Cherry Valley, IL Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
Hot Rankings
The chance of earthquake damage in Cherry Valley is lower than Illinois average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Cherry Valley is much lower than Illinois average and is about the same as the national average.
Earthquake Index, #908
| Cherry Valley, IL | 0.03 |
| Illinois | 0.24 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Cherry Valley, IL | 0.0000 |
| Illinois | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #1459
| Cherry Valley, IL | 143.19 |
| Illinois | 220.15 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 4,151 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Cherry Valley, IL were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 10 | Cold: | 65 | Dense Fog: | 87 | Drought: | 40 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 271 | Hail: | 905 | Heat: | 89 | Heavy Snow: | 61 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 22 | Landslide: | 0 | Strong Wind: | 86 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 2,077 | Tropical Storm: | 0 | Wildfire: | 5 | Winter Storm: | 120 | Winter Weather: | 58 |
| Other: | 255 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Cherry Valley, IL.
Historical Earthquake Events
No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Cherry Valley, IL.
No historical earthquake events found in or near Cherry Valley, IL.
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 56 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Cherry Valley, IL.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 6.8 | 1958-08-30 | 2 | 42°19'N / 89°03'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Winnebago | |||
| 8.4 | 1967-04-21 | 4 | 42°13'N / 88°55'W | 42°17'N / 88°42'W | 11.50 Miles | 1200 Yards | 24 | 410 | 250K | 0 | Boone |
| 12.6 | 2010-11-22 | 2 | 42°19'N / 88°58'W | 42°26'N / 88°39'W | 18.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 6 | 5.0M | 0K | Winnebago |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: Based on an eyewitness report, a tornado touched in the backyard of a home just west of Interstate 39, on the eastern edge of a subdivision. The tornado then blew over a school bus near the intersection of Argyle and Harlem Roads. There were six people on the bus, the driver and five children. All six people were taken to the hospital but none of the injuries were serious. The tornado then knocked down eleven electrical high tension towers just southwest of the same intersection. The tornado continued northeast into western Boone county, and moved across largely open rural fields towards the town of Caledonia. Significant damage occured to at least six buildings in Caledonia, with approximately 20 additional buildings sustaining minor damage. Several large trees were snapped or uprooted and a grain bin was partially collapsed. The tornado then continued northeast from Caledonia, downing several power poles, and causing damage ranging from blown off roofs to completely destroying at least three farm outbuildings. One of these buildings, located 2 miles northwest of Capron, had also been damaged during the January 2008 tornado. The tornado path, consisting mainly of sporadic tree damage at this point, then continued to a location roughly one mile west of Lawrence, where the tornado appears to have dissipated at 325 pm. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Strong to severe thunderstorms moved across parts of northern Illinois during the afternoon hours of November 22nd. These storms produced two tornadoes, hail, heavy rain and some flooding. | |||||||||||
| 13.8 | 1958-10-08 | 2 | 42°25'N / 89°28'W | 42°25'N / 88°43'W | 38.10 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Stephenson |
| 15.6 | 2008-01-07 | 3 | 42°23'N / 88°49'W | 42°25'N / 88°42'W | 7.