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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 UTC | 05:00 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | MKX |
| 20:26 UTC | 01:21 UTC | Tornado Watch | MKX |
| 20:27 UTC | 21:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | MKX |
| 21:00 UTC | 21:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | MKX |
| 21:09 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | MKX |
| 21:27 UTC | 22:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | MKX |
| 21:41 UTC | 22:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | MKX |
| 22:24 UTC | 23:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | MKX |
| 22:32 UTC | 04:07 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | MKX |
| 22:56 UTC | 23:23 UTC | Tornado Warning | MKX |
| 23:40 UTC | 00:17 UTC | Tornado Warning | MKX |
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.
- 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
Davenport, (KDVN), 00:00Z
1.0 hours after it, 181 km from the path. July 23, 2010.
- 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
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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:57 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Ne Dane | Dane, WI | TORNADO REPORTED HALFWAY BETWEEN DANE AND MORRISONVILLE |
| 21:08 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Nw Dane | Dane, WI | NWS 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 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 4 E East Bristol | Dane, WI | STORM 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 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | W Lowell | Dodge, WI | FUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED WEST OF LOWELL. |
| 21:35 UTC | BLIZZARD | W Lowell | Dodge, WI | FUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED WEST OF LOWELL. |
| 21:45 UTC | TORNADO | 5 N Madison | Dane, WI | DEBRIS AND HIGH WINDS ON PORTAGE ROAD. |
| 22:10 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 3 Se Marshall | Dane, WI | STORM 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 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 3 S Waterloo | Jefferson, WI | |
| 22:26 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 1 E Stoughton | Dane, WI | |
| 22:29 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 2 Sw Fort Atkinson | Jefferson, WI | FUNNEL CLOUD WITHIN 100 FEET OF GROUND |
| 22:30 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Nw Edgerton | Dane, WI | BRIEF TOUCHDOWN ON THE GROUND AT HWY X AND BLIVEN RD |
| 23:02 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Wnw Albion | Dane, WI | EF1 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 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 6 Sw Fort Atkinson | Jefferson, WI | EF0 TORNADO. TRACK FROM 6.6 SW TO 5.3 S OF FORT ATKINSON. 65-70MPH WINDS. MOSTLY TREE LIMB DAMAGE. |
| 23:26 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 6 Se Fort Atkinson | Jefferson, WI | EF0 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 UTC | TORNADO | 2 N Milton | Rock, WI | BRIEF TORNADO ON GROUND AT INTERSECTION OF HWY 59 AND CLEAR LAKE. |
| 23:28 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Se Fort Atkinson | Jefferson, WI | DEBRIS IN AIR...SPOTTER 3 SOUTH OF FORT...LOOKING EAST. |
| 23:28 UTC | TORNADO | 4 S Fort Atkinson | Jefferson, WI | TORNADO NEAR HWY 12 AND CREAMERY RD. |
| 23:31 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | East Troy | Walworth, WI | REPORTED NORTH OF TROY CENTER. |
| 23:38 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Se Eagle | Waukesha, WI | DEBRIS FALLING FROM SKY IN EAGLE SPRING LAKE AREA. |
| 23:44 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Wnw Whitewater | Jefferson, WI | RIGHT NORTH OF THE JEFFERSON...WALWORTH COUNTY LINE |
| 23:49 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | E Watertown | Jefferson, WI | HIGHWAY 19 EAST OF WATERTOWN COMPLETELY FLOODED AND IMPASSABLE |
| 00:00 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 3 | 1 N Sun Prairie | Dane, WI | ABOUT 2 FEET OF WATER COVERING ROADS...ROADS IMPASSABLE |
| 00:10 UTC | TORNADO | Verona | Dane, WI | WEAK 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 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 3 | 2 Sw Madison Truax Airp | Dane, WI | CARS STALLED OUT...WITH WATER OVER THE ROADS |
| 01:32 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 3 S Whitewater | Walworth, WI | EF1 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 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 S Whitewater | Walworth, WI | POLE BARN DOWN AND NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. |
| 01:48 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Nnw Abells Corners | Walworth, WI | DOZENS OF TREES DOWN. A COUPLE OF THEM DOWN ON HOMES. |
| 01:55 UTC | TSTM WND GST 47 | East Troy | Walworth, WI | DW3201 TIME ESTIMATED. |
| 02:15 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 3.15 | 3 S La Grange | Walworth, WI | 2.3 INCHES BETWEEN 840 AND 855 PM...0.85 INCHES BETWEEN 900 AND 915 PM |
| 02:35 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 3 | 1 Nnw Janesville | Rock, WI | WATER 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.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 22 | 2:38 AM CDT | EF1 | Pocahontas, IA | 2.6 | 250 | $1.0 million | ||
| July 22 | 2:25 PM EDT | EF0 | Johnson, IN | 0.8 | 25 | $2,000 | ||
| July 22 | 4:08 PM CDT | EF1 | Dane, WI | 1.5 | 30 | $1,000 | ||
| July 22 | 4:24 PM CDT | EF0 | Dane, WI | 3.0 | 30 | |||
| July 22 | 5:45 PM EDT | EF0 | Branch, MI | 1.5 | 300 | |||
| July 22 | 5:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Jefferson, WI | 5.7 | 30 | |||
| July 22 | 5:35 PM CDT | EF0 | Jefferson, WI | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| July 22 | 5:51 PM CDT | EF0 | Beltrami, MN | 4.7 | 15 | |||
| July 22 | 6:22 PM CDT | EF0 | Jefferson, WI | 2.8 | 75 | |||
| July 22 | 6:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Otter Tail, MN | 1.0 | 15 | |||
| July 22 | 6:38 PM CDT | EF0 | Jefferson, WI | 3.9 | 75 | |||
| July 22 | 6:52 PM CDT | EF1 | Dane, WI | 1.5 | 75 | $5,000 | ||
| July 22 | 7:02 PM CDT | EF2 | Waukesha, WI | 1.0 | 100 | $75,000 | ||
| July 22 | 7:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Dane, WI | 0.2 | 30 | |||
| July 22 | 8:05 PM CDT | EF1 | Douglas, MN | 0.6 | 30 | $50,000 | ||
| July 22 | 10:23 PM EDT | EF0 | Allegan, MI | 0.2 | 50 |
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.