Tornadoes · United States · Iowa · 1993

F2 tornado, Mitchell County, Iowa, June 8, 1993

This F2 tornado ran 6.0 miles across Mitchell County on June 8, 1993, touching down at 1:20 PM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 to $500,000 of property damage.

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 mph

    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 mphthis tornado

    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
F2
Date
June 8, 1993
Touchdown
1:20 PM CDT (18:20 UTC)
Path length
6.0 miles (9.7 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000 to $500,000
County
Mitchell County
Touchdown point
43.220, -92.780
Lift-off point
43.280, -92.730
Record number
439

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:16 UTC18:58 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMX

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 High Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 06:00 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.

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), 12:00Z

6.3 hours before the tornado, 190 km from the path. June 8, 1993.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1993-06-08Temperature 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 0, lifted condensation level NaN meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1993-06-08The 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 500 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 81 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
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
81 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
500 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
604 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), 00:00Z

5.7 hours after it, 190 km from the path. June 9, 1993.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1993-06-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 9 joules per kilogram, CIN -25, lifted condensation level 1555 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1993-06-09The 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 24 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 35 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
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Surface CAPE
76 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1555 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1993 tornado in IowaEvery tornado in Iowa since 1950Warnings in force in Iowa nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 8, 1993

57 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 86:35 AM CDTF0Miller, MO0.450$500 to $5,000
June 810:08 AM CDTF0Love, OK1.540$5,000 to $50,000
June 810:45 AM CDTF0Boone, IA0.220$5,000 to $50,000
June 81:05 PM CDTF1Vernon, WI11.0100$50,000 to $500,000
June 81:08 PM CDTF1Winnebago, IA0.330$5,000 to $50,000
June 81:55 PM CDTF0Mower, MN0.110
June 81:55 PM CDTF0Mower, MN0.110
June 81:55 PM CDTF0Mower, MN0.110
June 82:07 PM CDTF0Fillmore, MN0.110
June 82:07 PM CDTF0Fillmore, MN0.110
June 82:28 PM CDTF0Olmsted, MN0.110
June 82:30 PM CDTF0Adams, WI1.573$500 to $5,000
June 83:01 PM CDTF1Itasca, MN0.510$500 to $5,000
June 83:08 PM CDTF0Olmsted, MN0.110
June 84:30 PM EDTF0Putnam, OH0.230$50,000 to $500,000
June 84:32 PM EDTF1Hancock, OH1.030$5,000 to $50,000
June 84:25 PM CDTF0Koochiching, MN0.110
June 84:48 PM CDTF0Adams, WI1.050
June 84:52 PM CDTF0Adams, WI1.573
June 85:06 PM CDTF1Marquette, WI10.0850$50,000 to $500,000
June 85:07 PM CDTF0Kay, OK0.120
June 86:10 PM EDTF1Cambria, PA1.0100$50,000 to $500,000
June 85:10 PM CDTF0Marquette, WI1.050$50 to $500
June 85:16 PM CDTF0Koochiching, MN0.110
June 85:20 PM CDTF0Kay, OK0.120
June 85:23 PM CDTF0Marquette, WI0.123$50 to $500
June 85:26 PM CDTF2Columbia, WI28.01,000$50,000 to $500,000
June 85:30 PM CDTF1Sangamon, IL5.0100
June 85:30 PM CDTF0Madison, IL0.430$5,000 to $50,000
June 85:30 PM CDTF0Adams, WI2.073
June 85:35 PM CDTF0Adams, WI0.523
June 85:35 PM CDTF3Kay, OK11.5150$50,000 to $500,000
June 85:37 PM CDTF0Green Lake, WI0.330
June 85:40 PM CDTF0Macon, IL3.023$50,000 to $500,000
June 86:45 PM EDTF1Fayette, PA3.02502$50,000 to $500,000
June 85:45 PM CDTF0Green Lake, WI4.050$50 to $500
June 86:15 PM CDTF0Kay, OK0.380
June 86:20 PM CDTF0Champaign, IL0.110
June 86:23 PM CDTF0Champaign, IL0.110
June 86:23 PM CDTF1Louisa, IA5.040$5,000 to $50,000
June 86:28 PM CDTF0Champaign, IL0.110
June 86:35 PM CDTF0Winnebago, WI0.123
June 86:38 PM ESTF0Tippecanoe, IN0.120
June 86:40 PM ESTF1Tippecanoe, IN10.060$5,000 to $50,000
June 86:40 PM ESTF1Marshall, IN19.073$50,000 to $500,000
June 87:01 PM CDTF0Vermilion, IL0.110
June 87:16 PM CDTF0Vermilion, IL0.110
June 87:20 PM ESTF0Kosciusko, IN0.110
June 87:35 PM CDTF0Washington, OK0.130
June 87:38 PM CDTF0Waushara, WI8.023$50 to $500
June 87:47 PM CDTF0McHenry, IL0.220
June 87:59 PM CDTF0Dane, WI4.050$50 to $500
June 88:15 PM CDTF0Waushara, WI12.033$500 to $5,000
June 88:35 PM CDTF0Waushara, WI6.023$500 to $5,000
June 810:10 PM CDTF0Fannin, TX0.110
June 810:20 PM CDTF0Green Lake, WI0.123
June 811:39 PM CDTF0Whiteside, IL1.030$500 to $5,000

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.