Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2006
F0 tornado, (Fll)Ft Laudrdl Intl, Florida, March 23, 2006
This F0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Broward County on March 23, 2006, touching down at 3:10 PM EST and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.
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.
F040 to 72 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- March 23, 2006
- Touchdown
- 3:10 PM EST (20:10 UTC)
- Path length
- 1.0 miles (1.6 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Broward County
- Touchdown point
- 26.180, -80.280
- Lift-off point
- 26.180, -80.280
- Record number
- 170
What the Weather Service recorded
A funnel cloud was spotted by Coral Springs PD in the vicinity of 10100 Atlantic Blvd moving southeast. Five minutes later, a pilot reported a tornado 12 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale International Airport (FLL), in the vicinity or just west of Coral Springs. The tornado was likely very short lived since no later reports of a touchdown were received. At 3:15 PM, a spotter observed three funnel clouds from Atlantic Blvd and Highway 441 in Pompano Beach looking west, which would have placed the funnel clouds over Margate/Coral Springs area.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
2 minutes of warning. NWS MFL issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:08 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:35 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:02 UTC | 21:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MFL |
| 20:08 UTC | 20:35 UTC | Tornado Warning | MFL |
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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 18:56 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.
Miami, FL (KMFL), 12:00Z
8.2 hours before the tornado, 40 km from the path. March 23, 2006.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 124 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -68 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 134 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 914 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 5 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 20 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 57 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.5 K/km
Miami, FL (KMFL), 00:00Z
3.8 hours after it, 40 km from the path. March 24, 2006.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 853 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -49 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 77 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 915 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 74 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 78 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.9
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.7 K/km
The surface observations
Fort Lauderdale (FXE), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:53 UTC | 77 | 65 | 100° 13 kt | 1014.2 | TS | |
| 19:53 UTC | 75 | 67 | 100° 15 kt | 1013.5 | -TSRA | |
| 20:34 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 310° 25 kt | 38 | 1014.6 | +RA FG |
| 20:41 UTC | 66.2 | 62.6 | 350° 14 kt | 35 | 1014.2 | +RA FG |
| 20:45 UTC | 66.2 | 62.6 | 340° 11 kt | 29 | 1013.9 | RA FG |
| 20:53 UTC | 67 | 64 | 60° 4 kt | 17 | 1014.2 | -RA |
| 21:53 UTC | 68 | 62 | 60° 5 kt | 1013.5 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Miami radar (KAMX), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:10 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:39 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | 5 W Miami International | Miami-Dade, FL | FORMER NWS EMPLOYEE REPORTED PEA SIZED HAIL AT 1340E FLAGLER STREET AND 92ND AVE |
| 17:46 UTC | TSTM WND GST 0 | 1 S Sweetwater | Miami-Dade, FL | 146PM NWS MIAMI FORECAST OFFICE RECORDED A 39 MPH WIND GUST |
| 17:46 UTC | TSTM WND GST 39 | 1 S Sweetwater | Miami-Dade, FL | OFFICE 146PM NWS MIAMI FORECAST OFFICE RECORDED A 39 MPH WIND GUST |
| 17:59 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | 5 W Miami International | Miami-Dade, FL | FORMER NWS EMPLOYEE REPORTED PEA SIZED HAIL AT 1340E FLAGLER STREET AND 92ND AVE |
| 18:39 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | 5 W Miami International | Miami-Dade, FL | FORMER NWS EMPLOYEE REPORTED PEA SIZED HAIL AT 1340E FLAGLER STREET AND 92ND AVE |
