Tornadoes · United States · Wisconsin · 2005

F0 tornado, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, June 9, 2005

This F0 tornado ran 3.0 miles across Winnebago County on June 9, 2005, touching down at 6:40 PM CDT and reaching 40 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  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.

The record

Rating
F0
Date
June 9, 2005
Touchdown
6:40 PM CDT (23:40 UTC)
Path length
3.0 miles (4.8 km)
Path width
40 yards (37 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Winnebago County
Touchdown point
43.970, -88.480
Lift-off point
44.020, -88.450
Record number
921

What the Weather Service recorded

Thunderstorms that moved into unstable air over east central Wisconsin produced waterspouts on Lake Winnebago, large hail at Oshkosh (Winnebago co.) and a funnel cloud in central Calumet county. One of the waterspouts formed 5 miles southeast of Oshkosh, traveled 3 miles and then dissipated 5 miles east of Oshkosh (Winnebago co.). Another waterspout formed 4 miles northwest of Stockbridge (Calumet co.) but quickly dissipated.

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

The warnings

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.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
23:46 UTC00:14 UTCTornado WarningGRB

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 21:04 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 air that afternoon

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.

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), 12:00Z

11.7 hours before the tornado, 61 km from the path. June 9, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 2005-06-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 18 joules per kilogram, CIN -337, lifted condensation level 1269 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 2005-06-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 16 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
18 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-337 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1269 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), 00:00Z

0.3 hours after it, 61 km from the path. June 10, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 00:00Z on 2005-06-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 296 joules per kilogram, CIN -114, lifted condensation level 1553 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 00:00Z on 2005-06-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 29 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
296 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-114 J/kg
Surface CAPE
404 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1553 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Oshkosh (OSH), 7 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:53 UTC8166330° 3 kt1011.9
22:53 UTC81670° 0 kt1011.2
23:19 UTC78.860.8350° 8 kt1011.5VCTS
23:44 UTC6862.6210° 18 kt261013.9+TSRA
23:48 UTC66.262.6210° 16 kt311013.9+TSRA BR
23:53 UTC6663 5 kt311014.2+TSRA BR
23:57 UTC64.462.60° 0 kt1013.9+TSRA BR
00:04 UTC64.462.6350° 7 kt1013.9+TSRA FG
00:09 UTC64.460.8350° 7 kt1013.5TSRA BR
00:13 UTC64.462.6340° 7 kt1013.5-TSRA BR
00:33 UTC66.262.610° 6 kt1012.9VCTS RA BR
00:53 UTC676540° 3 kt1012.2-RA

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

The radar

The Green Bay radar (KGRB), 63 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:42 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
23:40 UTCTORNADO5 Se OshkoshWinnebago, WIWATERSPOUT OVER LAKE WINNEBAGO
23:52 UTCTORNADO8 Ese OshkoshWinnebago, WIBOATER SAW WATERSPOUT LIFT OFF WATER SHORTLY AFTER 652 PM.
00:09 UTCHAIL 0.75OshkoshWinnebago, WI
00:14 UTCTORNADO4 Nw StockbridgeCalumet, WIWATERSPOUT FORMED AGAIN ON LAKE WINNEBAGO MOVING NORTHEAST.
00:29 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD3 Ssw PotterCalumet, WILOCATION APPROXIMATE.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 9, 2005

36 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 96:33 AM CDTF1Iberville Parish, LA0.230$180,000
June 94:20 PM CDTF2Graham, KS9.5400
June 94:31 PM CDTF0Decatur, KS1.525
June 94:45 PM CDTF0Decatur, KS0.825
June 94:45 PM CDTF0Graham, KS0.325
June 94:46 PM CDTF0Graham, KS0.625
June 95:05 PM CDTF0Rooks, KS2.540$30,000
June 95:18 PM CDTF0Trego, KS2.050
June 95:25 PM CDTF1Rooks, KS9.060$300,000
June 95:34 PM CDTF1Rooks, KS6.090$300,000
June 95:57 PM CDTF1Rooks, KS4.050$300,000
June 96:00 PM CDTF3Trego, KS6.0200
June 96:16 PM CDTF1Trego, KS3.5100
June 96:24 PM CDTF1Trego, KS4.4100
June 96:25 PM CDTF3Hale, TX15.0900$300,000
June 96:27 PM CDTF0Pecos, TX0.5100
June 96:29 PM CDTF0Brewster, TX0.7100
June 96:29 PM CDTF1Trego, KS8.2100$3.0 million
June 96:38 PM CDTF0Meade, KS1.330
June 96:43 PM CDTF0Meade, KS1.825
June 96:46 PM CDTF1Meade, KS0.820
June 96:55 PM CDTF2Meade, KS9.2200
June 96:57 PM CDTF0Gove, KS0.850
June 96:58 PM CDTF0Ellis, KS1.250
June 97:02 PM CDTF0Carson, TX0.125
June 97:14 PM CDTF0Calumet, WI0.125
June 97:14 PM CDTF0Trego, KS1.850
June 97:15 PM CDTF0Ellis, KS1.830
June 97:33 PM CDTF1Gove, KS1.550
June 98:05 PM CDTF1Meade, KS8.0150
June 98:06 PM CDTF0Beaver, OK0.125
June 98:30 PM CDTF0Donley, TX0.230$10,000
June 98:47 PM CDTF0Donley, TX0.125
June 99:30 PM CDTF0Meade, KS1.030
June 99:40 PM CDTF0Crosby, TX1.050
June 910:00 PM CDTF0Dickens, TX1.050

What this means

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.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.