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 4 | 2.0M | 0K | Boone |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A tornado touched down at 330 pm CST about 1.2 miles north of Popular Grove in Boone County and ended at 348 pm about 3.2 miles north northeast of Harvard in McHenry County. The tornado crossed the Boone McHenry County line near Hunter Road, about 3 miles northeast of Capron. The first signs of damage were at Quail Trap Road just east of Popular Grove Road where trees were damaged and sections of roofing were removed from a shed. The tornado intensified to EF2 intensity at Edwards Apple Orchard on Centerville Road. A large barn was destroyed and other buildings were severely damaged. Large trees were snapped or uprooted. The tornado reached its maximum intensity of EF3 at the northeast corner of Centerville Road and Beaverton Road. A two story farm house and garage were leveled and large trees were stripped of all branches. The tornado was about 100 yards wide through this area. The tornado continued east northeast across Stimes Road and eventually crossed the Boone McHenry County line near Hunter Road. Most of the damage through this part of the tornado path was EF1, though it weakened to EF0 near the county line. There was damage to trees, power lines, barns and sheds. A few farm houses had shingles or small sections of roof damaged. Four injuries were reported. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Severe thunderstorms developed ahead of a strong cold front across northern Illinois during the afternoon hours of January 7th. The storms moved southeast across east central Illinois during the early to mid evening hours. | |||||||||||
| 16.1 | 1975-06-18 | 2 | 42°03'N / 88°51'W | 42°02'N / 88°45'W | 4.70 Miles | 27 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | De Kalb |
| 19.5 | 1979-08-17 | 2 | 42°16'N / 89°21'W | 0.50 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Winnebago | |
| 20.5 | 1971-11-01 | 2 | 42°31'N / 89°03'W | 42°33'N / 88°59'W | 3.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Rock |
| 21.2 | 2008-01-07 | 3 | 42°25'N / 88°42'W | 42°27'N / 88°36'W | 6.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 1 | 2.0M | 0K | Mchenry |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A tornado touched down at 330 pm CST about 1.2 miles north of Popular Grove in Boone County and ended at 348 pm about 3.2 miles north northeast of Harvard in McHenry County. The tornado crossed the Boone McHenry County line near Hunter Road, about 2.1 miles west northwest of Chemung. The tornado crossed Hunter Road into McHenry County and continued to track northeast across Ryan Road as an EF0 and caused mainly minor tree damage. It crossed White Oaks Road then it uprooted a hardwood tree and snapped off pine trees at their base along Maxon Road. This damage continued to be EF0 damage with winds estimated to 80 mph. The tornado intensified as it moved toward the town of Lawrence, where it produced the worst damage in McHenry County. Significant damage occurred in the town of Lawrence, particularly at a house that had more than half of its roof ripped off and garage blown down. The tornado then moved across the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad where it blew 12 railroad freight cars of the track. The train was moving at the time the tornado hit it, so as the main engine stopped, the remaining cars on the track continued along it and slammed into the front part of the train. This caused a few more cars to derail, including one containing hazardous materials that caused the evacuation of the town of Lawrence. The damage in Lawrence was rated as EF2 with winds up to 110 mph. As the tornado moved east of Lawrence it once again started to weaken with some tree damage and shingles off of a few houses on the northeast side of town. It then ran along Oak Grove Road for a stretch where it produced EF1 damage with a hardwood tree snapped at its base and knocked over an old, weakly structured barn. The tornado headed across farm fields and headed for Highway 14 where it damaged a metal barn and sheared a few trees. As it crossed Highway 14, it flipped a semi-trailer and injured the driver at a truck stop weigh station. It continued across Oak Grove Road where it lifted. The maximum width of the tornado in McHenry County was around 50 yards. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Severe thunderstorms developed ahead of a strong cold front across northern Illinois during the afternoon hours of January 7th. The storms moved southeast across east central Illinois during the early to mid evening hours. | |||||||||||
| 21.4 | 1967-04-21 | 4 | 42°17'N / 88°42'W | 42°21'N / 88°26'W | 14.00 Miles | 1200 Yards | 0 | 40 | 25.0M | 0 | Mchenry |
| 23.9 | 1980-07-16 | 2 | 42°07'N / 88°32'W | 1.40 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Kane | |
| 28.7 | 1958-10-09 | 2 | 42°25'N / 88°43'W | 42°24'N / 88°12'W | 26.20 Miles | 33 Yards | 1 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Mchenry |
