Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas · 2006

F1 tornado, Center Pt to Kirby, Arkansas, March 9, 2006

From Center Pt to Kirby, this F1 tornado ran 15.2 miles across Howard and Pike counties on March 9, 2006, touching down at 7:55 AM CST and reaching 300 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 mph

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

  2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

    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
F1
Date
March 9, 2006
Touchdown
7:55 AM CST (13:55 UTC)
Path length
15.2 miles (24.5 km)
Path width
300 yards (274 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
Counties
Howard and Pike counties
Touchdown point
34.030, -93.930
Lift-off point
34.170, -93.750
Record number
64

What the Weather Service recorded

An F1 tornado touched down in Howard County near Center Point and moved northeast to the Pike County line approximately 11 miles northeast of Center Point. The tornado was on the ground for nearly 11 miles and damage consisted of numerous trees snapped and uprooted. Minor roof damage was observed to two homes and a barn was destroyed.

A weak tornado moved out of Howard County into western Pike County. The tornado entered Pike County 2 to 3 miles northwest of Nathan. The tornado tracked mostly through timberland, and uprooted or snapped dozens of trees.

The storm that produced a weak tornado to the northwest of Nathan in western Pike County spawned yet another weak tornado near Kirby. This new tornado damaged a barn at the Kirby School, as well as a backstop at the ball field. Before the tornado arrived, teachers at the school instructed students to go into the hallway and crouch down. No injuries occurred at the school. The tornado then tracked quickly toward Glenwood. Along the way, the tornado damaged barns, ripped roof shingles from homes, knocked down power lines and power poles and downed trees.

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

The warnings

9 minutes of warning. NWS SHV issued a tornado warning for this county at 13:46 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 14:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 11:53 UTC and running to 15:50 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
07:41 UTC11:53 UTCTornado WatchSHV
11:53 UTC15:50 UTCTornado WatchSHV
13:46 UTC14:30 UTCTornado WarningSHV

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:31 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.

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 12:00Z

1.9 hours before the tornado, 180 km from the path. March 9, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2006-03-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 793 joules per kilogram, CIN -7, lifted condensation level 841 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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2006-03-09The 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 301 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 79 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
793 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1209 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
841 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
79 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
301 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
418 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.6
Supercell composite
7.5
0-3 km lapse rate
6.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 00:00Z

10.1 hours after it, 180 km from the path. March 10, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 2006-03-10Temperature 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 -117177, lifted condensation level 3025 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 2006-03-10The 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 38 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 56 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-117177 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3025 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
121 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
8.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

J Lynn Helms/De Queen (DEQ), 52 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
12:09 UTC6855.4190° 8 kt993.9VCTS
12:29 UTC69.857.2170° 9 kt993.6
12:37 UTC6859180° 8 kt993.2
12:46 UTC66.259160° 7 kt993.2VCTS -RA
12:53 UTC6760170° 7 kt993.2TSRA
14:53 UTC6258240° 6 kt993.2
15:53 UTC6458240° 8 kt993.6

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 141 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 13:52 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
13:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 S LockesburgSevier, ARSTORAGE BUILDINGS DESTROYED ALONG US 71.
13:33 UTCTORNADO2 Sw LockesburgSevier, ARF0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 2 MI SW OF LOCKESBURG AND LIFTED 1 MI SE OF LOCKESBURG. PATH LENGTH WAS 2 MI AND THE WIDTH WAS 60 YDS. DAMAGED CONSISTED OF A FEW LARGE TREES DOWN AND SEVERAL TREE LIMBS SNAPPED.
13:55 UTCTORNADO8 Nw NashvilleHoward, ARF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT 8 MI NORTHWEST OF NASHVILLE NEAR CENTER POINT AND CONTINUED TO THE PIKE AND HOWARD COUNTY LINE ABOUT 15 MILES NORTH OF NASHVILLE. THE PATH LENGTH WAS 11.0 MI AND WIDTH WAS 300 YDS. DAMAGE CO
14:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 Ne DierksHoward, ARTREES DOWNED ALONG AR 369 NEAR THE PIKE COUNTY LINE.
14:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG9 Nw NashvilleHoward, ARTREES DOWNED IN CENTERPOINT COMMUNITY. FROM SHERIFF.
14:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGMineral SpringsHoward, ARTREES DOWNED.
14:14 UTCTSTM WND DMGKirbyPike, ARCHICKEN HOUSES WITH ROOFS OFF AND TREES DOWN
14:14 UTCTSTM WND DMGKirbyPike, ARROOFS OFF BARNS
14:47 UTCHAIL 0.75Crystal SpringsGarland, AR
14:50 UTCHAIL 0.75AlpineClark, AR
15:00 UTCDOWNBURSTMccaskillHempstead, ARSTORAGE BUILDINGS AND CAR PORTS DAMAGED.

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 ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 9, 2006

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 912:19 AM CSTF0Pettis, MO1.350$10,000
March 95:40 AM CSTF1Lonoke, AR1.025
March 96:50 AM CSTF2Woodruff, AR15.71006$100,000
March 97:33 AM CSTF0Sevier, AR2.060
March 98:18 AM CSTF1Pike, AR8.050
March 91:00 PM CSTF1Panola, MS1.0200$500,000
March 93:05 PM CSTF0Amite, MS0.125
March 95:44 PM CSTF1Stoddard, MO1.2175$900,000

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.