Tornadoes · United States · Ohio · 2008

EF0 tornado, Oxford Miami Univ Ar, Ohio, June 3, 2008

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Butler County on June 3, 2008, touching down at 9:05 PM EDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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 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 3, 2008
Touchdown
9:05 PM EDT (01:05 UTC)
Lifted
9:08 PM EDT (01:08 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.6 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
County
Butler County
Touchdown point
39.475, -84.805
Lift-off point
39.474, -84.798
Record number
0806031905-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Thunderstorms developed in the afternoon along a northward moving warm front. Additional thunderstorms developed during the evening as the front moved north.

A homeowner witnessed a tornado in the tree line northwest of their farm on the north side of King Road. In addition to the trees, an older house had its roof removed. A newer and well-built barn sustained half of the roof being peeled off with a large metal door being blown 25 yards away, wrapping around a silo. Wind speeds were estimated to be around 75 mph.

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

The warnings

24 minutes of warning. NWS ILN issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:41 UTC, 24 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:48 UTC and running to 07:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
16:13 UTC20:44 UTCTornado WatchILN
19:23 UTC20:03 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILN
00:41 UTC01:30 UTCTornado WarningILN
00:48 UTC07:00 UTCTornado WatchILN
01:28 UTC02:03 UTCTornado WarningILN
01:34 UTC02:30 UTCFlood AdvisoryILN
01:55 UTC04:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningILN
07:00 UTC13:18 UTCTornado WatchILN
08:00 UTC04:00 UTCFlood WatchILN
12:41 UTC15:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningILN
13:18 UTC20:00 UTCTornado WatchILN
15:44 UTC17:45 UTCFlood AdvisoryILN

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:01 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.

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 00:00Z

1.1 hours before the tornado, 86 km from the path. June 4, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2008-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1752 joules per kilogram, CIN -27, lifted condensation level 498 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 2008-06-04The 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 431 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 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
1752 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Surface CAPE
482 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
498 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
431 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
584 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
30.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 12:00Z

10.9 hours after it, 86 km from the path. June 4, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2008-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 565 joules per kilogram, CIN -66, lifted condensation level 651 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2008-06-04The 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 288 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 64 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
565 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-66 J/kg
Surface CAPE
232 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
651 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
288 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
379 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
7.8
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Hamilton (HAO), 27 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
23:13 UTC73.469.8 3 kt1005.4
23:29 UTC73.469.8160° 4 kt1004.7
23:53 UTC7470150° 3 kt1004.7
00:53 UTC73700° 0 kt1004.4
01:05 UTC73.469.8140° 3 kt1004.1TS
01:53 UTC7270330° 9 kt1005.1-TSRA
01:58 UTC71.669.80° 0 kt1004.7-TSRA
02:26 UTC71.669.890° 5 kt1004.7VCTS BR
02:53 UTC737020° 8 kt1005.4VCTS -RA BR

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

The radar

The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:06 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
00:15 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDSpringboroWarren, OH
01:05 UTCTORNADO3 Sw OxfordButler, OHA FEW BARNS AND HOMES SUSTAINED ROOF AND SIDING DAMAGE. TREES WERE ALSO DAMAGED IN THE AREA. THE TORNADO WAS RATED AN EF0 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE...WITH WIND SPEEDS ESTIMATED AT AROUND 75 MPH.
01:06 UTCHAIL 0.75OxfordButler, OH
01:37 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDEatonPreble, OH
02:10 UTCFLOODCamdenPreble, OHSEVERAL ROADS ACROSS PREBLE COUNTY WERE FLOODED.
02:24 UTCHEAVY RAIN 2.24CentervilleMontgomery, OHMEASURED SINCE 6 PM.
02:41 UTCFLOOD3 Sw EatonPreble, OHFLOODING IN THE LAKEGREN COMMUNITY. TWO HOUSES FLOODED WITH EVACUATIONS OF THE RESIDENTS.
02:45 UTCFLOOD2 Wsw CamdenPreble, OHMORNING SUN ROAD IS CLOSED DUE TO HIGH WATER. OTHER FLOODING ISSUES REPORTED COUNTYWIDE THROUGHOUT PREBLE COUNTY.

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 OhioEvery tornado in Ohio since 1950Warnings in force in Ohio nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 3, 2008

11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 37:54 AM CDTEF0Marion, IL0.150
June 311:10 AM EDTEF1Greene, IN27.11001$170,000
June 32:30 PM EDTEF0Morgan, IN0.450$20,000
June 37:27 PM EDTEF0City of Roanoke, VA1.660$350,000
June 38:40 PM EDTEF0Chesterfield, VA0.320$3,000
June 39:04 PM EDTEF3Shelby, IN9.715018$1.2 million
June 39:24 PM EDTEF2Brown, IN10.61504$23 million
June 38:32 PM CDTEF0Scott, IL6.775
June 39:50 PM EDTEF1Decatur, IN4.175$70,000
June 312:25 AM EDTEF0Clinton, OH0.225$15,000
June 312:25 AM CDTEF1Camden, MO6.0100$10,000

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.