Tornadoes · United States · Wisconsin · 2007

EF0 tornado, Shullsburg to Dunbarton, Wisconsin, June 1, 2007

From Shullsburg to Dunbarton, this EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Lafayette County on June 1, 2007, touching down at 3:17 PM CDT and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 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
EF0
Date
June 1, 2007
Touchdown
3:17 PM CDT (20:17 UTC)
Lifted
3:18 PM CDT (20:18 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Lafayette County
Touchdown point
42.516, -90.216
Lift-off point
42.517, -90.216
Record number
0706011417-01

What the Weather Service recorded

On June 1st, isolated severe storms generated a couple weak tornadoes in Lafayette County and dome downburst wind damage (toppled trees) in the counties of Dodge and Walworth. This activity was the first day of a 7-day period of periodic showers and storms across southern Wisconsin as a cut-off, upper-level, low pressure moved slowly east from the Dakotas through the lower Great Lakes Region. Spiral bands of convection developed, and became enhanced with daytime heating. There was a sufficient amount of vertical wind shear to generate isolated supercells and scattered severe storms from time to time.

A brief, weak tornado spun up about 3.8 miles south (168 degrees) of Shullsburg. Only some minor tree damage was noted. Specifically, it occurred about 0.7 miles southwest/225 degrees of the intersection of Blackhawk Rd. and Monticello Rd. The lat/lon data is: N42.51590 W90.21600 for the start point and N42.51696 W90.21577 for the end point. The average path width was about 10 yards. DI#27 (TH), DOD2. Estimated winds 65-70 knots (75-80 mph).

A brief, weak tornado spun up about 2.1 miles west-northwest of Dunbarton, or about 3.3 miles east of Shullsburg, or 0.27 southeast (133 degrees) of the insection of STH 11 and CTH E/Summit Rd. It resulted n only matted-down grasses, since the corn crop wasn't tall enough to sustain damage. It traveled north and cross STH 11, about 0.23 miles east of the intersection of STH 11 and CTH E, and dissipated just north of STH 11. The decaying supercell thunderstorm that generated this tornado also spun up an earlier weak tornado about 3.8 miles south of Shullsburg. The specific lat/lon data for the Dunbarton tornado is: N42.57850 W90.16877 for the start and N42.58176 W90.16859 for the end point. The average path width was 20 yards. No DI. Estimated wind speed is 56-61 knots (65-70 mph).

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

The warnings

20 minutes of warning. NWS MKX issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:57 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:04 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:36 UTC and running to 22:56 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:36 UTC22:56 UTCTornado WatchMKX
19:57 UTC21:04 UTCTornado WarningMKX

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 21:59 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 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.

Davenport, (KDVN), 12:00Z

8.3 hours before the tornado, 102 km from the path. June 1, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2007-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 259 joules per kilogram, CIN -43, lifted condensation level 871 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2007-06-01The 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 47 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 33 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
259 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-43 J/kg
Surface CAPE
393 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
871 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Davenport, (KDVN), 00:00Z

3.7 hours after it, 102 km from the path. June 2, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2007-06-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 21 joules per kilogram, CIN -79, lifted condensation level 1264 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2007-06-02The 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 59 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 12 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
21 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-79 J/kg
Surface CAPE
185 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1264 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
70 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Mineral Point (MRJ), 41 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:35 UTC73.462.6110° 10 kt1012.5
18:55 UTC71.662.6110° 8 kt1012.2
19:15 UTC71.662.6100° 9 kt1012.2
19:35 UTC69.862.6100° 3 kt1011.9RA
19:55 UTC69.862.670° 5 kt1011.5+RA
20:15 UTC6862.680° 6 kt1011.2RA
20:35 UTC6862.690° 8 kt1010.5RA
20:55 UTC6862.6100° 10 kt171009.8RA
21:15 UTC6862.6100° 11 kt141009.1-RA
21:35 UTC69.864.4110° 13 kt181009.1HZ
21:55 UTC69.862.6130° 11 kt171009.1
22:15 UTC6860.8130° 13 kt161009.1

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

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:18 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
20:22 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD1 S ShullsburgLafayette, WIFUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
20:30 UTCTORNADO2 S ShullsburgLafayette, WITORNADO CURRENTLY ON THE GROUND. REPORT RELAYED FROM WFO QUAD CITIES.
20:31 UTCTORNADO3 E ShullsburgLafayette, WITHE NWS STORM DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM REPORTS A TORNADO DEVELOPED 3.2 MILES EAST OF SHULLSBURG AT 331 PM...JUST SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 11...AND REMAINED ON THE GROUND FOR 20 TO 30 SECONDS. NO DAMAGE WAS FOUND. TORNADO LENGTH WAS AB
20:33 UTCTORNADO4 E ShullsburgLafayette, WIBRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN 4 MILES EAST OF SHULLSBURG. REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
20:45 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDDarlingtonLafayette, WI

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 1, 2007

9 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 112:55 PM EDTEF0Monroe, FL0.630$20,000
June 112:07 PM CDTEF3Louisa, IA15.87747$16 million
June 112:44 PM CDTEF1Cedar, IA1.175
June 12:28 PM CDTEF2Jackson, IA to IL3.4350$3.3 million
June 13:15 PM CDTEF0Jo Daviess, IL0.510
June 13:31 PM CDTEF0Lafayette, WI0.230
June 16:30 PM CDTEF0Hamilton, IA0.130
June 17:25 PM CDTEF0Gaines, TX2.550
June 19:45 PM EDTEF1Miami-Dade, FL3.975$20,000

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.