Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2006

F0 tornado, Sumatra, Florida, January 2, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Liberty County on January 2, 2006, touching down at 12:55 PM EST and reaching 50 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
January 2, 2006
Touchdown
12:55 PM EST (17:55 UTC)
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Liberty County
Touchdown point
30.020, -84.980
Lift-off point
30.020, -84.980
Record number
6

What the Weather Service recorded

A tornado touched down briefly and tossed an unoccupied trailer. It also downed some power lines. Reported by the Liberty County EMA.

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

The warnings

4 minutes of warning. NWS TAE issued a tornado warning for this county at 17:51 UTC, 4 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 18:31 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 13:15 UTC and running to 18:31 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
13:15 UTC18:31 UTCTornado WatchTAE
17:51 UTC18:31 UTCTornado WarningTAE
18:31 UTC20:42 UTCTornado WatchTAE

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 16:50 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.

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 12:00Z

5.9 hours before the tornado, 78 km from the path. January 2, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2006-01-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1541 joules per kilogram, CIN -9, lifted condensation level 459 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2006-01-02The 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 215 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
1541 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Surface CAPE
786 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
459 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
215 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
278 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.6
Supercell composite
9.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Tallahassee Rgnl, FL (KTLH), 00:00Z

6.1 hours after it, 78 km from the path. January 3, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2006-01-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1070 joules per kilogram, CIN -16, lifted condensation level 688 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, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2006-01-03The 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 229 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 71 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
1070 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1557 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
688 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
71 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
229 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
300 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.9
Supercell composite
8.3
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Apalachicola Municipal (Asos) (AAF), 33 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
15:56 UTC7069190° 17 kt1014.6BR
16:40 UTC69.869.8180° 17 kt221013.9BR
16:56 UTC7069180° 17 kt1013.5BR
17:06 UTC69.869.8180° 19 kt241012.9BR
17:54 UTC71.669.8190° 22 kt281011.9BR
17:56 UTC7169190° 23 kt331012.2BR
18:21 UTC69.869.8190° 19 kt241011.9-RA BR
18:56 UTC6968210° 15 kt211011.5BR
19:23 UTC71.669.8210° 21 kt301011.2BR
19:32 UTC71.669.8210° 20 kt291010.8-RA BR
19:38 UTC69.869.8210° 19 kt261010.8-RA BR

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

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 17:53 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
17:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGSumatraLiberty, FLPOSSIBLE TORNADO. ONE HOME DAMAGED AND POWER LINES DOWN.
17:50 UTCNON-TSTM WND DMGSumatraLiberty, FLPOSSIBLE TORNADO. ONE HOME DAMAGED AND POWER LINES DOWN.

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 FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of January 2, 2006

17 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 23:00 AM CSTF0Saint Charles, MO0.540
January 24:45 AM CSTF0Reynolds, MO0.550
January 25:25 AM CSTF1Saint Louis, MO1.050
January 28:02 AM CSTF1Shelby, IL0.135$10,000
January 22:43 PM ESTF2Hardin, KY8.4150$2.0 million
January 22:50 PM ESTF1Larue, KY6.4175$500,000
January 23:22 PM ESTF1Jefferson, KY1.534$250,000
January 22:22 PM CSTF2Adair, KY0.6200$150,000
January 22:57 PM CSTF1Adair, KY0.5100$70,000
January 24:34 PM ESTF2Lincoln, KY8.72002$350,000
January 24:45 PM ESTF2Fayette, GA7.0440$2.3 million
January 25:12 PM ESTF3Pike, GA3.04403$750,000
January 25:44 PM ESTF0Lamar, GA0.250$2,000
January 25:48 PM ESTF1Henry, GA0.6300$500,000
January 26:35 PM ESTF1Jones, GA3.0300$150,000
January 28:22 PM ESTF1Johnson, GA12.0440$300,000
January 29:15 PM ESTF0Jenkins, GA0.125$50,000

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.