| 31.1 | 1978-08-15 | 2 | 42°11'N / 88°22'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Mchenry | |
| 31.4 | 1967-01-24 | 3 | 42°36'N / 89°22'W | 42°45'N / 88°55'W | 24.90 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Green |
| 34.1 | 1979-08-05 | 3 | 42°01'N / 89°35'W | 41°57'N / 89°30'W | 5.70 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Ogle |
| 34.3 | 1965-04-11 | 4 | 42°13'N / 88°23'W | 42°17'N / 88°13'W | 9.10 Miles | 400 Yards | 6 | 75 | 0K | 0 | Mchenry |
| 34.5 | 1963-04-19 | 2 | 42°18'N / 88°18'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Mchenry | |||
| 35.1 | 1972-04-06 | 2 | 42°03'N / 89°36'W | 41°54'N / 89°31'W | 10.90 Miles | 50 Yards | 1 | 3 | 250K | 0 | Ogle |
| 36.1 | 1966-03-21 | 2 | 42°36'N / 88°42'W | 42°40'N / 88°19'W | 19.80 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 1 | 2.5M | 0 | Walworth |
| 36.6 | 1998-06-25 | 2 | 42°45'N / 89°11'W | 42°45'N / 89°08'W | 2.50 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 845K | 3K | Rock |
| Brief Description: Severe thunderstorms packing winds between 60 and 70 mph and producing hail between 1 and 2 inches in diameter caused significant damage to property and crops. Kenosha and Racine counties experienced some of the worst destruction with 40,000 homes and businesses left without power due to the high number of trees and power lines downed. In the city of Racine a tree fell on a home and another tree crushed an automobile. In Kenosha county, siding was ripped off the side of a Bristol business and metal signs were blown down on Interstate 94. Hidden among the thunderstorms was a lone F2 tornado that took aim on northern Rock county, destroying 3 homes and damaging 4 others. A barn and 2 sheds were also destoyed. Three garages and 3 cars were damaged and a 20 foot beam was found anchored in the ground at a 45-degree angle in the storms aftermath. Fortunately there were no deaths or injuries. This tornado touched down just southwest of a railroad track 2.3 miles west/northwest of Leyden and lifted just east of Highway 184, 1 mile north/northeast of Leyden. Eyewitness reports suggest that this slow moving tornado had a second vortex at one time, and at another time it was nearly stationary for a couple minutes. The slow movement enhanced the destruction. At least 3 individuals video-taped it. Maximum winds were estimated to be about 150 mph. | |||||||||||
| 37.2 | 1972-04-06 | 2 | 41°54'N / 89°31'W | 41°43'N / 89°18'W | 16.60 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 6 | 250K | 0 | Lee |
| 37.9 | 1956-08-23 | 2 | 42°02'N / 88°17'W | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Kane | |||
| 38.0 | 1967-04-21 | 4 | 42°09'N / 88°16'W | 42°12'N / 88°12'W | 4.30 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 3 | 2.5M | 0 | Mchenry |
| 38.2 | 1970-10-09 | 2 | 42°43'N / 89°02'W | 42°51'N / 89°10'W | 11.10 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Rock |
| 38.2 | 1959-10-08 | 2 | 42°20'N / 88°14'W | 2.00 Miles | 90 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Mchenry | |
| 38.7 | 1961-09-22 | 2 | 42°46'N / 88°50'W | 42°48'N / 88°46'W | 3.60 Miles | 220 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Rock |
| 38.9 | 1967-04-21 | 2 | 42°00'N / 88°17'W | 0.30 Mile | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Kane | |
| 39.5 | 1955-04-18 | 2 | 42°45'N / 88°40'W | 42°45'N / 88°35'W | 3.30 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Walworth |
| 39.5 | 1965-04-11 | 4 | 42°17'N / 88°13'W | 42°17'N / 88°11'W | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Lake | ||
| 40.6 | 1956-08-30 | 2 | 41°48'N / 89°30'W | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Lee | |||
| 40.7 | 1969-06-12 | 2 | 42°37'N / 89°35'W | 0.30 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Green | |
| 41.7 | 1961-09-22 | 2 | 42°48'N / 88°46'W | 42°50'N / 88°42'W | 3.30 Miles | 220 Yards | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Walworth |
| 42.0 | 1979-06-09 | 2 | 42°36'N / 89°38'W | 2.50 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 5 | 250K | 0 | Green | |
| 42.0 | 1967-04-21 | 4 | 42°12'N / 88°12'W | 42°13'N / 88°06'W | 4.50 Miles | 150 Yards | 1 | 97 | 2.5M | 0 | Lake |
| 43.0 | 1960-11-15 | 2 | 42°47'N / 89°20'W | 42°50'N / 89°17'W | 3.00 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Rock |
| 43.0 | 1958-08-15 | 2 | 41°46'N / 89°28'W | 41°30'N / 88°04'W | 74.50 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Lee |
