F1 tornado, Campbellsport to Wayne, Wisconsin, July 6, 2003

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 mphthis tornado

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

3. F2113 to 157 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. 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

F1

Date

July 6, 2003

Touchdown

5:43 PM CDT (22:43 UTC)

Path length

0.8 miles (1.3 km)

Path width

40 yards (37 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$20,000

Counties

Washington and Fond du Lac counties

Touchdown point

43.550, -88.320

Lift-off point

43.530, -88.280

Record number

1347

Two rounds of scattered severe convection affected south-central and southeast Wisconsin on Sunday, July 6, 2003. The first round occurred during the morning hours and the second during the late afternoon hours. Powerful, downburst, damaging, straight-line winds toppled large trees and/or power-lines, 4 weak tornadoes spun up, a separate funnel cloud was reported, and there were a couple occurrences of large hail. Detailed descriptions of the four tornadoes can be found in separate reports.Probably the hardest-hit area extended from Middleton (Dane Co.) to Maple Bluff. In the Maple Bluff area, 8 homes sustained minor wind damage, and a car and two boats were damaged by toppled trees or large branches during the morning round. Wind gusts in the Maple Bluff area were estimated to briefly reach 65 knots (75 mph). Lightning struck a home in Middleton, resulting in a roof/attic fire. Near Clinton (Rock Co.) the powerful winds pushed a large tree on a home, resulting in minor damage. At the Alpine Ski Resort south-southeast of East Troy (Walworth Co.), lightning struck a man holding a tent metal pole, resulting in serious injuries. The bolt injured 7 other, adjacent individuals who were standing in ankle deep water. Six of the eight people were hospitalized. Near Sturtevant (Racine Co.) an apartment complex sustained major damage due to a lightning fire. Heavy rains of 1.5 inches resulted in minor urban-type flooding in the Okauchee (Waukesha Co.) area. All together, at least 3000 customers lost electrical power due to tree limbs falling on power-lines or lightning strikes. Synoptically, an upper level low pressure system and vorticity maximum moved east-southeast through the Dodge County area, resulting in bands of thunderstorms. The tornadoes occurred near the low pressure center where large-scale atmospheric circulation allowed for rotating updrafts in a few thunderstorms.This was the 3rd of five consecutive days with some kind of severe convection across south-central and/or southeast Wisconsin. Synoptically, a series of short wave troughs in the upper atmosphere moved east across Wisconsin while a surface frontal boundary oscillated north and south across southern Wisconsin.

This tornado spun up at a location about 4.1 miles south-southwest of Campbellsport (Fond du Lac Co.) , or about 50 yards north and 1/3 mile east of the intersection of County Highway BB and St. Kilian Dr. It quickly moved east-southeast, and didn't result in an property damage in Fond du Lac County. It proceeded for about two-thirds of a mile into Washington County where it damaged 3 homes.

This tornado initially spun up in adjacent Fond du Lac County, and entered Washington County at a point 2.0 miles north of Wayne, about 1/3 mile east of the intersection of County Highway BB and St. Kilian Dr. It moved east-southeast and damaged 3 homes in Washington County. Damage to windows, a garage, some siding, and a roof was noted. Maximum wind speeds were estimated at 70 knots (80 mph), or at the bottom of the F1 rating. It dissipated at a location 2.0 miles north-northeast of Wayne, just east of Lake Benice Dr. There were no injuries or deaths.

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

27 minutes of warning. NWS MKX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:16 UTC, 27 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:53 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.

West Bend (ETB), 19 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:42 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2003 tornado in WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are

7 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.