Tornadoes · United States · Iowa · 2005

F0 tornado, Waubeek, Iowa, June 29, 2005

This F0 tornado ran 0.7 miles across Linn County on June 29, 2005, touching down at 11:51 PM CDT and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 mphthis tornado

    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 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. 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
F0
Date
June 29, 2005
Touchdown
11:51 PM CDT (04:51 UTC)
Path length
0.7 miles (1.1 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Linn County
Touchdown point
42.180, -91.530
Lift-off point
42.180, -91.520
Record number
239

What the Weather Service recorded

Tornado developed between Jordans Grove Road and Bridge Out Road west of Waubeek. The tornado just missed the Pflaghaupt farm and went through a corn field. A long downburst west of Jordans Grove Road likely aided in tornadogenesis. The tornado track was unknown until it was discovered the followed morning by a KCRG TV helicopter.

Rated high F0.

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.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
04:33 UTC05:27 UTCSevere Thunderstorm 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:11 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), 00:00Z

4.9 hours before the tornado, 105 km from the path. June 30, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2005-06-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1049 joules per kilogram, CIN -131, lifted condensation level 1913 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2005-06-30The 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 42 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 28 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
1049 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-131 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4867 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1913 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
224 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6
0-3 km lapse rate
6.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Davenport, (KDVN), 12:00Z

7.1 hours after it, 105 km from the path. June 30, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2005-06-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 100 joules per kilogram, CIN -296, lifted condensation level 1342 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2005-06-30The 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 -19 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 20 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
100 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-296 J/kg
Surface CAPE
163 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1342 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Monticello Municipal (MXO), 30 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
02:55 UTC78.877140° 4 kt1010.5
03:00 UTC8077130° 4 kt1010.2
03:15 UTC78.877140° 4 kt1010.5
03:20 UTC8077140° 4 kt1010.5
03:35 UTC78.877170° 5 kt1010.8
03:40 UTC8077160° 4 kt1010.5
03:55 UTC80.677170° 7 kt1009.8
04:00 UTC8177160° 8 kt1010.2
04:15 UTC80.677170° 8 kt1010.2HZ
04:20 UTC8277170° 8 kt1010.2
04:35 UTC80.677170° 8 kt1010.2
04:40 UTC8277170° 8 kt1010.5
04:55 UTC80.677170° 11 kt151010.5
05:15 UTC78.873.4280° 22 kt381013.2+RA
05:35 UTC6864.4250° 7 kt371011.5+RA
05:55 UTC6866.20° 0 kt1010.5-RA
06:15 UTC6866.2140° 4 kt1010.2
06:35 UTC6866.2120° 7 kt1009.8

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

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:49 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
04:19 UTCTSTM WND GST 607 Sw Mount AuburnBenton, IAESTIMATED 50 TO 60 MPH WINDS AND SMALL TREE LIMBS DOWN 8 MILES SOUTH OF LA PORTE CITY.
04:35 UTCTSTM WND GST 64VintonBenton, IAMEASURED BY SPOTTER WITH KWWL TELEVISION STATION.
04:39 UTCTSTM WND GST 502 Sw ShellsburgBenton, IAESTIMATED
04:51 UTCTORNADO2 Se Central CityLinn, IABASED ON VIDEO OF THE DAMAGE PROVIDED BY KCRG-TV...THIS EVENT WAS DETERMINED TO BE A BRIEF TORNADO.
04:53 UTCTSTM WND GST 50StanleyBuchanan, IAWINDS ESTIMATED
04:56 UTCHAIL 0.88HiawathaLinn, IADIME TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL
05:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGManchesterDelaware, IATREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN MANCHESTER. BARN DESTROYED IN RYAN. TIME ESTIMATED.
05:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGManchesterDelaware, IASEVERAL TREES DOWN. SIZE UNKNOWN.
05:21 UTCTSTM WND DMGFarleyDubuque, IATREES DOWN. ONE TREE FELL ON A CAR.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in IowaEvery tornado in Iowa since 1950Warnings in force in Iowa nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 29, 2005

14 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 2912:05 PM EDTF0Berkshire, MA0.150
June 293:25 PM CDTF2Sargent, ND8.0200
June 295:20 PM EDTF0Newaygo, MI0.125
June 294:40 PM CDTF0Richland, ND2.050
June 295:05 PM CDTF1Clay, MN1.0100
June 295:09 PM CDTF1Becker, MN3.0100
June 295:10 PM CDTF2Otter Tail, MN1.5200
June 295:51 PM CDTF0Lyon, MN3.0100
June 296:18 PM CDTF0Cottonwood, MN9.0200
June 296:40 PM CDTF0Wadena, MN0.225
June 297:51 PM CDTF0Watonwan, MN0.550
June 298:22 PM CDTF0Blue Earth, MN0.120
June 299:00 PM CDTF0Nicollet, MN0.120
June 2911:15 PM CDTF1Mitchell, KS1.060$100,000

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.