EF0 tornado, Clinton to East Clinton, Iowa, July 28, 2023

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

July 28, 2023

Touchdown

9:16 PM CDT (02:16 UTC)

Lifted

9:19 PM CDT (02:19 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

1.0 miles (1.7 km)

Path width

20 yards (18 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Whiteside and Clinton counties

Touchdown point

41.850, -90.190

Lift-off point

41.847, -90.168

Record number

2307282016-01

5 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS DVN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 75 mph.

• Video of boat moved by tornado with tree damage across the river.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

Very hot and humid air in place across eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois, and far northeast Missouri interacted with a southward moving frontal boundary and disturbance aloft, setting the stage for development and organization of severe thunderstorms across the region. Storms initially formed from north central Iowa and southern Wisconsin along the frontal boundary, which slowly worked south into the hot, humid air in place across the region. As storms arrived across east central Iowa, they began producing winds around 70 MPH across the Hwy 20 corridor. Another storm to the south further intensified, and began producing winds of 80+ MPH as it tracked along the Hwy 30 corridor. This impacted the northern suburbs of Cedar Rapids into Clinton. These storms continued to produce wind gusts around 60-70 MPH as they progressed into northwest Illinois. One brief EF-0 tornado began in Clinton, Iowa, then moved across the Mississippi River before dissipating near Fulton, Illinois. Damage near Andrew, Iowa in Jackson County was determined to be straight-line winds. Storms additionally produced large hail around the Dubuque metro, with quarter size hail reported.

Very hot and humid air in place across eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois, and far northeast Missouri interacted with a southward moving frontal boundary and disturbance aloft, setting the stage for development and organization of severe thunderstorms across the region. Storms initially formed from north central Iowa and southern Wisconsin along the frontal boundary, which slowly worked south into the hot, humid air in place across the region. As storms arrived across east central Iowa, they began producing winds around 70 MPH across the Hwy 20 corridor. Another storm to the south further intensified, and began producing winds of 80+ MPH as it tracked along the Hwy 30 corridor. This impacted the northern suburbs of Cedar Rapids into Clinton. These storms continued to produce wind gusts around 60-70 MPH as they progressed into northwest Illinois. One brief EF-0 tornado began in Clinton, Iowa, then moved across the Mississippi River before dissipating near Fulton, Illinois. Damage near Andrew, Iowa in Jackson County was determined to be straight-line winds. Storms additionally produced large hail around the Dubuque metro, with quarter size hail reported.

A brief tornado developed in Clinton, IA Friday evening, and moved into Whiteside County Illinois over the Mississippi River, before dissipating near Fulton, IL. The tornado caused sporadic tree damage, including several large trees on the Clinton County courthouse lawn. The tornado was captured on webcam video at the riverfront, where it moved a boat docked near the Candlelight Inn in Clinton. Maximum winds were estimated around 75 mph. The tornado was rated EF0.

A brief tornado developed in Clinton, IA Friday evening, and moved into Whiteside County Illinois over the Mississippi River, before dissipating near Fulton, IL. The tornado caused sporadic tree damage, including several large trees on the Clinton County courthouse lawn. The tornado was captured on webcam video at the riverfront, where it moved a boat docked near the Candlelight Inn in Clinton. Maximum winds were estimated around 75 mph. The tornado was rated EF0.

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

6 minutes of warning. NWS DVN issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:10 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:45 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 00:30 UTC and running to 04:42 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:53 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 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.

Clinton (CWI), 13 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 42 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:16 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.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2023 tornado in IowaEvery tornado in Iowa since 1950Warnings in force in Iowa nowThe forecast where you are

16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.