| 43.8 | 1957-04-19 | 2 | 42°39'N / 88°20'W | 42°39'N / 88°18'W | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Walworth | ||
| 43.9 | 1988-05-08 | 2 | 42°48'N / 89°21'W | 42°51'N / 89°15'W | 5.00 Miles | 173 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Rock |
| 44.0 | 1955-04-18 | 2 | 42°10'N / 89°55'W | 42°10'N / 89°44'W | 9.00 Miles | 77 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Carroll |
| 44.2 | 1991-03-27 | 2 | 42°49'N / 89°22'W | 42°51'N / 89°13'W | 7.00 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Rock |
| 44.9 | 1980-06-06 | 2 | 42°49'N / 88°34'W | 0.30 Mile | 33 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Walworth | |
| 44.9 | 2008-01-07 | 3 | 42°33'N / 88°18'W | 42°36'N / 88°08'W | 9.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 15 | 13.7M | 0K | Kenosha |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This tornado in western Kenosha County was a continuation of the tornado that spun up 2.27 mils NE of Pell Lake in southeastern Walworth County. It crossed into Kenosha County about 0.4 mile north of where CTH U in Walworth County crosses the county line and becomes CTH F in Walworth County. The tornado continued northeast to just east of the intersection of STH 50 and CTH O, crossed STH 83 just north of 51st Street just north of New Munster Creek, passed through the Village of Wheatland, turned more east and crossed 308th Ave. just north of Peterson Creek, and then dissipated near a pond between CTH PH and 41st Street (Town Rd). Fifteen people in the Civil Town of Wheatland sustained minor injuries. Also in the Civil Town of Wheatland, 7 homes were affected, 25 sustained minor damage, 27 had major damage, and 25 were destroyed. In the Civil Town of Brighton, 10 homes were affected, 3 had minor damage, 3 had major damage, and 4 were destroyed. About 160 people were homeless due to residential damage. This tornado traveled over frozen ponds and creeks, as well as snow piles leftover from recent snowmelt. Average path width was about 100 yards. The wind speed was estimated at 150 to 160 mph (DI 2 - FR12, DOD 8). For a couple homes, the visual damage suggested an EF4 rating, however insufficient anchoring allowed these structures to fail at a lower wind speed. Additionally, other nearby damage indicators didn't support an EF4 rating. The specific starting location in Kenosha County was 42.556342,-88.30533, and the ending location was 42.60061,-88.13524. For plotting purposes, here are a couple mid-point locations of this tornadoe's path: crossing of STH 83 - 42.59297, -88.22230, and the crossing of CTH B - 42.59756, -88.15928. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Very rare, mid-winter, severe storms affected parts of south-central and southeast Wisconsin on January 7th - in the form of two tornadoes and scattered, large, hailstones, and downburst winds. The last time a tornado occurred in January in Wisconsin was on the 24th in 1967 in Green and Rock Counties (25-mile track). On January 7th, a low pressure moved northeast through western Wisconsin, allowing a warm front to push through southern Wisconsin. Temperatures rose into the lower to mid 60s over southeast Wisconsin with surface dewpoints peaking in the mid to upper 50s, resulting in moderate amounts of instablity. Strong, veering winds from the surface to the jet stream level generated sufficient wind shear that supported rotating updrafts in scattered supercell thunderstorms over southeast Wisconsin. A supercell thunderstorm, that had spun up a tornado in northeastern Illinois previously, then crossed the state line into south-central Walworth County (southeast of the city of Walworth) where it intesified and eventually spun up a tornado near Pell Lake that traveled into western Kenosha County. Another supercell spun up a tornado over the northern reaches of the city of Kensoha. Other scattered thunderstorms on this day across south-central and southeast Wisconsin dumped large hail up to 3/4 inch in diameter. | |||||||||||
| 45.4 | 1970-10-09 | 2 | 42°51'N / 89°10'W | 42°54'N / 89°13'W | 3.30 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Dane |
| 45.6 | 1991-03-27 | 2 | 42°50'N / 89°24'W | 42°49'N / 89°22'W | 4.00 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Green |
| 45.8 | 1957-04-19 | 2 | 42°39'N / 88°18'W | 42°39'N / 88°14'W | 2.70 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Racine |
