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EF1 tornado in Dane County, Wisconsin

Tornado June 7, 2008 · Dane County, Wisconsin

EF1
Rating
3.8 mi
Path length
150 yd
Path width
$429K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado moved from just west of Hults Road on the far western part of Stoughton northeast to a point northwest of the intersection of CTH B and CTH N. Based on the observed damage, it was probably a multiple-vortex tornado. In the Stoughton area, with respect to residential homes, it resulted in very minor damage to 24 homes, minor damage to 21 homes, and major damage to 3 homes. Additionally, 1 church sustained major damage, and 1 tabacco shed was destroyed. Total estimated property damage (roofs, siding, walls, windows) in the Stoughton area was $409,000. In the Civil town of Pleasant Springs, 12 homes sustained minor damage estimated at about $20,000. The starting and ending locations in Dodge County, with respect to lat/long pairs of numbers, were 42.92395/-89.25369 and 42.96431/-89.20166, respectively. DI #2 (FR12), DOD4. Maximum wind speed about 90-95 mph. Average path width about 75 yards.

The wider storm

A slow-moving surface boundary, nearly parallel with the mid-level flow affected southern Wisconsin during the period of June 7th through June 9th. A strengthening low-level jet and strong moisture advection produced several rounds of thunderstorms during the period in the vicinity of this boundary. The atmosphere was very moist with precipitable water values around 2 inches. Low to mid-level wind flow supported training of flood-producing thunderstorms. There was sufficient vertical wind shear to allow for supercell development that resulted in 10 tornadoes spinning up in south-central and southeast Wisconsin on June 7th. A weak cool front pushed through southern Wisconsin late on the 8th/early on the 9th, finally ending the heavy rainfall.

During the evening of June 7th, several roads near STH 89 south of Columbus were washed out. STH 16 east of Columbus closed on June 8th due to high waters. A state-of-emergency was declared in Milwaukee County the evening of June 7th due to widespread flash flooding, and Milwaukee Mitchell Field was close for several hours due to high water levels.

Began near Stoughton (42.9240, -89.2537).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

9 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 112977. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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