Tornadoes · United States · Alabama · 2006

F0 tornado, Talahatta, Alabama, May 10, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Clarke County on May 10, 2006, touching down at 6:08 PM CDT and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 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. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 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
F0
Date
May 10, 2006
Touchdown
6:08 PM CDT (23:08 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Clarke County
Touchdown point
31.900, -87.850
Lift-off point
31.900, -87.850
Record number
525

What the Weather Service recorded

A weak tornado briefly touched down along County Road 44 near Talahatta Springs. A funnel cloud was reported just a couple of minutes before near Opine. The weak tornado blew down several trees and power lines and damaged the roof of a small meat processing plant. No injuries were reported. Large hail was also reported with the storm.

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

The warnings

9 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:59 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:46 UTC and running to 02:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
11:32 UTC18:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchMOB
18:46 UTC02:00 UTCTornado WatchMOB
22:49 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMOB
22:59 UTC23:30 UTCTornado WarningMOB
23:28 UTC23:55 UTCTornado WarningMOB

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:01 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.

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z

11.1 hours before the tornado, 174 km from the path. May 10, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2006-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 379 joules per kilogram, CIN -268, lifted condensation level 531 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2006-05-10The 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 188 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 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
379 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-268 J/kg
Surface CAPE
91 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
531 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
188 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
222 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6
0-3 km lapse rate
3.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z

0.9 hours after it, 174 km from the path. May 11, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2006-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2 joules per kilogram, CIN -489, lifted condensation level 1131 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2006-05-11The 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 112 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 62 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-489 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1131 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
381 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
5.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 141 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:06 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
21:00 UTCHAIL 1LismanChoctaw, AL
21:15 UTCHAIL 1.75CromwellChoctaw, AL
23:00 UTCHAIL 14 S CamdenWilcox, ALRELAYED PUBLIC REPORT FROM BMX.
23:05 UTCTORNADOOpineClarke, ALPUBLIC REPORT OF A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN OPINE
23:05 UTCTORNADOOpineClarke, ALPUBLIC REPORT OF LARGE TORNADO IN OPINE
23:11 UTCHAIL 2.75ThomasvilleClarke, ALREPORTED BY EMA...COULD HEAR IT HITTING CAR IN BACKGROUND
23:11 UTCHAIL 2.75ThomasvilleClarke, ALREPOTED BY EMA...COULD HEAR IT HITTING CAR IN BACKGROUND
23:11 UTCTORNADOTallahatta SpringsClarke, ALPOSSIBLE TORNADO CAUSED STRUCTUAL DAMAGE TO MEAT PACKING PLANT NEAR HWY. 154...ALSO BASEBALL SIZE HAIL
23:11 UTCTORNADOTallahatta SpringsClarke, ALTORNADO CAUSED STRUCTUAL DAMAGE TO MEAT PACKING PLANT NEAR HWY. 154...ALSO BASEBALL SIZE HAIL
23:15 UTCTORNADOChiltonClarke, ALTORNADO BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN BETWEEN CHILTON AND FULTON
23:16 UTCHAIL 1.75ThomasvilleClarke, ALQUARTER TO GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL
23:30 UTCHAIL 1.75DickinsonClarke, ALGOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AND ROTATING WALL CLOUD

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2006 tornado in AlabamaEvery tornado in Alabama since 1950Warnings in force in Alabama nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 10, 2006

19 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 101:40 AM CDTF1Okmulgee, OK0.575$70,000
May 1010:03 AM CDTF0Dallas, AR3.525
May 103:40 PM EDTF0Kalamazoo, MI0.120
May 102:44 PM CDTF1Marengo, AL2.6150$20,000
May 104:27 PM CDTF2Catahoula Parish, LA8.0250$250,000
May 104:35 PM CDTF0Victoria, TX0.575
May 104:35 PM CDTF0Tensas Parish, LA2.050$60,000
May 104:59 PM CDTF0Fort Bend, TX0.220$2,000
May 105:03 PM CDTF0Adams, LA to MS5.050
May 105:08 PM CDTF0Vanderburgh, IN5.275
May 106:20 PM EDTF0Highland, OH0.530$30,000
May 105:40 PM CDTF0White, IL2.550
May 105:49 PM CDTF2Jefferson, MS7.0440$120,000
May 105:58 PM CDTF0Posey, IN2.560
May 106:08 PM CDTF0Warrick, IN0.250$2,000
May 106:17 PM CDTF0Warrick, IN0.250$1,000
May 106:22 PM CDTF0Gibson, IN2.750
May 106:34 PM CDTF0Kenedy, TX0.120
May 106:49 PM CDTF1Dubois, IN1.4100$150,000

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.