Tornadoes · United States · Wisconsin · 2010

EF1 tornado, Hanerville to Albion, Wisconsin, July 22, 2010

From Hanerville to Albion, this EF1 tornado ran 4.2 miles across Dane County on July 22, 2010, touching down at 6:02 PM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $20,000 of property damage.

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 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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
July 22, 2010
Touchdown
6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)
Lifted
6:10 PM CDT (23:10 UTC)
On the ground
8 minutes
Path length
4.2 miles (6.7 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$20,000
Crop damage
$6,000
County
Dane County
Touchdown point
42.888, -89.162
Lift-off point
42.877, -89.081
Record number
1007221702-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A stalled frontal boundary combined with a moist and unstable atmosphere and strong wind shear to produce numerous tornadoes and funnel clouds over South Central and Southeast Wisconsin. A series of vorticity maxima moving west to east through the western Great Lakes enhanced isentropic lift, as a strengthening southerly low-level jet interacted with a nearly stationary west to east warm front.

An EF1 tornado developed about 4.6 miles west-northwest of Albion, about 1/4 mile north of the intersection of Velum Rd. and Leslie Rd., and continued east-southeast about 4 miles before dissipating just north of Bliven Rd around 1 mile east of CTH X near the Jana Airport. The tornado partially uprooted trees, broke large branches, damaged a barn and damaged corn along the path that averaged 45 yards. The maximum path width was 75 yards. The EF1 estimated wind speed of 90 mph was based on DI 27(TH) DOD3. The exact start point is Lat 42.88826 and Lon -89.16181. The exact end point is Lat 42.87732 and Lon 89.08052.

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

The warnings

6 minutes of warning. NWS MKX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:56 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:23 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:26 UTC and running to 01:21 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
12:00 UTC05:00 UTCFlash Flood WatchMKX
20:26 UTC01:21 UTCTornado WatchMKX
20:27 UTC21:00 UTCTornado WarningMKX
21:00 UTC21:30 UTCTornado WarningMKX
21:09 UTC00:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningMKX
21:27 UTC22:15 UTCTornado WarningMKX
21:41 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningMKX
22:24 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WarningMKX
22:32 UTC04:07 UTCFlash Flood WarningMKX
22:56 UTC23:23 UTCTornado WarningMKX
23:40 UTC00:17 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 21:02 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

11.0 hours before the tornado, 181 km from the path. July 22, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2010-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1997 joules per kilogram, CIN -41, lifted condensation level 717 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 2010-07-22The 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 97 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 34 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
1997 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-41 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1003 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
717 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
150 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
5.3
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Davenport, (KDVN), 00:00Z

