 12 kt993.9
22:06 UTC6861130° 10 kt993.9
22:15 UTC6860.8130° 12 kt993.2
22:16 UTC6861130° 11 kt993.2
22:26 UTC6861130° 8 kt993.6
22:35 UTC66.260.8120° 10 kt993.2
22:36 UTC6761110° 10 kt992.9
22:46 UTC6761130° 9 kt993.2
22:55 UTC66.260.8140° 9 kt993.9RA
22:56 UTC6761130° 11 kt993.6
23:06 UTC6661120° 15 kt992.9
23:15 UTC64.460.8130° 12 kt17993.2RA
23:16 UTC6561130° 10 kt17993.2
23:26 UTC6661140° 10 kt19992.9
23:35 UTC64.460.8180° 6 kt17992.9
23:36 UTC6561180° 7 kt17992.9
23:46 UTC6560190° 11 kt17992.9
23:55 UTC64.459160° 9 kt992.9
23:56 UTC6560160° 10 kt992.9
00:06 UTC6560160° 8 kt993.2
00:15 UTC62.659140° 8 kt993.2
00:16 UTC6459140° 8 kt993.2
00:26 UTC6359150° 6 kt993.6
00:35 UTC62.657.2160° 7 kt993.6
00:36 UTC6358160° 7 kt993.6
00:46 UTC6358160° 6 kt993.6
00:55 UTC62.657.2170° 7 kt993.9
00:56 UTC6358160° 7 kt993.9
01:06 UTC6358190° 9 kt993.9
01:15 UTC62.657.2180° 6 kt994.2
01:16 UTC6358180° 6 kt994.2
01:26 UTC6358190° 6 kt994.6

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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
23:00 UTCTORNADO2 Nw LimaAdams, ILTORNADO REPORTED ON THE GROUND BY A TRAINED SPOTTER
23:00 UTCTORNADOLimaAdams, ILPOWER WIRES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 96 IN AND AROUND LIMA ... WITH TRAILERS AND MOBILE HOMES MOVED AND DAMAGED IN AND SOUTH OF LIMA ...
23:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 651 N LoraineAdams, IL65 TO 75 MPH WINDS ESTIMATED.
23:30 UTCTORNADO 12 E SutterHancock, ILTIME 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 UTCTORNADO 04 W BascoHancock, ILTIME 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 UTCTORNADO 05 Wsw CarthageHancock, ILTIME 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 UTCTSTM WND DMGSutterHancock, ILDAMAGE TO SUTTER HOG CONFINEMENT
23:48 UTCTORNADO8 W La HarpeHancock, ILNEAR THE RTE 9/RTE 94 JUNCTION
23:58 UTCHAIL 0.25StronghurstHenderson, ILPEA SIZED HAIL AND ESTIMATED 40 MPH WINDS
23:59 UTCTSTM WND GST 754 Se BlandinsvilleMcdonough, 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.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 101:35 AM CDTEF1Brown, TX1.5125$150,000
April 103:03 AM CDTEF1Somervell, TX7.675$200,000
April 103:30 AM CDTEF1Johnson, TX2.950$25 million
April 104:00 AM CDTEF1Dallas, TX2.040$1.0 million
April 104:04 AM CDTEF1Collin, TX7.2175$12 million
April 104:05 AM CDTEF0Bell, TX6.4100$500,000
April 104:29 AM CDTEF1Sharp, AR1.0200$10,000
April 104:56 AM CDTEF0Sequoyah, OK2.0150
April 105:15 AM CDTEF2Adair, OK2.8300$100,000
April 105:26 AM CDTEF2Adair, OK to AR9.0400$125,000
April 105:50 AM CDTEF2Washington, AR3.0600$125,000
April 106:02 AM CDTEF1Madison, AR0.8200$10,000
April 106:20 AM CDTEF1Madison, AR10.7900$100,000
April 107:55 AM CDTEF0Douglas, MO0.375$40,000
April 108:12 AM CDTEF2Bowie, TX5.52001$1.0 million
April 108:15 AM CDTEF0Howell, MO3.3150
April 1010:56 AM CDTEF1Grant, AR15.1175$30,000
April 104:33 PM CDTEF0Wayne, IA0.620
April 104:49 PM CDTEF0Wayne, IA0.420
April 104:57 PM CDTEF1Appanoose, IA2.030$75,000
April 105:10 PM CDTEF1Appanoose, IA2.950$75,000
April 105:43 PM CDTEF1Mahaska, IA3.050$100,000
April 105:55 PM CDTEF0Adams, IL9.150
April 106:16 PM CDTEF2Van Buren, IA1.8220$150,000
April 106:21 PM CDTEF1Poweshiek, IA7.650$100,000
April 106:25 PM CDTEF1Van Buren, IA5.350$30,000
April 106:30 PM CDTEF1Hancock, IL1.6150$100,000
April 106:35 PM CDTEF0Hancock, IL0.875$30,000
April 106:36 PM CDTEF0Poweshiek, IA2.425$50,000
April 107:03 PM CDTEF0Keokuk, IA1.8100$50,000
April 107:05 PM CDTEF0Keokuk, IA0.025
April 108:30 PM CDTEF0Buchanan, MO0.330$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.