Tornadoes · United States · Wyoming · 2019

EF0 tornado, Bill, Wyoming, June 19, 2019

This EF0 tornado ran 12.6 miles across Converse County on June 19, 2019, touching down at 7:50 PM MDT and reaching 50 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 19, 2019
Touchdown
7:50 PM MDT (01:50 UTC)
Lifted
8:06 PM MDT (02:06 UTC)
On the ground
16 minutes
Path length
12.6 miles (20.3 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Converse County
Touchdown point
43.230, -105.240
Lift-off point
43.120, -105.040
Record number
1906191950-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong, supercell thunderstorm tracked across Niobrara and Converse Counties producing a roughly 13 mile long tornado from Bill producing damage consistent with EF-0 winds. Large hail and damaging winds were also reported with this long-lived storm.

Wyoming State Highway Patrol reported tornado on the outskirts of Bill with corresponding video confirmation of a visible condensation funnel east of the hotel in town. A later report via social media presented photographic evidence of tornadic damage to a manufactured home east-southeast of Bill with a corner of the roof peeled off consistent with EF-0 damage.

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

The warnings

6 minutes of warning. NWS CYS issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:44 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
00:48 UTC01:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYS
01:22 UTC02:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYS
01:44 UTC02:15 UTCTornado WarningCYS
02:08 UTC02:45 UTCTornado WarningCYS
02:28 UTC02:40 UTCTornado WarningCYS

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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 01:17 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.

Rapid City, SD (KUNR), 00:00Z

1.8 hours before the tornado, 207 km from the path. June 20, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Rapid City, SD at 00:00Z on 2019-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 415 joules per kilogram, CIN -60, lifted condensation level 1727 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, Rapid City, SD at 00:00Z on 2019-06-20The 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 63 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
415 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-60 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1552 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1727 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
183 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
4.8
0-3 km lapse rate
8.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Rapid City, SD (KUNR), 12:00Z

10.2 hours after it, 207 km from the path. June 20, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 2019-06-20Temperature 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 -78354, lifted condensation level 1329 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, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 2019-06-20The 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 -84 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
-78354 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1329 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-13 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 214 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:51 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
00:58 UTCHAIL 115 Ssw WrightCampbell, WY
01:40 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD11 Nne BillConverse, WYHIGHWAY PATROL REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD AT HIGHWAY 59, MILE MARKER 44 AT 740 PM.
01:40 UTCHAIL 1.758 Ne BillConverse, WYRECEIVED PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK OF HAIL RANGING FROM QUARTER TO GOLF BALL SIZE.
01:43 UTCTORNADO4 Se BillConverse, WYA TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND AT 757 PM BY CONVERSE COUNTY DISPATCH ON HIGHWAY 59 AT MILE MARKER 30.
01:45 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDBillConverse, WYCONVERSE COUNTY DISPATCH REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD OVER BILL, WY AT 745 PM.
01:45 UTCHAIL 1.252 N BillConverse, WYA TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED QUARTER TO HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL AND BRANCHES DOWN IN THEIR PARKING LOT AS OF 745 PM.
01:50 UTCTORNADO2 Ne BillConverse, WYCORRECTS PREVIOUS TORNADO REPORT LOCATION FROM BILL. THE TRAVEL LODGE IN BILL REPORTED A TORNADO TOUCH DOWN IN THEIR BACK PARKING LOT AT ABOUT 750 PM.
01:50 UTCTORNADOBillConverse, WYTHE TRAVEL LODGE IN BILL REPORTED A TORNADO TOUCH DOWN IN THEIR BACK PARKING LOT AT ABOUT 750 PM.
01:57 UTCTORNADO4 Se BillConverse, WYCORRECTS PREVIOUS TORNADO REPORT FROM 4 SE BILL. A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND AT 757 PM BY CONVERSE COUNTY DISPATCH ON HIGHWAY 59 AT MILE MARKER 30.
01:59 UTCTORNADO3 Ene BillConverse, WYHIGHWAY PATROL REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND ON HIGHWAY 59, MILE MARKER 33 AT 759 PM.
02:03 UTCTORNADO13 Ese BillConverse, WYIMAGE RECEIVED VIA FACEBOOK OF ROOF DAMAGE TO RESIDENCE. TIME BASED OFF OF RADAR.
02:25 UTCTORNADO3 Wnw Lance CreekNiobrara, WYREPORT OF DAMAGE TO AREA BUSINESS.
02:40 UTCTORNADO1 Nnw Lance CreekNiobrara, WYREPORT OF ROOF DAMAGE AT LANCE CREEK POST OFFICE. TIME ESTIMATED BASED OFF OF RADAR.
02:44 UTCTSTM WND GST 601 Nnw Lance CreekNiobrara, WYDEPUTY MEASURED 60+ MPH WIND IN LANCE CREEK. TIME ESTIMATED BASED OFF OF RADAR.
03:12 UTCHAIL 14 N RochelleWeston, WY
03:20 UTCTSTM WND GST 657 Ene RochelleWeston, WY

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in WyomingEvery tornado in Wyoming since 1950Warnings in force in Wyoming nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 19, 2019

10 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 192:21 AM CDTEF1Seminole, OK1.050$100,000
June 196:03 AM CDTEF0Harrison, TX0.270
June 1911:45 AM CDTEF0Jefferson Davis Parish, LA0.010
June 196:10 PM CDTEF0Montgomery, TN1.3100$15,000
June 196:24 PM CDTEF1McCurtain, OK0.475$50,000
June 196:40 PM CDTEF0Christian, IL0.110
June 197:22 PM CDTEF0Moultrie, IL0.110
June 197:22 PM CDTEF0Marion, IL0.125
June 196:56 PM MDTEF1Johnson, WY4.1250$2,000
June 1910:47 PM CDTEF2Bossier Parish, LA1.4175$350,000

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.