Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2008

EF1 tornado, Grandin, Missouri, June 13, 2008

This EF1 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Carter County on June 13, 2008, touching down at 3:55 PM CDT and reaching 125 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 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 13, 2008
Touchdown
3:55 PM CDT (20:55 UTC)
Lifted
3:58 PM CDT (20:58 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
0.6 miles (1.0 km)
Path width
125 yards (114 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
County
Carter County
Touchdown point
36.830, -90.813
Lift-off point
36.828, -90.803
Record number
0806131455-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An isolated tornado occurred in southern Carter County. The tornado was spawned by a supercell thunderstorm that formed late in the afternoon in a hot, humid, and very unstable atmosphere. A cold front approaching from the northwest helped initiate the afternoon and evening storms.

The tornado touched down near the Grandin City Park on the east side of Grandin. A few trees were blown down at the ball fields. The tornado continued east, affecting two residences along County Road 247 just east of town. One house sustained moderate shingle damage. A second house sustained major roof damage. A large barn was heavily damaged, with one wall and door blown off. Large sections of roof were missing. Numerous large trees were snapped or uprooted. Trees on the south side of the track were laying in a northwest direction. South to north striations were easily visible in tall field grass. Several eyewitnesses clearly indicated a funnel cloud touched down. The track end point was estimated due to the fact the damage path continued into woods and fields that were inaccessible by vehicle. Peak wind speeds were estimated at 90 mph. The average path width was 75 yards.

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
20:17 UTC21:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAH
21:16 UTC21:27 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAH
22:29 UTC02:06 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchPAH

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 20:07 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.

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), 12:00Z

8.9 hours before the tornado, 235 km from the path. June 13, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 2008-06-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 959 joules per kilogram, CIN -43, lifted condensation level 741 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 2008-06-13The 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 -98 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 6 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
959 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-43 J/kg
Surface CAPE
684 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
741 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-98 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-78 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), 00:00Z

3.1 hours after it, 235 km from the path. June 14, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z 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 1331 joules per kilogram, CIN -3, lifted condensation level 1481 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z 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 27 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 20 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
1331 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2092 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1481 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
2.5
0-3 km lapse rate
7.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Popular Bluff (POF), 43 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:42 UTC87.868250° 8 kt1014.9VCTS
19:53 UTC8767240° 8 kt1014.9VCTS
20:00 UTC89.668260° 9 kt1014.6
20:53 UTC8869330° 7 kt1014.6
21:19 UTC87.873.4350° 8 kt1013.9VCTS
21:53 UTC837220° 10 kt1013.9TS
22:48 UTC80.671.6320° 12 kt1015.2
22:53 UTC8071330° 15 kt201015.6

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

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 183 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:54 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
21:45 UTCTORNADOGrandinCarter, MOTREES DOWN, ROOF MISSING FROM BARN, HOUSE DAMAGED NEAR PARK. SEVERAL EYEWITNESSES TO TOUCHDOWN. DAMAGE SURVEY WILL BE CONDUCTED ON SATURDAY.

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 MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 13, 2008

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 132:03 PM EDTEF0Miami-Dade, FL0.010
June 132:10 PM EDTEF0Palm Beach, FL0.110
June 134:45 PM EDTEF0Lee, FL0.370$110,000

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.