| 46.1 | 1972-09-28 | 2 | 42°46'N / 88°25'W | 1.50 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Walworth | |
| 46.2 | 1991-03-27 | 2 | 42°51'N / 89°13'W | 42°57'N / 88°59'W | 12.00 Miles | 440 Yards | 1 | 5 | 2.5M | 0 | Dane |
| 46.2 | 1962-05-07 | 2 | 41°48'N / 89°39'W | 41°43'N / 89°33'W | 7.20 Miles | 10 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Whiteside |
| 46.2 | 1962-05-07 | 2 | 41°48'N / 89°39'W | 41°43'N / 89°33'W | 7.20 Miles | 10 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Whiteside |
| 46.4 | 1954-05-27 | 2 | 41°46'N / 88°20'W | 41°51'N / 88°13'W | 7.90 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Kendall |
| 46.4 | 1967-04-16 | 3 | 42°31'N / 89°56'W | 42°45'N / 89°29'W | 27.80 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Lafayette |
| 46.6 | 1958-08-06 | 2 | 41°44'N / 88°22'W | 2.00 Miles | 70 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Kane | |
| 47.7 | 1986-09-28 | 2 | 42°52'N / 88°44'W | 42°55'N / 88°36'W | 9.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 1 | 2.5M | 0 | Jefferson |
| 48.3 | 1967-04-21 | 2 | 41°37'N / 89°29'W | 41°38'N / 89°22'W | 5.60 Miles | 77 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Lee |
| 48.9 | 1988-05-08 | 2 | 42°53'N / 89°18'W | 42°59'N / 89°00'W | 16.00 Miles | 173 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Dane |
| 49.4 | 2005-08-18 | 3 | 42°55'N / 89°26'W | 42°56'N / 89°03'W | 17.00 Miles | 600 Yards | 1 | 23 | 34.3M | 750K | Dane |
| Brief Description: A strong and destructive tornado spun up at 1715CST about 2.8 miles southeast of the geographic center of Fitchburg (or 2.0 miles north of center of Oregon), about 400 yards southwest of the intersection of CTH MM and Schnieder Rd. It continued east-southeast to the southern edge of Lake Kegonsa and tore through residential neighborhoods about 1/3 to 1/2 mile north of CTH B (Civil Towns of Dunn and Pleasant Springs, and far-northern Stoughton). It moved over the crossing of CTH A with Interstate 90/39, and stayed close to CTH A to its exit point at 1905CST where CTH A crosses into Jefferson County, about 2.8 miles south-southwest of Rockdale. One person was crushed to death in their basement from fireplace and chimney bricks that crashed through the floor. Twenty-three (23) other people were directly injured. In addition, Emergency Management officials received reports of 2 other indirectly-related deaths associated with this strong tornado. In these two cases, the people were already very ill or suffering from a life-ending disease. Injuries they received during the tornado contributed (secondary) to their death, but were not the primary cause of death, based on medical examiner reports. Consequently, these additional two deaths do not appear in the official death tally in the header strip of this event. Numerous homes, businesses, farm buildings, vehicles, power-lines, trees, and other personal effects were either damaged or destroyed along its path that grew to a maximum width of about 600 yards north of Stoughton. As for residential structures, 220 sustained minor damage, 84 had major damage, and 69 were destroyed. As for business structures, 6 sustained minor damage, 1 had major damage, and 1 was destroyed. As for agricultural structures, 5 sustained minor damage, 5 had major damage, and 40 were destroyed. Total estimated damage amounts (directly-related) for private and public sectors combined was $35.06 M, broken down to $34.31 M in property damage and $750 K in crop losses, for the tornado segment in Dane County. This tornado was probably the 3rd most costly tornado in Wisconsin's recorded history (1996 Oakfield tornado and 1984 Barneveld tornadoes were more costly). The $34.31 M in property damage was broken down to private losses (total of 32.29 M) and public losses (total of $2.02 M), per Emergency Manager reports and NWS estimates. The private losses included a total of $25.45 M for residential structures, $1.29 M for businesses, $4.25 M for agricultural structures, $1.00 M for damage to vehicles, boats, and other personal effects, $200 K to agricultural machinery and tools, and $96 K in public road system damage. The public losses making up part of the $34.31 M consisted of $2.02 M in damage to public utility systems. The $750 K in damage attributed to crop losses occurred on an estimated 1,550 acres of land. Additional monetary costs incurred in the public sector (totaling $1.84 M) which are considered indirectly-related damage expenses, and not included in the "direct" totals listed in the header-strip of this event, include: $1.38 M in debris clearance, $308 K in protective measures, and miscellaneous damage/expenses of $144 K. Therefore, the grand total of direct and indirect damage amounts and expenses attributed to this tornado segment in Dane county totaled about $36.89 M. Just south of the tornado, extending out another mile or so, tree and power-line damage resulted from rear-flank downdraft damage - in some cases south to STH 51. This damage is separate from tornado damage, and isn't included in the numbers in previous sentences. Debris from this tornado was lofted by the parent's updraft and carried downstream to scattered locations in the counties of Jefferson, Waukesha, Milwaukee, Walworth, Racine, and Kenosha. This tornado was extensively photographed and video-taped by storm spotters (amateur radio operators, etc.), storm chasers, and private citizens. On occasions, this tornado displayed multiple-vortex characteristics. Due to partial back-building (to the west-southwest) of the supercell's updraft tower, this tornado moved slowly, and was described by some eyewitnesses and spotters as being nearly stationary at times north of Stoughton. The overall slow movement (supercell moved at 12-17 knots, or 10-15 mph), coupled with structures that were not thoroughly reinforced (based on NWS damage survey), allowed the tornado's cyclonic winds to more severely damage buildings in its path. Consequently, although some of the worst damage resembled what would be left by a F4 tornado for well-built homes, this tornado was rated at the top of the F3 category with estimated winds near 174 knots (200 mph). The F3 category has estimated wind speeds of 137-179 knots (158-206 mph). A sampling of newspaper headlines and personal quotes included: "The Sky Just Exploded," "Hard to Believe There Weren't More Deaths," "New Technology Lowers Tornado Deaths," "Counting Losses, Blessings," "It Was Probably The Most Intense Storm In The Country This Year," "It's a Mess Out Here," and "I've Never Experienced Anything Like This." The tornado cut electrical power for 1700 customers in the Stoughton area. The estimated average path length was about 175 yards. M54PH The largest single-day tornado outbreak in Wisconsin recorded history for south-central and southeast Wisconsin occurred on August 18, 2005. Sixteen tornadoes were documented on this day in south-central and southeast Wisconsin, a new single-day record. A line of supercells developed and pushed across south-central Wisconsin during the afternoon hours, and then pushed east across southeast Wisconsin during the evening hours. Most of the tornadoes were associated with two supercells. One main supercell tracked across Sauk County and then into Columbia, producing one F0 and one F2 tornado. The F2 tornado crossed into Columbia County. Another main supercell produced an F3 tornado that devastated the area north of city of Stoughton (Dane Co.), and a weaker F1 tornado just south of the city of Rockdale (Dane Co.). This supercell then tracked into southwestern Jefferson County a short time later, producing two F0 tornadoes and four F1 tornadoes. The sixteen (16) tornadoes contributed largely to both the new state record of 27 tornadoes on a single day, and 62 tornadoes for a calendar year. In additiion, there were scattered reports of funnel clouds, damaging straight-line, downburst winds, and large hail across south-central and southeast Wisconsin. The total direct damage estimate for the afternoon and evening tornado and severe weather outbreak in south-central and southeast Wisconsin on August 18th was about $36.6 M ($35.7 property and $948 K crop). Additional indirect costs totaled almost $1.9 M, resulting in a total direct and direct cost of about $38.5 M. Synoptically, a surface low pressure system was located over extreme southeast Minnesota early in the afternoon. A warm front extended east southeast from the low with dew points pooling in the lower 70s along it. The surface low moved east into east central Wisconsin by 2100CST that evening. Favorable wind shear associated with the warm front, combined with the strong instability supplied by the heat and humidity, helped to produce numerous tornadic supercells. | |||||||||||
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.