Tornado in Iowa, April 13, 2006

Name: Tornado in Iowa, April 13, 2006
Start: 2006-04-13T20:42
End: 2006-04-13T20:45
Location: Iowa

April 13, 2006 · NWS DVN · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Tornado began just north of I-80 4 miles west of Le Claire at 2042 CST. The corner of a wooden roof was torn off a cattle building and boards scattered (some nailed themselves into the wall of the corn crib next to it).

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $60,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS DVN wrote it up.

Due to the careful note taking and damage description of the individual along with actually witnessing a funnel, this is classified as a rare tornado on the cold side of the front that was initiated by a downburst.Tornado began just north of I-80 4 miles west of Le Claire at 2042 CST. The tornado traveled east northeast crossing 257th Avenue just south of 205th Street and dissipated on 205th Street about 0.5 miles east of the intersection of 257th Avenue and 205th Street at 2045 CST.The corner of a wooden roof was torn off a cattle building and boards scattered (some nailed themselves into the wall of the corn crib next to it). The entire roof was lifted and then set back down. The south cinder block wall collapsed inward on the cattle building and the north walls bowed out to the northeast from the roof lifting off. A large shed door on the east side of the corn crib next to the cattle building was torn off and flung 50 yards to the northeast. The door hit a 100 year old tree trunk and knocked it out of the ground. A window was blown out on the east end of the corn crib next to the original cattle building. The window landed on the northwest corner of the property up and over on the opposite side of farmhouse some 975-980 yards distance.Part of the steel sheeting was peeled back on the southwest corner roof of a new machine shed located to the north of the cattle building. A skylight window was sucked out of another freestanding cattle barn located to the east of the original cattle building.A wooden dog house on the porch of the farmhouse was flipped onto its roof and a power pole was knocked out a couple of miles northeast of the farm.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Quad Cities, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 13, 4:42 PM CST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 13, 4:42 PM CST, 4 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
542 PM CDT THU APR 13 2006

.UPDATE...
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE INITIATED OVER CENTRAL IOWA IN THE LAST 30
MINUTES...AND THIS IS A FAVORABLE LOCATION FOR STRONG TO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS TO MOVE INTO OUR CWA.  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AS
BEEN ISSUED TIL MIDNIGHT...AREAS NORTH OF HIGHWAY 78 IN IOWA...AND
FOR MERCER AND ROCK ISLAND IN ILLINOIS. THE MAIN THREAT SHOULD BE
LARGE HAIL AND VERY STRONG WINDS UP TO 80 MPH. SOME SUPERCELLS WILL
BE POSSIBLE AS WELL...MAINLY IN EASTERN IOWA EARLY THIS EVENING.
ERVIN

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
A COLD FRONT WILL SLOWLY SAG SOUTH TONIGHT AND STALL ACROSS THE
REGION FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS. A SERIES OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS ARE
FORECAST TO TRACK ALONG THE FRONT BRINGING SEVERAL ROUNDS OF RAIN TO
THE AREA.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
MOISTURE IS SLOWLY MOVING INTO THE REGION ALBEIT SLOWER THAN WHAT
THE MODELS HAVE BEEN INDICATING. NEW 18Z SOUNDING STILL HAS A
MINIMAL CAP ON IT. THIS CAP ALONG WITH VERY LIMITED MOISTURE HAS
PRECLUDED CONVECTION FROM DEVELOPING. CONVECTION SHOULD DEVELOP
FAIRLY QUICKLY THIS EVENING WITH IT TRANSFORMING INTO AN MCS THAT
EXITS THE AREA AROUND DAWN FRIDAY. MCS IN TURN WILL HELP PUSH THE
COLD FRONT SOUTH TO THE IA/MO BORDER WITH THE NEXT WAVE ARRIVING
FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

THE WAVE ON FRIDAY SHOULD INITIATE CONVECTION DURING THE
AFTERNOON/EVENING WITH DRY EASTERLY FLOW SETTING UP BY SATURDAY
MORNING. STALLED FRONT TO RETURN SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY AND THIS
COULD GET INTERESTING IF THE MODELS ARE CORRECT. POTENTIAL IS THERE
FOR A MODERATE TO POSSIBLY HEAVY RAIN EVENT OVER ABOUT THE NORTH
HALF OF THE CWFA.

AFTER A QUIET MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING...THE NEXT WAVE ARRIVES
TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO WEDNESDAY BRINGING ANOTHER ROUND OF PRECIP TO
THE AREA. WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY LOOK DRY ATTM.

&&

.DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IA...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH TIL MIDNIGHT NORTH OF HIGHWAY 78.
IL...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH TIL MIDNIGHT ROCK ISLAND AND MERCER.
MO...NONE.