| 18:46 UTC | TSTM WND GST 0 | 1 S Sweetwater | Miami-Dade, FL | 146PM NWS MIAMI FORECAST OFFICE RECORDED A 39 MPH WIND GUST |
| 18:46 UTC | TSTM WND GST 39 | 1 S Sweetwater | Miami-Dade, FL | 146PM NWS MIAMI FORECAST OFFICE RECORDED A 39 MPH WIND GUST |
| 18:59 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | 5 W Miami International | Miami-Dade, FL | FORMER NWS EMPLOYEE REPORTED PEA SIZED HAIL AT 1340E FLAGLER STREET AND 92ND AVE |
| 19:05 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Coral Springs | Broward, FL | CORAL SPRINGS PD REPORTED FUNNEL CLOUD 10100 ATLANTIC BLVD MOVING SOUTHEAST |
| 19:09 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Coral Springs | Broward, FL | NWS SURVEY INDICATED LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN ON BOTH SIDES OF ATLANTIC AVE AND CORAL RIDGE DRIVE |
| 19:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Coral Springs | Broward, FL | CORAL SPRINGS PD REPORTED DOWNED POWER LINE SAWGRASS EXPRESSWAY AND ATLANTIC BLVD |
| 19:10 UTC | FLOOD | Coral Springs | Broward, FL | CORAL SPRINGS PD REPORTED FLOODING IN THE 4800 BLOCK OF 115 AVE, FLOODING TO THE DOOR OF ONE HOME |
| 19:10 UTC | TORNADO | 12 Nw Fort Lauderdale | Broward, FL | PILOT REPORTED TORNADO 12 MI NORTHWEST FLL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT |
| 19:15 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | W Pompano Beach | Broward, FL | SPOTTER NOTED 3 FUNNEL CLOUDS VICINITY OF 441 AND ATLANTIC BLVD LOOKING WEST |
| 19:23 UTC | HAIL 0.5 | Margate | Broward, FL | SPOTTER 441/ATLANTIC BLVD NICKLE SIZED HAIL |
| 19:40 UTC | TSTM WND GST 50 | Fort Lauderdale | Broward, FL | PUBLIC REPORTED 50 MPH WINDS AND CIRCULATION |
| 19:43 UTC | TSTM WND GST 50 | Fort Lauderdale | Broward, FL | SPOTTER BRO NUMBER 061 REPORTED 50 MPH WINDS 62ND AVE AND FEDERAL HIGHWAY |
| 19:43 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | Margate | Broward, FL | MARGATE PD REPORTED COMMUNICATION FAILURE DUE TO STRONG THUNDERSTORM WINDS, HAIL, OFFICERS ALSO REPORTED SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUDS |
| 19:43 UTC | TORNADO | Lauderdale By The Sea | Broward, FL | BSO REPORTED POSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN 4620 N OCEAN DRIVE, LAUDERDALE BY THE SEA... MINOR DAMAGE REPORTED |
| 20:05 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Coral Springs | Broward, FL | CORAL SPRINGS PD REPORTED FUNNEL CLOUD 10100 ATLANTIC BLVD MOVING SOUTHEAST |
| 20:09 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Coral Springs | Broward, FL | NWS SURVEY INDICATED LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN ON BOTH SIDES OF ATLANTIC AVE AND CORAL RIDGE DRIVE |
| 20:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Coral Springs | Broward, FL | CORAL SPRINGS PD REPORTED DOWNED POWER LINE SAWGRASS EXPRESSWAY AND ATLANTIC BLVD |
| 20:10 UTC | FLOOD | Coral Springs | Broward, FL | CORAL SPRINGS PD REPORTED FLOODING IN THE 4800 BLOCK OF 115 AVE, FLOODING TO THE DOOR OF ONE HOME |
| 20:10 UTC | TORNADO | 12 Nw Fort Lauderdale | Broward, FL | PILOT REPORTED TORNADO 12 MI NORTHWEST FLL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT |
| 20:15 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | W Pompano Beach | Broward, FL | SPOTTER NOTED 3 FUNNEL CLOUDS VICINITY OF 441 AND ATLANTIC BLVD LOOKING WEST |
| 20:23 UTC | HAIL 0.5 | Margate | Broward, FL | SPOTTER 441/ATLANTIC BLVD NICKLE SIZED HAIL |
| 20:40 UTC | TSTM WND GST 50 | Fort Lauderdale | Broward, FL | PUBLIC REPORTED 50 MPH WINDS AND CIRCULATION |
| 20:43 UTC | TSTM WND GST 50 | Fort Lauderdale | Broward, FL | SPOTTER BRO NUMBER 061 REPORTED 50 MPH WINDS 62ND AVE AND FEDERAL HIGHWAY |
| 20:43 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | Margate | Broward, FL | MARGATE PD REPORTED COMMUNICATION FAILURE DUE TO STRONG THUNDERSTORM WINDS, HAIL, OFFICERS ALSO REPORTED SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUDS |
| 20:43 UTC | TORNADO | Lauderdale By The Sea | Broward, FL | BSO REPORTED POSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN 4620 N OCEAN DRIVE, LAUDERDALE BY THE SEA... MINOR DAMAGE REPORTED |
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 March 23, 2006
1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 23 | 9:35 PM HST | F0 | Maui, HI | 1.0 | 20 |
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.