1.0 hours after it, 181 km from the path. July 23, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2010-07-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2664 joules per kilogram, CIN -13, lifted condensation level 1076 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 2010-07-23The 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 125 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 25 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
2664 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3288 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1076 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
125 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
267 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.5
Supercell composite
9.9
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:02 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
20:57 UTCTORNADO2 Ne DaneDane, WITORNADO REPORTED HALFWAY BETWEEN DANE AND MORRISONVILLE
21:08 UTCTORNADO1 Nw DaneDane, WINWS SURVEY INITIATED FROM DELAYED PUBLIC REPORT FOUND TREE DAMAGE AND MINOR CORN CROP DAMAGE. PATH BEGAN APPROXIMATELY 1.6 MILES NORTHWEST OF THE VILLAGE OF DANE AND ENDED APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE NORTH NORTHEAST OF DANE. A
21:24 UTCTORNADO 04 E East BristolDane, WISTORM SURVEY CONDUCTED BY NWS EMPLOYEES. EF0 TORNADO FORMED 4 MILES EAST OF EAST BRISTOL NEAR THE COUNTY HWY V AND HWY 73 INTERSECTION AROUND 424 PM. THE TORNADO TRAVELED EAST ALONG COUNTY HWY V AND ENDED NEAR THE DANE A
21:35 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDW LowellDodge, WIFUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED WEST OF LOWELL.
21:35 UTCBLIZZARDW LowellDodge, WIFUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED WEST OF LOWELL.
21:45 UTCTORNADO5 N MadisonDane, WIDEBRIS AND HIGH WINDS ON PORTAGE ROAD.
22:10 UTCTORNADO 03 Se MarshallDane, WISTORM SURVEY CONDUCTED BY NWS EMPLOYEES. EF0 TORNADO FORMED 3.5 MILES SE OF MARSHALL AT THE INTERSECTION OF BOXELDER RD AND VEITH RD AROUND 510 PM. THE STORM MOVED TO THE EAST...BECOMING INTERMITTENT ALONG THE PATH. THE
22:16 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD3 S WaterlooJefferson, WI
22:26 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD1 E StoughtonDane, WI
22:29 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD2 Sw Fort AtkinsonJefferson, WIFUNNEL CLOUD WITHIN 100 FEET OF GROUND
22:30 UTCTORNADO3 Nw EdgertonDane, WIBRIEF TOUCHDOWN ON THE GROUND AT HWY X AND BLIVEN RD
23:02 UTCTORNADO5 Wnw AlbionDane, WIEF1 TORNADO SPUN UP 4.6 MILES WNW OF ALBION AND MOVED TO 0.5 MILE WEST OF ALBION. TREES UPROOTED...AND TREE LIMBS DOWN. CORN CROP DAMAGE. SOME BARN DAMAGE. SURVEY CONDUCTED BY MIDWEST SSTRC...A SPOTTER ORGANIZATION BASED
23:15 UTCTORNADO 06 Sw Fort AtkinsonJefferson, WIEF0 TORNADO. TRACK FROM 6.6 SW TO 5.3 S OF FORT ATKINSON. 65-70MPH WINDS. MOSTLY TREE LIMB DAMAGE.
23:26 UTCTORNADO 06 Se Fort AtkinsonJefferson, WIEF0 TORNADO. TRACK 2.7 SW OF COLD SPRING TO 3.6 SE OF COLD SPRING. 4MI LENGTH. 65-70 MPH. MOSTLY TREE LIMB DAMAGE. 626PM TO 634PM.
23:28 UTCTORNADO2 N MiltonRock, WIBRIEF TORNADO ON GROUND AT INTERSECTION OF HWY 59 AND CLEAR LAKE.
23:28 UTCTORNADO3 Se Fort AtkinsonJefferson, WIDEBRIS IN AIR...SPOTTER 3 SOUTH OF FORT...LOOKING EAST.
23:28 UTCTORNADO4 S Fort AtkinsonJefferson, WITORNADO NEAR HWY 12 AND CREAMERY RD.
23:31 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDEast TroyWalworth, WIREPORTED NORTH OF TROY CENTER.
23:38 UTCTORNADO2 Se EagleWaukesha, WIDEBRIS FALLING FROM SKY IN EAGLE SPRING LAKE AREA.
23:44 UTCTORNADO2 Wnw WhitewaterJefferson, WIRIGHT NORTH OF THE JEFFERSON...WALWORTH COUNTY LINE
23:49 UTCFLASH FLOODE WatertownJefferson, WIHIGHWAY 19 EAST OF WATERTOWN COMPLETELY FLOODED AND IMPASSABLE
00:00 UTCHEAVY RAIN 31 N Sun PrairieDane, WIABOUT 2 FEET OF WATER COVERING ROADS...ROADS IMPASSABLE
00:10 UTCTORNADOVeronaDane, WIWEAK EF0 TORNADO AFFECTED THE SOUTHEAST PART OF THE CITY OF VERONA FOR ABOUT A MINUTE. IT WAS VIDEO TAPED BY 3 PEOPLE. VIDEO TAPE EVIDENCE IN CONJUNCTION WITH VERBAL DESCRIPTIONS CLEARLY INDICATED THAT A TORNADO OCCURRED
00:11 UTCHEAVY RAIN 32 Sw Madison Truax AirpDane, WICARS STALLED OUT...WITH WATER OVER THE ROADS
01:32 UTCTORNADO 13 S WhitewaterWalworth, WIEF1 TORNADO. 2.8 S WHITEWATER TO 2.5 NW TIBBETS. 90MPH WINDS. 2 BARNS DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. MINOR CORN DAMAGE. EST 50 TALL PINE TREES SNAPPED. 100S OF TREES WITH SOME DAMAGE. 832PM TO 840PM.
01:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 S WhitewaterWalworth, WIPOLE BARN DOWN AND NUMEROUS TREES DOWN.
01:48 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nnw Abells CornersWalworth, WIDOZENS OF TREES DOWN. A COUPLE OF THEM DOWN ON HOMES.
01:55 UTCTSTM WND GST 47East TroyWalworth, WIDW3201 TIME ESTIMATED.
02:15 UTCHEAVY RAIN 3.153 S La GrangeWalworth, WI2.3 INCHES BETWEEN 840 AND 855 PM...0.85 INCHES BETWEEN 900 AND 915 PM
02:35 UTCHEAVY RAIN 31 Nnw JanesvilleRock, WIWATER COVERING THE ROAD...OVER THE CURB AS WELL

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 22, 2010

16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 222:38 AM CDTEF1Pocahontas, IA2.6250$1.0 million
July 222:25 PM EDTEF0Johnson, IN0.825$2,000
July 224:08 PM CDTEF1Dane, WI1.530$1,000
July 224:24 PM CDTEF0Dane, WI3.030
July 225:45 PM EDTEF0Branch, MI1.5300
July 225:10 PM CDTEF0Jefferson, WI5.730
July 225:35 PM CDTEF0Jefferson, WI0.130
July 225:51 PM CDTEF0Beltrami, MN4.715
July 226:22 PM CDTEF0Jefferson, WI2.875
July 226:30 PM CDTEF0Otter Tail, MN1.015
July 226:38 PM CDTEF0Jefferson, WI3.975
July 226:52 PM CDTEF1Dane, WI1.575$5,000
July 227:02 PM CDTEF2Waukesha, WI1.0100$75,000
July 227:10 PM CDTEF0Dane, WI0.230
July 228:05 PM CDTEF1Douglas, MN0.630$50,000
July 2210:23 PM EDTEF0Allegan, MI0.250

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.