ERVIN/08

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 13, 12:55 PM CST, 7 hours 47 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
155 PM CDT THU APR 13 2006

IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007-
009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-141015-
BUCHANAN-DELAWARE-DUBUQUE-BENTON-LINN-JONES-JACKSON-IOWA-JOHNSON-
CEDAR-CLINTON-MUSCATINE-SCOTT-KEOKUK-WASHINGTON-LOUISA-JEFFERSON-
HENRY IA-DES MOINES-VAN BUREN-LEE-JO DAVIESS-STEPHENSON-CARROLL-
WHITESIDE-ROCK ISLAND-HENRY IL-BUREAU-PUTNAM-MERCER-HENDERSON-
WARREN-HANCOCK-MCDONOUGH-SCOTLAND-CLARK-
155 PM CDT THU APR 13 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL
ILLINOIS...NORTHWEST ILLINOIS...WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST
CENTRAL IOWA...NORTHEAST IOWA...SOUTHEAST IOWA AND NORTHEAST
MISSOURI.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

THE ENTIRE OUTLOOK AREA REMAINS IN A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS...FOR MAINLY THIS EVENING.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO DEVELOP TOWARD EVENING
OVER SOUTHERN MINNESOTA AND PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL AND
NORTHEAST IOWA. THESE STORMS MAY THEN DEVELOP INTO A COMPLEX AND
MOVE QUICKLY SOUTHEAST ACROSS EASTERN IOWA AND NORTHWEST ILLINOIS
TONIGHT BETWEEN 7 PM AND 1 AM. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS
WILL BE DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS OF 60 TO 80 MPH. SECONDARY
THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN. THE PORTION OF THE
OUTLOOK AREA MOST AT RISK IS GENERALLY NORTHEAST OF A LINE FROM
WASHINGTON IOWA...TO MONMOUTH ILLINOIS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

THERE IS A CONTINUED RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS PORTIONS OF
THE OUTLOOK AREA FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT AS A STRONG FRONT
LINGERS IN THE REGION. ON FRIDAY...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR
SEVERE STORMS FOR AREAS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80 IN THE AFTERNOON
AND EVENING. THE AREA OF MAIN CONCERN WILL BE NEAR A STALLED FRONTAL
WEST TO EAST BOUNDARY IN THE VICINITY OF SOUTHEAST IOWA...NORTHEAST
MISSOURI INTO WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. CONDITIONS IN THIS AREA MAY
BE FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND.

A MORE WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER EVENT IS POSSIBLE SATURDAY INTO
SATURDAY NIGHT ACROSS THE ENTIRE OUTLOOK AREA AS A STRONG UPPER
LEVEL SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE POSSIBLE AS A WARM FRONT LIFTS NORTHEAST IN THE AFTERNOON.
THESE MAY BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WIND...AND
ISOLATED TORNADOES. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE...WHICH
MAY CAUSE MINOR FLOODING AND RISING RIVER LEVELS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS EVENING.

MCCLURE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 13, 8:26 PM CST, 16 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
926 PM CDT THU APR 13 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0921 PM     TSTM WND DMG     MUSCATINE               41.42N 91.07W
04/13/2006                   MUSCATINE          IA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            BUILDINGS DAMAGED AT MUSCATINE AIRPORT. CAUSE UNKNOWN.

&&

STEVEK

Local storm report, Apr 13, 8:30 PM CST, 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
930 PM CDT THU APR 13 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0914 PM     TORNADO          IOWA CITY               41.66N 91.54W
04/13/2006                   JOHNSON            IA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            MAJOR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO LARGE SHOPING BUILDINGS AT
            INTSCTN OF Q18 AND STATE HIGHWAY 1. LOTS OF DEBRIS AND
            DOWNED TREES.

&&

MIKEZ

Local storm report, Apr 13, 8:34 PM CST, 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
934 PM CDT THU APR 13 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0922 PM     HAIL             8 NW MUSCATINE          41.50N 91.18W
04/13/2006  E2.00 INCH       MUSCATINE          IA   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

MIKEZ

Local storm report, Apr 13, 8:35 PM CST, 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
935 PM CDT THU APR 13 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0920 PM     HAIL             MUSCATINE               41.42N 91.07W
04/13/2006  E1.25 INCH       MUSCATINE          IA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            SPOTTER REPORTED HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL ON WEST SIDE OF
            TOWN.

&&

MIKEZ

Local storm report, Apr 13, 8:40 PM CST, 2 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
940 PM CDT THU APR 13 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0938 PM     HAIL             ANDALUSIA               41.44N 90.73W
04/13/2006  E1.00 INCH       ROCK ISLAND        IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

MIKEZ

Local storm report, Apr 13, 8:42 PM CST, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
942 PM CDT THU APR 13 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0936 PM     HAIL             WEST LIBERTY            41.57N 91.26W
04/13/2006  E1.00 INCH       MUSCATINE          IA   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

RAYW

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 18 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:40 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Scott

When: April 13, 8:42 PM CST to 8:45 PM CST
Where: Scott County, 4 mi W of Le Claire
Rating: F1
Path length: 1.5 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $60,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.600, -90.367

Rated F1

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Iowa, 2006 Warnings in Iowa, April 2006

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5502576.