EF1 tornado, Jordan to Attica, Wisconsin, June 12, 2008

1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

June 12, 2008

Touchdown

5:01 PM CDT (22:01 UTC)

Lifted

5:03 PM CDT (22:03 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

1.6 miles (2.6 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Green County

Touchdown point

42.704, -89.793

Lift-off point

42.723, -89.775

Record number

0806121601-01

A series of clusters of strong to severe storms ahead of a cold front moved east/northeast across south-central and sourtheast Wisconsin. Copious amounts of moisture were available that allowed repeated heavy rains. Additionally, there was sufficient vertical wind shear to allow for the generation of supercell thunderstorms with rotating updrafts that led to seven tornadoes in this part of the state of Wisconsin. The flooding rains constituted the 2nd round/punch of heavy rains that led to more widespread and severe flash flooding and record-setting river flooding (1st punch was Jun 7-9, 2008).||The axis of heavy rains on June 12th extended from Lafayette County northeast through Dane County to eastern Green Lake County and western Fond du Lac County. Generally 4 to 6 inches fell in this area, with 1 to 4 inches elsewhere. The generous rains in June at Milwuakee led to a montly total of 12.27 inches. This easily broke the record for highest June rainfall total. The previous record was 10.13 inches, set in 1917, and also makes June, 2008, the wettest month ever at Milwaukee.||The Rock River crested at all-time record high levels at the following gauage sites: Waupun (10.07' on 6/13), Horicon (10.29' on 6/17), Watertown (7.81' on 6/13), Jefferson (15.64' on 6/18), Ft. Atkinson (10.85' on 6/21), Newville (15.12' on 6/21), Indianford (18.33' on 6/21), and Afton (13.51' on 6/21). Likewise, the Crawfish River set a new all-time high crest of 13.59' on 6/16 at Milford, and Beaver Dam Creek set a new record of 843.53' on 6/16 at Beaver Dam. Other, new, all-time record high crests include 4.47' on 6/9 on the Bark River at Rome, 4.95' on 6/13 on the Mukwonago River at Mukwonago, 11.41' on 6/8 on Oak Creek in South Milwaukee, 13.93' on 6/13 on the Milwaukee River near Cedarburg, 13.54' on 6/15 on the Fox River at Burlington, and 15.18' on 6/15 on the Fox River at New Munster.||High water levels generaged major road blocks, for various periods, on Interstate 94 in Jefferson and Waukesha Counties, on Interstate 894 in Milwaukee, and on Interstate 39/90/94 in Columbia County near Portage. Most inland lakes rose to high levels that resulted in minor shoreline damage to piers, etc.

This weak tornado resulted in only tree damage - of the uprooted and broken branch type. It spun up just southwest of the intersection of CTH C and CTH M, moved northeast and crossed CTH C and then Puddle Dock Road and then dissipated about 1/2 mile northeast of Puddle Dock Road. The starting and ending locations, with respect to lat/long pairs of numbers, were 42.70442/-89.79324 and 42.72338/-89.77464. DI#27 (TH), DOD3. Average path width was about 30 yards.

This weak tornado spun up in the rural area roughly mid-way between New Glarus and Postville, just northeast of Zentner Road about 0.8 miles north-northwest of the intersection of CTH H and Zentner Road. It moved northeast, clipping the northwest part of the city of New Glarus, and exited Green County going through the western edge of the city of Belleville. Luckily only uprooted trees or snapped-off tree damage was noted. This tornado finally dissipated about 2 miles south-southeast of the village of Paoli in south-central Dane County near CTH A. The path length was about 7.84 miles in Green County and 4.41 miles in Dane County, for a total path length of about 12.25 miles. The starting and ending locations in Green County, with respect to lat/long pairs of numbers, were 42.80215/-89.69455 and 42.85690/-89.55898. DI#27 (TH), DOD3. Wind speeds estimated at 83-87 knots (95-100 mph). Average path width in Green County was about 75 yards.

This weak tornado resulted in only minor tree damage (large branches broken). It spun up near a ridge top just south of Nye Road about 3/4 mile east of CTH D, and moved east-northeast and dissipated about 1/3 mile northeast of the intersection of CTH X and Nye Road near the Sugar River. The starting and ending locations, with respect to lat/long pairs of numbers, were 42.77474/-89.50520 and 42.78138/-89.48163. DI#28 (TS), DOD2. Wind speed estimated at 65 knots (75 mph). Average path width was about 30 yards.

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

3 minutes of warning. NWS MKX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:58 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:06 UTC and running to 00:48 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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:04 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 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.

Monroe (EFT), 19 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:02 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 2008 tornado in WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are

26 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.