Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2008

EF1 tornado, Foxhome, Minnesota, June 14, 2008

This EF1 tornado ran 2.1 miles across Wilkin County on June 14, 2008, touching down at 5:55 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $150,000 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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

    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
EF1
Date
June 14, 2008
Touchdown
5:55 PM CDT (22:55 UTC)
Lifted
6:00 PM CDT (23:00 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
2.1 miles (3.4 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$150,000
Crop damage
$100,000
County
Wilkin County
Touchdown point
46.311, -96.364
Lift-off point
46.309, -96.320
Record number
0806141655-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota were hit by widespread severe thunderstorms Saturday (14th) afternoon and evening. Most of the thunderstorms fired along a cold front.

The tornado tracked for about two miles to around two miles north of Foxhome by 6 PM CDT. A machine shed was moved off its foundation. Several large trees were broken down or snapped off near the ground in local shelter belts. The peak winds were estimated at 95 mph with a maximum width of 50 yards.

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

The warnings

3 minutes of warning. NWS FGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:52 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:01 UTC and running to 03:21 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:01 UTC03:21 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchFGF
21:58 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGF
22:26 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGF
22:44 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGF
22:52 UTC23:15 UTCTornado WarningFGF
23:16 UTC23:42 UTCTornado WarningFGF
01:24 UTC02:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGF
01:44 UTC02:18 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGF

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. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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.

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), 12:00Z

10.9 hours before the tornado, 224 km from the path. June 14, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2008-06-14Temperature 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 -89376, lifted condensation level 1354 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2008-06-14The 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 51 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 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
-89376 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1354 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), 00:00Z

1.1 hours after it, 224 km from the path. June 15, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 2008-06-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 90 joules per kilogram, CIN -65, lifted condensation level 2807 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, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 2008-06-15The 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 77 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 39 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
90 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Surface CAPE
541 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2807 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5
0-3 km lapse rate
9.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 155 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:52 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
22:55 UTCTORNADO 13 Nw FoxhomeWilkin, MNTORNADO TRACKED FOR ABOUT 2 MILES TO AROUND 2 NORTH OF FOXHOME BY 6 PM CDT. A MACHINE SHED WAS MOVED OF ITS FOUNDATION. SEVERAL LARGE TREES WERE BROKEN DOWN OR SNAPPED OFF NEAR THE GROUND IN SHELTER BELTS. PEAK WINDS EST
22:55 UTCTORNADO2 Nw FoxhomeWilkin, MNMACHINE SHED DAMAGED. MOVED OFF FOUNDATION. SPOTTER OBSERVED NO FUNNEL BUT WITNESSED DEBRIS MOVING UP INTO THE CLOUD. DAMAGE WAS LIMTED TO A SMALL AREA.
23:12 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD4 W Fergus FallsOtter Tail, MN
23:12 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD5 Wnw Fergus FallsOtter Tail, MNFUNNEL VIEWED FROM SEVERAL LOCATIONS.
23:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Ne ElizabethOtter Tail, MNTEN INCH BRANCH DOWN.
23:15 UTCTORNADO 13 Wnw Fergus FallsOtter Tail, MNTORNADO TOUCHED DOWN WEST OF INTERSTATE 94 AND TRACKED NEARLY DUE EAST FOR ABOUT 2 MILES INTO THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF FERGUS FALLS BY 620 PM CDT. THE TORNADO KNOCKED DOWN POWER LINES AND NUMEROUS TREE BRANCHES. IT ALSO S
23:15 UTCTORNADOFergus FallsOtter Tail, MNTOUCHDOWN ON WEST SIDE OF FERGUS FALLS NEAR WAL-MART AT 615 TILL 620. NO STRUCTURAL DAMAGE OR INJURIES. NUMEROUS TREES...BRANCHES...AND POWER LINES DOWN. SOME POWER OUTAGES OVERNIGHT.
23:43 UTCHAIL 0.75Elbow LakeGrant, MNHAIL LASTED FOR FIVE MINUTES.

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 MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 14, 2008

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 145:45 PM CDTEF0Armstrong, TX0.220$11,000
June 146:15 PM CDTEF1Otter Tail, MN2.650$100,000
June 147:32 PM CDTEF0Barnes, ND5.125$30,000

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.