Tornadoes · United States · Wisconsin · 2016

Unrated tornado, Harrison to Stockbridge, Wisconsin, June 15, 2016

From Harrison to Stockbridge, this Unrated tornado ran 0.7 miles across Calumet County on June 15, 2016, touching down at 6:47 PM CDT and reaching 25 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 mph

    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. Unratedthis tornado

    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
Unrated
Date
June 15, 2016
Touchdown
6:47 PM CDT (23:47 UTC)
Lifted
6:49 PM CDT (23:49 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.7 miles (1.1 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Calumet County
Touchdown point
44.108, -88.338
Lift-off point
44.100, -88.331
Record number
1606151747-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Thunderstorms, a few with large hail, gusty winds, and heavy rain, moved through the area as a low pressure system slid southeast across Wisconsin. Golf ball size hail fell near Readfield (Waupaca Co.) and southwest of Coloma (Waushara Co.). A weak waterspout formed on Lake Winnebago west of Calumet County, but dissipated before reaching shore. A COOP observer near Rhinelander (Oneida Co.) measured 3.04 inches of rain from the storms, much of which fell in about an hour, and a COOP observer in Appleton (Outagamie Co.) had a one-hour rainfall total of 1.66 inches.

A weak waterspout formed northwest of Stockbridge on eastern Lake Winnebago and moved southeast before dissipating. No damage occurred.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:14 UTC and running to 00:29 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:14 UTC00:29 UTCTornado WatchGRB
23:58 UTC00:26 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRB
00:06 UTC01:28 UTCFlood AdvisoryGRB

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 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 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

11.8 hours before the tornado, 46 km from the path. June 15, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 2016-06-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -91717, lifted condensation level 511 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2016-06-15The 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 4 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 28 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-91717 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
511 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

0.2 hours after it, 46 km from the path. June 16, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 00:00Z on 2016-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 133 joules per kilogram, CIN -110, lifted condensation level 655 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 2016-06-16The 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 285 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 51 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
133 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-110 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
655 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
285 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
313 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.7
0-3 km lapse rate
4.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Oshkosh (OSH), 22 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:50 UTC100° 7 kt1005.1
21:53 UTC8068100° 8 kt1005.1
21:55 UTC100° 7 kt1004.7
22:00 UTC100° 7 kt1004.7
22:05 UTC100° 7 kt1004.7
22:10 UTC110° 8 kt1004.4
22:15 UTC100° 7 kt1004.1
22:20 UTC100° 7 kt1004.1
22:25 UTC90° 5 kt1004.1-RA
22:30 UTC110° 5 kt1004.1-RA
22:35 UTC110° 6 kt1003.7
22:40 UTC120° 7 kt1003.4
22:45 UTC150° 10 kt1003.4
22:50 UTC160° 9 kt1003.4
22:53 UTC8069150° 9 kt1003.4
22:55 UTC150° 9 kt1003.4
23:00 UTC180° 6 kt1003.4
23:03 UTC7970170° 5 kt1003.4VCTS
23:05 UTC170° 5 kt1003
23:10 UTC160° 5 kt1003
23:15 UTC170° 4 kt1003.4
23:20 UTC180° 5 kt1003
23:25 UTC180° 5 kt1003.4-RA
23:30 UTC250° 6 kt1003.7RA
23:33 UTC7871250° 10 kt1004.1TSRA
23:35 UTC 1003.7+RA
23:40 UTC 1004.1+RA FG
23:41 UTC7470250° 8 kt171004.1-TSRA FG
23:45 UTC250° 8 kt1004.4-RA BR
23:46 UTC7470240° 6 kt171004.4-TSRA BR
23:50 UTC240° 6 kt1004.7
23:51 UTC73.469.8240° 6 kt1004.7VCTS
23:53 UTC7469270° 5 kt1004.7VCTS
23:55 UTC260° 5 kt1005.1
00:00 UTC290° 6 kt1005.4
00:05 UTC310° 8 kt1005.4
00:09 UTC7469320° 8 kt1005.1
00:10 UTC320° 8 kt1005.1
00:15 UTC310° 7 kt1005.1
00:20 UTC300° 6 kt1005.1
00:25 UTC300° 6 kt1005.1
00:30 UTC300° 5 kt1005.1
00:35 UTC320° 6 kt1005.1
00:40 UTC340° 6 kt1005.4
00:45 UTC330° 6 kt1005.4
00:50 UTC340° 7 kt1005.4
00:53 UTC7668340° 7 kt1005.4
00:55 UTC340° 6 kt1005.4
01:00 UTC20° 7 kt1005.4
01:05 UTC80° 4 kt1005.4
01:10 UTC100° 5 kt1005.4
01:15 UTC100° 4 kt1005.8
01:20 UTC100° 4 kt1005.8
01:25 UTC130° 4 kt1005.8
01:30 UTC110° 3 kt1005.8
01:35 UTC0° 0 kt1005.8
01:40 UTC0° 0 kt1005.8
01:45 UTC0° 0 kt1005.8

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

The radar

The Green Bay radar (KGRB), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:44 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
22:28 UTCHAIL 1FremontWaupaca, WI
22:42 UTCHAIL 1.751 N ReadfieldWaupaca, WIPUBLIC REPORT RELAYED BY LOCAL TV MEDIA. TIME ESTIMATED VIA RADAR.
22:53 UTCHAIL 12 N DaleOutagamie, WI
23:30 UTCHEAVY RAIN 0.531 Ne AppletonOutagamie, WIIN ONLY 15 MINUTES.
23:40 UTCHAIL 1AltoFond Du Lac, WIRELAYED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA.
23:45 UTCFLOOD1 Ne MenashaWinnebago, WIWATER COMING OUT OF MAN HOLE COVERS NEAR THE BARLOW PLANETARIUM.
23:45 UTCFLOODAppletonOutagamie, WIURBAN FLOODING IN APPLETON.
23:48 UTCWATER SPOUT2 Nw StockbridgeCalumet, WIPOSSIBLE WATER SPOUT SIGHTED ON LAKE WINNEBAGO.
00:13 UTCHEAVY RAIN 1.66AppletonOutagamie, WIIN THE LAST HOUR.
00:45 UTCFLOODManitowocManitowoc, WIURBAN FLOODING IN MANITOWOC
00:53 UTCHEAVY RAIN 1.71ManitowocManitowoc, WIRAINFALL TOTAL FOR TODAY

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2016 tornado in WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are

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.