Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2008
EF0 tornado, Wilmington, Indiana, June 4, 2008
This EF0 tornado ran 0.7 miles across Dearborn County on June 4, 2008, touching down at 6:00 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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
- June 4, 2008
- Touchdown
- 6:00 PM EDT (22:00 UTC)
- Lifted
- 6:05 PM EDT (22:05 UTC)
- On the ground
- 5 minutes
- Path length
- 0.7 miles (1.1 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $30,000
- County
- Dearborn County
- Touchdown point
- 39.020, -84.959
- Lift-off point
- 39.018, -84.950
- Record number
- 0806041600-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Strong thunderstorms produced very heavy rainfall over parts of southeast Indiana. A tornado was also confirmed southwest of Aurora.
Significant tree damage, along with minor roof and structural damage to homes in a trailer park was noted west of Cole Road. Some roofs were lifted off of the trailers, with skirting blown away from many trailers. Much of the damage that occurred here was due to trees falling on the trailers. Winds were estimated to be 65-70 mph.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
1 minute of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:59 UTC, 1 minute before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:31 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:37 UTC and running to 00:16 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07:00 UTC | 13:18 UTC | Tornado Watch | ILN |
| 12:03 UTC | 12:18 UTC | Flood Advisory | ILN |
| 12:16 UTC | 15:15 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | ILN |
| 13:18 UTC | 20:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | ILN |
| 15:44 UTC | 17:45 UTC | Flood Advisory | ILN |
| 16:55 UTC | 04:00 UTC | Flood Watch | ILN |
| 20:37 UTC | 00:16 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | ILN |
| 21:16 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | ILN |
| 21:49 UTC | 22:34 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN |
| 21:59 UTC | 22:31 UTC | Tornado Warning | ILN |
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 20:01 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.
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 12:00Z
10.0 hours before the tornado, 109 km from the path. June 4, 2008.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 565 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -66 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 232 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 651 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 288 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 379 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.2
- Supercell composite
- 7.8
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.2 K/km
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 00:00Z
2.0 hours after it, 109 km from the path. June 5, 2008.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 37 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -349 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 49 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1188 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 326 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 412 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.0 K/km
The radar
The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:00 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | North Vernon | Jennings, IN | TREES DOWN AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO A RESTAURANT |
| 22:00 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Sw Aurora | Dearborn, IN | A TORNADO DAMAGED A TRAILER PARK ALONG COLE ROAD SOUTH OF US 50. MINOR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE WAS NOTED...WITH NUMEROUS TREES DOWNED. THE TORNADO WAS RATED AN EF0 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE...WITH WIND SPEEDS ESTIMATED BETW |
