F1 tornado, Taylor, Wisconsin, June 23, 2004

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

June 23, 2004

Touchdown

6:22 PM CDT (23:22 UTC)

Path length

5.0 miles (8.0 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$70,000

County

Jackson County

Touchdown point

44.330, -91.120

Lift-off point

44.320, -91.030

Record number

1347

A line of thunderstorms that moved out of Minnesota produced wind damage, hail and several tornadoes. The first tornado touched down about 1.5 miles north of Taylor (Jackson County) around 6:22 p.m. It caused intermittent damage during the first two miles of its path as it moved east southeastward across Highway 95. It then strengthened and stayed on the ground for another 3 miles. Many trees were knocked down, and it also demolished a garage and took the roof off two other structures. The tornado reached F1 strength (estimated 75-85 mph winds) briefly as it moved through the Davis and Taylor Road areas where it demolished a garage approximately 2 miles northeast of Taylor. This tornado appeared to lift approximately 4 miles east of Taylor around 6:28 p.m. About 3 tenths of a mile to the south of where the first tornado lifted, a second tornado formed. This tornado primarily caused tree damage. Shortly after formation, it reached F1 strength (estimated 80-100 mph winds), clearing out a path about 30 yards wide through a wooded area just north of West Pine Creek Road. This tornado weakened about 5 miles east of Taylor, but caused sporadic F0 damage until it finally lifted around 6:32 p.m. about 8 miles east of Taylor in the East Pine Creek Road area. Total path length of these two tornadoes was nearly 9 miles. They were on the ground for about 10 minutes. A third tornado quickly developed about 3 miles west of Warrens (Monroe County) near Arctic Road, just west of Interstate 94 around 7:00 p.m. It hit a home along Interstate 94, then crossed the Interstate hitting a semi-truck, before moving into Jellystone Campground just west of Warrens. The tornado and associated strong winds around the storm knocked down hundreds of trees in this area, and damaged several tents, buildings, campers, and cars in Jellystone Campground. One gentleman was seriously injured when a tree fell on him during a rescue attempt. He was in a coma for a period of time, but survived with lasting disabilities. The tornado continued just southwest of Warrens and hit a home, blowing the roof off, south of the village along County Road O. It lifted about 2 miles southeast of Warrens around 7:12 p.m. The tornado path was approximately 4.5 miles in total length, with a maximum width of 50 yards. The tornado was rated an F1 on the Fujita Damage Scale. Wind speeds were likely 90 to 112 mph, with most of the damage related to downburst winds around the actual tornado. At least 3 people were hospitalized briefly for injuries, but there no fatalities. The fourth tornado formed in extreme eastern Juneau County, about 2 miles west of Castle Rock Dam. The tornado moved east-northeast across Castle Rock Lake and into western Adams County. It tracked near or along Edgewood Ave, with extensive tree damage to the Quincy Bluff area, including the lookout ranger tower there. Hundreds of trees were blown down from strong winds rotating around the tornadic thunderstorm, which were in excess of 90 mph at times. The tornado intermittently tracked east to areas just north of Edgewood Drive crossing Highway 13 approximately 5 miles south of Adams/Friendship (Adams County). Downburst winds on the south side of the storm demolished at least 8 mobile homes in Edgewood Estates that were orientated north-south and took the full brunt of the cross wind. This was the same area hit by severe weather in September 2000. Most of the Town of Easton (Adams County) had extensive damage with hundreds of trees down. It continued to move east-southeast before lifting shortly before the Adams-Marquette County line about 3 miles southeast of Grand Marsh around 7:55 pm. A broad area of straight line wind damage was found south of this tornado track with widespread tree damage occurring up to 1 mile south of the track. The tornado path was approximately 17 to 18 miles in length. The tornado was rated an F1 on the Fujita Damage Scale with estimated wind speeds in the 73 to 112 mph range.

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, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:03 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 La Crosse radar (KARX), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:21 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are

23 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.