F2 tornado, Leyden, Wisconsin, June 25, 1998

1. F040 to 72 mph

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

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mphthis tornado

   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. F3158 to 206 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 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

F2

Date

June 25, 1998

Touchdown

7:05 PM CDT (00:05 UTC)

Path length

2.5 miles (4.0 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$840,000

County

Rock County

Touchdown point

42.750, -89.180

Lift-off point

42.750, -89.130

Record number

441

Severe thunderstorms packing winds between 60 and 70 mph and producing hail between 1 and 2 inches in diameter caused significant damage to property and crops. Kenosha and Racine counties experienced some of the worst destruction with 40,000 homes and businesses left without power due to the high number of trees and power lines downed. In the city of Racine a tree fell on a home and another tree crushed an automobile. In Kenosha county, siding was ripped off the side of a Bristol business and metal signs were blown down on Interstate 94. Hidden among the thunderstorms was a lone F2 tornado that took aim on northern Rock county, destroying 3 homes and damaging 4 others. A barn and 2 sheds were also destoyed. Three garages and 3 cars were damaged and a 20 foot beam was found anchored in the ground at a 45-degree angle in the storms aftermath. Fortunately there were no deaths or injuries. This tornado touched down just southwest of a railroad track 2.3 miles west/northwest of Leyden and lifted just east of Highway 184, 1 mile north/northeast of Leyden. Eyewitness reports suggest that this slow moving tornado had a second vortex at one time, and at another time it was nearly stationary for a couple minutes. The slow movement enhanced the destruction. At least 3 individuals video-taped it. Maximum winds were estimated to be about 150 mph.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

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 Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 11:08 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1998 tornado in WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are

6 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.