F0 tornado, Centerville, Wisconsin, August 18, 2005

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

August 18, 2005

Touchdown

2:18 PM CDT (19:18 UTC)

Path length

0.1 miles (0.2 km)

Path width

25 yards (23 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$2,000

County

Trempealeau County

Touchdown point

44.070, -91.550

Lift-off point

44.070, -91.550

Record number

1095

Six tornadoes affected southwest Wisconsin, which was part of an all-time one day record of 27 tornadoes hitting the state. The first tornado touched down briefly just west of Centerville (Trempealeau County). The only damage reported with this tornado was several trees knocked down just north of Highway 35 along County Road G. A second and stronger tornado occurred just north of County Highway KK, or just west of Esofea (Vernon County). There was tree, agricultural and structural damage. A moblie home, which was on cement blocks, was completely destroyed. The occupant of the mobile home was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Another residence sustained minor damage, with windows blown out, outbuildings destroyed and a car turned 90 degrees. Power poles were snapped, corn was flattened and there was significant tree damage. The third and strongest tornado touched down just west of Liberty (Vernon County), then tracked along a continous path just north of Highway 56, to the northern most block of the town of Viola (Richland County). Three people were reported injured in Viola and almost every tree in the town was damaged or downed. Most homes in the village had at least minor damage, while a few sustained major damage, including roofs blown off. Many garages facing west or southwest were destroyed by the direct impact of the winds. Wind speeds associated with the tornado were estimated at 100 to 120 mph. The tornado path became more sporadic as it moved east of Viola across northern Richland County. The damage path extended from just north of County Highway MM and Highway 56 into Bloom City (Richland County), which apparently took a direct hit from the storm. The tornado continued on an east-southeast track, before lifting just west of Hub City (Richland County). A fourth tornado touched down along County Road N, or just east of the location where Interstate 90 and 94 split in eastern Monroe County. This tornado continued on a 10 mile track into Juneau County, ending just west of the Necedah Wildlife Refuge Headquarters. There was tree, agricultural and structural damage. A home, which was under construction, was completely destroyed. Three other homes sustained minor damage. Corn was flattened and there was significant tree damage as well. A fifth tornado touched down in the town of Muscoda (Grant County) causing minor damage to homes, but knocking down or shearing off numerous trees. This tornado crossed the Wisconsin River into the small community of Orion (Richland County). Several mobile homes were damaged, including several reportedly tossed into the air. Many trees were damaged there as well. The sixth and final tornado briefly touched down near the intersection of Highway 82 and 13 in Adams County. Mobile homes were damaged, along with nearby trees. Richland and Vernon County were declared federal disaster areas.

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

NWS La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Aug 18, 3:15 AM CDT, 11 hours 3 minutes earlier.

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HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
1256 PM CDT THU AUG 18 2005

IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ094>096-WIZ053>055-061-191100-
ALLAMAKEE-CHICKASAW-CLAYTON-CRAWFORD-FAYETTE-FILLMORE-FLOYD-GRANT-
HOUSTON-HOWARD-MITCHELL-MOWER-RICHLAND-VERNON-WINNESHIEK-
1256 PM CDT THU AUG 18 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST IOWA...
SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA AND SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE
WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE AT
THE SURFACE WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA INTO CENTRAL
WISCONSIN ALONG A WARM FRONT. MODERATE INSTABILITIES WILL DEVELOP
SOUTH OF THE WARM FRONT THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING HOURS. STORMS
ARE EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY IN VICINITY OF THE BOUNDARY AND OTHER
STORMS MAY DEVELOP FARTHER SOUTHWARD IN THE WARM SECTOR. ALONG WITH
THE MODERATE INSTABILITIES...WIND PROFILES WILL BE VERY FAVORABLE FOR
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THE MAIN THREATS BEING LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING
WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

A SECOND VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL DROP INTO THE AREA FRIDAY
PUSHING A COLD FRONT TOWARD THE AREA. THUNDERSTORMS WILL ONCE AGAIN
DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE ADVANCING COLD FRONT. AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE
WILL BE IN PLACE...AND COMBINED WITH FAVORABLE UPPER LEVEL WIND
PROFILES...SOME STORMS COULD REACH SEVERE LEVELS BY LATE AFTERNOON
INTO THE EVENING HOURS. AT THIS TIME IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THE MAIN
THREATS WILL BE FROM LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE SYSTEM WILL
PULL AWAY FROM THE AREA LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...WITH ONLY A
FEW LINGERING THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE SATURDAY MORNING...BUT THESE
LOOK TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SPOTTERS
SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION CONCERNING POSSIBLE
ACTIVATION FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

.EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION...

NO CALL IS SCHEDULED.

MNZ079-086>088-WIZ017-029-032>034-041>044-191100-
ADAMS-BUFFALO-CLARK-DODGE-JACKSON-JUNEAU-LA CROSSE-MONROE-OLMSTED-
TAYLOR-TREMPEALEAU-WABASHA-WINONA-
1256 PM CDT THU AUG 18 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST
MINNESOTA...SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE
WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE AT THE
SURFACE WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN MINNESOTA INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN
ALONG A WARM FRONT. ENOUGH INSTABILITY WILL EXIST ALONG AND NORTH OF
THE FRONT THAT A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY REACH SEVERE LEVELS. THE
MAIN THREATS APPEAR TO BE LARGE HAIL AND POSSIBLY DAMAGING WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

A SECOND VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL DROP INTO THE AREA FRIDAY
PUSHING A COLD FRONT TOWARD THE AREA. THUNDERSTORMS WILL ONCE AGAIN
DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE ADVANCING COLD FRONT. AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE
WILL BE IN PLACE...AND COMBINED WITH FAVORABLE UPPER LEVEL WIND
PROFILES...SOME STORMS COULD REACH SEVERE LEVELS BY LATE AFTERNOON
INTO THE EVENING HOURS. AT THIS TIME IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THE MAIN
THREATS WILL BE FROM LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE SYSTEM WILL
PULL AWAY FROM THE AREA LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...WITH ONLY A
FEW LINGERING THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE SATURDAY MORNING...BUT THESE
LOOK TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SPOTTERS
SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION CONCERNING POSSIBLE
ACTIVATION FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

.EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION...

NO CALL IS SCHEDULED.

04

In the hours before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
136 PM CDT THU AUG 18 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1250 PM     TORNADO          3 N DEXTER              43.76N 92.70W
08/18/2005                   MOWER              MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            DAMAGE REPORTED TO SEVERAL OUTBUILDINGS...TREES AND
            FENCES. INITIAL REPORT WAS FUNNEL CLOUD. UNCONFIRMED.

&&

SHEA

Winona Municipal (ONA), 13 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:19 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 2005 tornado in WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are

27 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.