F0 tornado, Fall River, Wisconsin, May 23, 2004

1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

   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 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

F0

Date

May 23, 2004

Touchdown

7:25 PM CDT (00:25 UTC)

Path length

0.1 miles (0.2 km)

Path width

25 yards (23 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Columbia County

Touchdown point

43.370, -89.080

Lift-off point

43.370, -89.080

Record number

1254

Moist and unstable air along a stalled frontal boundary set the stage for supercell thunderstorm development during the afternoon and evening hours. This was round number two for the day. Numerous supercells developed across southern Wisconsin by the late afternoon hours, which produced three tornadoes, numerous funnel clouds, several large hail reports, and heavy rains. Funnel cloud reports were collected from Columbia, Dane, Rock, Dodge, and Waukesha counties between 1720 CST and 1913 CST. The first tornado spun up 3.3 miles east-southeast of Stoughton (Dane Co.), the second tornado spun up 1.2 miles southeast of De Forest (Dane Co.), and the third tornado spun up 2 miles southwest of Fall River (Columbia Co.). All three tornadoes had no damage associated with them and were all classified as F0s (for detailed path lengths, path widths, and spin up and dissipating points, please consult details above). In addition to tornadoes, funnel clouds, and large hail, these storms produced heavy rain. Urban flooding resulted across Ozaukee County after storms produced 1.25 inches of rain in only a 30 minute period. A few roads were closed and gravel washouts were common. Refer to several flood and flash flood events for May 23rd, 24th, and 25th, for related information.

A tornado spun up very briefly at 1825 CST, 2 miles southwest of Fall River in Columbia County. A storm survey determined the tornado's path was only a tenth of a mile and the width was about 25 yards. Its estimated position is about 0.3 mile west-northwest of the intersection of Hall Rd. and Freck Rd. No damage was reported and it was determined the tornado was an F0.

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

14 minutes of warning. NWS MKX issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:11 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:00 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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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 Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:22 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

9 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.