Tornadoes · United States · Iowa · 2009

EF0 tornado, Doon, Iowa, June 21, 2009

This EF0 tornado ran 0.4 miles across Lyon County on June 21, 2009, touching down at 5:29 PM CDT and reaching 50 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 21, 2009
Touchdown
5:29 PM CDT (22:29 UTC)
Lifted
5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.4 miles (0.7 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Lyon County
Touchdown point
43.265, -96.195
Lift-off point
43.260, -96.190
Record number
0906211629-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Thunderstorms produced a brief tornado near Doon in Lyon County during the afternoon of June 21st. A few funnel clouds were also observed in the area.

A brief tornado caused no reported damage.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

33 minutes of warning. NWS FSD issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:56 UTC, 33 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:26 UTC and running to 01:14 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:26 UTC01:14 UTCTornado WatchFSD
21:56 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningFSD
22:33 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WarningFSD
22:56 UTC23:37 UTCTornado WarningFSD

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 19:23 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.

Omaha, NE (KOAX), 12:00Z

10.5 hours before the tornado, 216 km from the path. June 21, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2009-06-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 564 joules per kilogram, CIN -12, lifted condensation level 482 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2009-06-21The 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 228 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 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
564 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Surface CAPE
237 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
482 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
228 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
210 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.1
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Omaha, NE (KOAX), 00:00Z

1.5 hours after it, 216 km from the path. June 22, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2009-06-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1881 joules per kilogram, CIN -3, lifted condensation level 1213 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2009-06-22The 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 71 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 24 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
1881 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3160 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1213 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
5.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Sheldon (SHL), 30 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:33 UTC8474190° 10 kt1004.4
20:35 UTC82.473.4190° 12 kt1004.4
20:38 UTC8474190° 10 kt1004.4
20:43 UTC8474200° 9 kt1004.4
20:48 UTC8474190° 10 kt1004.4
20:53 UTC8574180° 11 kt151004.1
20:55 UTC84.273.4180° 9 kt151004.1
20:58 UTC8474190° 9 kt151004.1
21:03 UTC8473180° 9 kt151004.1
21:08 UTC8474190° 11 kt161004.1
21:13 UTC8473190° 9 kt161004.1
21:15 UTC84.273.4180° 11 kt161004.1
21:18 UTC8574200° 11 kt161004.1
21:23 UTC8674200° 12 kt1004.1
21:28 UTC8675200° 10 kt1004.1
21:33 UTC8675190° 11 kt1004.1
21:35 UTC8673.4180° 12 kt1004.1
21:38 UTC8675200° 10 kt1004.1
21:43 UTC8774190° 13 kt1004.1
21:48 UTC8575180° 8 kt1004.1
21:53 UTC8575180° 11 kt1004.1
21:55 UTC84.273.4200° 9 kt1004.1
21:58 UTC8574190° 10 kt1003.7
22:03 UTC8574190° 10 kt151003.7
22:08 UTC8574200° 12 kt151004.1
22:13 UTC8675190° 8 kt151004.1
22:15 UTC8673.4190° 8 kt1004.1
22:18 UTC8675200° 9 kt1004.1
22:23 UTC8675190° 11 kt1003.7
22:28 UTC8576200° 12 kt1004.1
22:33 UTC8476220° 11 kt1004.1
22:35 UTC82.475.2220° 10 kt1004.1RA
22:38 UTC8376220° 13 kt171004.4
22:43 UTC8075190° 10 kt171004.4
22:48 UTC7975170° 7 kt171004.1
22:53 UTC7976170° 5 kt81004.1
22:55 UTC78.875.2190° 4 kt81004.4-RA
22:58 UTC8176200° 6 kt1004.4
23:03 UTC8176200° 5 kt1004.4
23:08 UTC8277210° 7 kt1004.1
23:13 UTC8276210° 6 kt1004.1
23:15 UTC80.675.2240° 7 kt1004.1
23:18 UTC8175230° 5 kt1004.4
23:23 UTC8175210° 6 kt1004.1
23:28 UTC8075210° 6 kt1004.4
23:33 UTC8075210° 7 kt1004.1
23:35 UTC78.873.4200° 8 kt1004.1
23:38 UTC8075200° 7 kt1004.4
23:43 UTC8075250° 7 kt1004.1
23:48 UTC8075280° 7 kt1004.1
23:53 UTC8075330° 5 kt1004.1
23:55 UTC78.873.4340° 4 kt1004.1
23:58 UTC80750° 0 kt1004.4
00:03 UTC80740° 0 kt1004.4
00:08 UTC80740° 0 kt1004.4
00:13 UTC8074110° 3 kt1004.4
00:15 UTC78.873.40° 0 kt1004.4
00:18 UTC80750° 0 kt1004.4
00:23 UTC80740° 0 kt1004.4
00:28 UTC81750° 0 kt1004.4

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

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:30 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
22:11 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD2 Ssw DoonSioux, IA
22:29 UTCTORNADO2 Ese DoonLyon, IA

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2009 tornado in IowaEvery tornado in Iowa since 1950Warnings in force in Iowa nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 21, 2009

13 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 2111:50 AM MDTEF0Owyhee, ID0.120
June 214:48 PM CDTEF0Hamilton, IA1.430
June 215:36 PM CDTEF0Hamilton, IA0.530
June 216:15 PM CDTEF0Hardin, IA0.730
June 216:39 PM CDTEF0Hardin, IA0.430
June 216:51 PM CDTEF0Grundy, IA0.430
June 216:59 PM CDTEF0Hardin, IA0.630
June 217:20 PM CDTEF1Grundy, IA2.390$25,000
June 217:25 PM CDTEF1Grundy, IA2.170$10,000
June 217:36 PM CDTEF0Faribault, MN0.05$1,000
June 218:08 PM CDTEF0Faribault, MN0.35$1,000
June 218:18 PM CDTEF0Faribault, MN0.05
June 218:32 PM CDTEF0Freeborn, MN1.810

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.