Tornadoes · United States · Florida · 2006

F1 tornado, Apalachicola, Florida, October 27, 2006

This F1 tornado ran 1.6 miles across Franklin County on October 27, 2006, touching down at 7:10 PM EDT and reaching 125 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $1.0 million 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
October 27, 2006
Touchdown
7:10 PM EDT (23:10 UTC)
Path length
1.6 miles (2.6 km)
Path width
125 yards (114 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$1.0 million
County
Franklin County
Touchdown point
29.710, -85.000
Lift-off point
29.730, -84.980
Record number
1019

What the Weather Service recorded

Warm moist, unstable air in advance of approaching cold front produced several tornadoes across the eastern Florida Panhandle and Big Bend on Friday afternoon and evening, October 27th.

A waterspout came ashore near U.S. Highway 98 and 26th Street. The tornado then tracked northeast through Apalachicola, and lifted near Water Street and Avenue G. A few boats at a marina were capsized. Four homes were destroyed and four dozen others were damaged. Hundreds of trees were either knocked down or had their tops sheared off, and numerous utility poles were down. The main electrical power substation was damaged, causing a citywide power outage. All telephone and TV cable lines were down. A restaurant along U.S. Highway 98 sustained heavy damage to its roof and outbuildings. An elementary school received minor roof damage. The city's hospital suffered heavy damage. A portion of the hospital's roof collapsed, winds blew out numerous windows, and two air handling units were torn from the roof. A local state of emergency was declared. Reports were provided by the Franklin County EMA and Sheriff, and damage surveyed by the NWS.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
16:46 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WatchTAE
19:00 UTC20:00 UTCMarine WarningTAE
19:50 UTC21:45 UTCMarine WarningTAE
19:50 UTC21:45 UTCMarine WarningTAE
21:40 UTC23:45 UTCMarine WarningTAE

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 19:58 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

11.2 hours before the tornado, 101 km from the path. October 27, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 12:00Z on 2006-10-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 18 joules per kilogram, CIN -34, lifted condensation level 664 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 2006-10-27The 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 270 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 52 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
18 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
664 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
270 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
306 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

0.8 hours after it, 101 km from the path. October 28, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Tallahassee Rgnl, FL at 00:00Z on 2006-10-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1 joules per kilogram, CIN -313, lifted condensation level 1120 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 2006-10-28The 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 102 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-313 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1120 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Apalachicola Municipal (Asos) (AAF), 4 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:56 UTC7672190° 18 kt261006.1RA BR
22:56 UTC7168260° 14 kt1007.1+RA BR
23:56 UTC7067 1006.8
00:56 UTC 1006.8

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

The radar

The Tallahassee radar (KTLH), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:08 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
22:10 UTCTORNADO 1ApalachicolaFranklin, FLONE MILE LONG TRACK AT 100 YARDS WIDE. 3-4 HOMES WITH CONSIDERABLE ROOF DAMAGE. DOZENS OF HOMES DAMAGED BY TREES AND WIND. HUNDREDS OF TREES CUPROOTED OR TOPS SHEARED OFF. SEVERAL BUSINESSES DAMAGED INCLUDING A HOSPITAL.
22:10 UTCTORNADOApalachicolaFranklin, FLSEVERAL BUSINESSES RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE. A FEW WINDOWS AT A LOCAL HOSPITAL WERE BLOWN OUT.
23:10 UTCTORNADO 1ApalachicolaFranklin, FLONE MILE LONG TRACK AT 100 YARDS WIDE. 3-4 HOMES WITH CONSIDERABLE ROOF DAMAGE. DOZENS OF HOMES DAMAGED BY TREES AND WIND. HUNDREDS OF TREES CUPROOTED OR TOPS SHEARED OFF. SEVERAL BUSINESSES DAMAGED INCLUDING A HOSPITAL.
23:10 UTCTORNADOApalachicolaFranklin, FLSEVERAL BUSINESSES RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE. A FEW WINDOWS AT A LOCAL HOSPITAL WERE BLOWN OUT.

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 October 27, 2006

5 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 274:40 AM CDTF0East Baton Rouge Parish, LA1.875$250,000
October 275:40 AM CDTF0Tangipahoa Parish, LA2.575$200,000
October 276:48 AM CDTF1Marion, MS5.0500$700,000
October 277:45 AM CDTF1Lamar, MS2.0250
October 272:31 PM CDTF0Bay, FL0.830$5,000

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.