| 22:08 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Aurora | Dearborn, IN | STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS IMPACTED A NEIGHBORHOOD...CAUSING MANY LARGE TREES TO BE DAMAGED OR UPROOTED. SOME STRUCTURAL DAMAGE OCCURRED AS WELL...SOME OF WHICH WAS ATTRIBUTED TO FALLING TREES. WINDS WERE ESTIMATED AT AROUND 80 |
| 22:40 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 5 N North Vernon | Jennings, IN | CONSIDERABLE FLOODING. A COUPLE OF WATER RESCUES WERE OCCURRING IN THE NORTH PART OF JENNINGS COUNTY. |
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 IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 4, 2008
45 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 4 | 3:30 AM CDT | EF0 | Randolph, IL | 0.6 | 50 | |||
| June 4 | 3:48 AM CDT | EF0 | Randolph, IL | 1.5 | 50 | |||
| June 4 | 3:49 AM CDT | EF0 | Randolph, IL | 0.7 | 25 | |||
| June 4 | 7:13 AM EDT | EF0 | Greene, IN | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| June 4 | 7:50 AM EDT | EF0 | Hamilton, OH | 1.9 | 50 | $40,000 | ||
| June 4 | 1:25 PM EDT | EF1 | Clarke, VA | 0.5 | 100 | $20,000 | ||
| June 4 | 2:19 PM EDT | EF0 | Fauquier, VA | 4.0 | 150 | $15,000 | ||
| June 4 | 2:35 PM EDT | EF0 | Loudoun, VA | 5.4 | 150 | $15,000 | ||
| June 4 | 3:18 PM EDT | EF0 | Frederick, VA | 0.5 | 100 | $8,000 | ||
| June 4 | 3:20 PM EDT | EF0 | Montgomery, MD | 0.3 | 50 | $2,000 | ||
| June 4 | 3:40 PM EDT | EF0 | Calvert, MD | 1.6 | 75 | $400,000 | ||
| June 4 | 4:12 PM EDT | EF0 | Caroline, MD | 2.2 | 50 | $300,000 | ||
| June 4 | 2:29 PM MDT | EF0 | Washington, CO | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| June 4 | 3:01 PM MDT | EF0 | Yuma, CO | 0.7 | 25 | |||
| June 4 | 3:04 PM MDT | EF0 | Adams, CO | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| June 4 | 4:53 PM CDT | EF0 | Howard, NE | 3.6 | 25 | $50,000 | ||
| June 4 | 6:20 PM EDT | EF0 | Pendleton, KY | 0.2 | 25 | $60,000 | ||
| June 4 | 4:49 PM MDT | EF1 | Chase, NE | 0.9 | 30 | $95,000 | ||
| June 4 | 6:04 PM CDT | EF1 | Mills, IA | 4.8 | 220 | |||
| June 4 | 5:08 PM MDT | EF1 | Chase, NE | 0.1 | 20 | $30,000 | ||
| June 4 | 5:13 PM MDT | EF0 | Chase, NE | 0.1 | 20 | $25,000 | ||
| June 4 | 7:15 PM EDT | EF0 | Culpeper, VA | 4.0 | 100 | $15,000 | ||
| June 4 | 7:27 PM EDT | EF1 | Stafford, VA | 9.6 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| June 4 | 7:35 PM EDT | EF1 | Stafford, VA | 1.0 | 100 | $20,000 | ||
| June 4 | 6:50 PM CDT | EF1 | Mills, IA | 5.1 | 440 | |||
| June 4 | 5:53 PM MDT | EF0 | Chase, NE | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| June 4 | 7:04 PM CDT | EF0 | Union, IA | 0.9 | 50 | |||
| June 4 | 7:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Hayes, NE | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| June 4 | 7:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Seward, NE | 5.6 | 440 | |||
| June 4 | 6:26 PM MDT | EF0 | Yuma, CO | 0.5 | 25 | |||
| June 4 | 7:44 PM CDT | EF1 | Butler, NE | 3.8 | 440 | |||
| June 4 | 7:45 PM CDT | EF1 | Livingston, IL | 3.4 | 200 | $40,000 | ||
| June 4 | 8:00 PM CDT | EF1 | Butler, NE | 5.5 | 220 | |||
| June 4 | 8:13 PM CDT | EF0 | Adams, IA | 2.3 | 75 | |||
| June 4 | 8:18 PM CDT | EF0 | Tazewell, IL | 1.5 | 30 | |||
| June 4 | 8:24 PM CDT | EF0 | Tazewell, IL | 6.1 | 150 | |||
| June 4 | 8:24 PM CDT | EF1 | Adams, IA | 9.5 | 150 | $15,000 | ||
| June 4 | 8:37 PM CDT | EF1 | Saunders, NE | 6.5 | 880 | |||
| June 4 | 8:55 PM CDT | EF1 | Saunders, NE | 4.9 | 440 | |||
| June 4 | 8:58 PM CDT | EF1 | Adams, IA | 5.6 | 150 | $25,000 | ||
| June 4 | 9:18 PM CDT | EF0 | Union, IA | 1.1 | 75 | $5,000 | ||
| June 4 | 9:37 PM CDT | EF1 | Union, IA | 3.9 | 150 | $50,000 | ||
| June 4 | 9:58 PM CDT | EF1 | Union, IA | 10.9 | 100 | $5,000 | ||
| June 4 | 11:23 PM CDT | EF0 | Phelps, NE | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| June 4 | 11:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Gosper, NE | 0.1 | 25 |
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.