Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2008

EF0 tornado, Alsey to Manchester, Illinois, June 3, 2008

From Alsey to Manchester, this EF0 tornado ran 6.7 miles across Scott County on June 3, 2008, touching down at 8:32 PM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
June 3, 2008
Touchdown
8:32 PM CDT (01:32 UTC)
Lifted
8:52 PM CDT (01:52 UTC)
On the ground
20 minutes
Path length
6.7 miles (10.8 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Scott County
Touchdown point
39.550, -90.411
Lift-off point
39.593, -90.296
Record number
0806031932-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Strong to severe thunderstorms developed across central Illinois during the evening of June 3rd. The worst of the storms were centered along the I-72 corridor from near Winchester northeastward to Champaign-Urbana, where numerous reports of hail and gusty winds were received. These storms also produced very heavy rainfall in some locations and produced flooding. In addition, a tornado touched down in Scott County near Alsey.

A tornado touched down just east of the town of Alsey, then tracked east-northeast across a rural area. No damage was reported.

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 23:02 UTC and running to 07:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
08:35 UTC15:38 UTCTornado WatchILX
09:13 UTC10:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILX
10:23 UTC14:30 UTCFlood AdvisoryILX
15:11 UTC15:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILX
18:18 UTC01:41 UTCFlood WarningLSX
23:00 UTC02:23 UTCFlash Flood WatchILX
23:02 UTC07:00 UTCTornado WatchILX
00:10 UTC01:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILX
00:33 UTC01:15 UTCTornado WarningILX
01:42 UTC07:36 UTCFlash Flood WarningILX
02:09 UTC07:49 UTCFlash Flood WarningILX
07:54 UTC22:00 UTCFlood WarningILX

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:01 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.

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

1.5 hours before the tornado, 163 km from the path. June 4, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2008-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2538 joules per kilogram, CIN -28, lifted condensation level 775 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, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2008-06-04The 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 207 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
2538 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2314 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
775 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
240 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.9
Supercell composite
14.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z

10.5 hours after it, 163 km from the path. June 4, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2008-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 176 joules per kilogram, CIN -131, lifted condensation level 842 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2008-06-04The 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 -2 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 17 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
176 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-131 J/kg
Surface CAPE
258 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
842 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-7 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Jacksonville (IJX), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
23:45 UTC80.673.4130° 4 kt1001
00:05 UTC80.673.4120° 4 kt1000.7TS
00:25 UTC78.873.480° 7 kt1000-TSRA
00:45 UTC7769.810° 4 kt1000TS
01:25 UTC71.666.2300° 4 kt251001.7+TSRA
01:26 UTC71.666.2160° 3 kt251001.7+TSRA
01:45 UTC69.86840° 6 kt1001.4-TSRA
02:05 UTC69.868190° 5 kt1001.7VCTSRA
02:25 UTC71.669.8230° 8 kt221001.4+RA
02:45 UTC69.868140° 10 kt1001+TSRA
03:05 UTC69.86820° 3 kt1001.4-RA
03:25 UTC69.866.2180° 4 kt1001VCTSRA

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

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
00:30 UTCTORNADO4 S WinchesterScott, ILSPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND
00:30 UTCTORNADO4 W WinchesterScott, ILSPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND
00:46 UTCHAIL 1.752 S PhiladelphiaCass, ILSWOP REPORT
00:46 UTCTORNADO2 N ManchesterScott, ILTORNADO OCCASIONALLY TOUCHING DOWN
00:59 UTCTORNADOPleasant HillPike, ILTHROUGH SHERIFF OFFICE...TORNADO ON GROUND NEAR PLEASANT HILL
01:01 UTCTORNADOFarmersvilleMontgomery, ILPOSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR FARMERSVILLE
01:05 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDPleasant HillPike, ILFIRE DEPT REPORTS SEEING 2 FUNNEL CLOUDS FROM 750 TO 800 PM. NO CONFIRMED TORNADOES YET.
01:08 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDFarmersvilleMontgomery, ILFIRE DEPT REPORTS SEEING FUNNEL CLOUDS AROUND 750 PM. NO TORNADOES.
01:10 UTCHAIL 0.75HillviewGreene, IL
01:15 UTCTORNADOEldredGreene, ILPUBLIC REPORTS TORNADO ON GROUND.
01:31 UTCWALL CLOUD1 W White HallGreene, ILWALL CLOUD TO THE SOUTH OF LOCATION.
02:30 UTCTORNADO2 E MichaelGreene, ILSPOTTED BY DEPUTY
02:49 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD5 S CarrolltonGreene, ILHEADING EAST 25 TO 30 MPH...SPOTTED ON US HIGHWAY 67
03:03 UTCWALL CLOUD1 S RockbridgeGreene, IL
03:33 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD5 Ese ChesterfieldMacoupin, ILON ROAD BETWEEN CHESTERFIELD AND MACOUPIN STATION. SEES FUNNEL CLOUD OFF TO HIS NORTHWEST.
04:20 UTCFLOODWinchesterScott, ILWATER OVER THE ROAD IN PLACES BETWEEN JACKSONVILLE AND WINCHESTER. OBSERVER REPORTED 2.5 INCHES OF RAIN SINCE 7 AM.

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 June 3, 2008

11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 37:54 AM CDTEF0Marion, IL0.150
June 311:10 AM EDTEF1Greene, IN27.11001$170,000
June 32:30 PM EDTEF0Morgan, IN0.450$20,000
June 37:27 PM EDTEF0City of Roanoke, VA1.660$350,000
June 38:40 PM EDTEF0Chesterfield, VA0.320$3,000
June 39:04 PM EDTEF3Shelby, IN9.715018$1.2 million
June 39:05 PM EDTEF0Butler, OH0.325$30,000
June 39:24 PM EDTEF2Brown, IN10.61504$23 million
June 39:50 PM EDTEF1Decatur, IN4.175$70,000
June 312:25 AM EDTEF0Clinton, OH0.225$15,000
June 312:25 AM CDTEF1Camden, MO6.0100$10,000

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.