Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2006

F0 tornado, Lincoln, Illinois, April 13, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Logan County on April 13, 2006, touching down at 12:25 AM CDT and reaching 100 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.

  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
April 13, 2006
Touchdown
12:25 AM CDT (05:25 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Logan County
Touchdown point
40.180, -89.380
Lift-off point
40.180, -89.380
Record number
367

What the Weather Service recorded

A tornado briefly touched down. It destroyed a barn and blew down some trees.

A tornado touched down on the northeast side of Lincoln. It tracked through a small subdivision, just northeast of the Logan County Airport. The tornado damaged roofs, siding and outbuildings, and blew down numerous trees and power lines. In addition, before lifting, the tornado damaged several barns in a rural area to the east of Lincoln.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 04:30 UTC and running to 06:26 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
04:30 UTC06:26 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchILX
04:56 UTC06:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILX
05:28 UTC06:04 UTCTornado WarningILX
14:33 UTC18:12 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchILX
14:50 UTC15:34 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILX
22:20 UTC01:22 UTCTornado WatchILX

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 01:00 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.

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

5.4 hours before the tornado, 66 km from the path. April 14, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2006-04-14Temperature 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 -393, lifted condensation level 2712 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2006-04-14The 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 90 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 61 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
-393 J/kg
Surface CAPE
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2712 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
218 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6
0-3 km lapse rate
7.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z

6.6 hours after it, 66 km from the path. April 14, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2006-04-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1011 joules per kilogram, CIN -195, lifted condensation level 1797 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2006-04-14The 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 254 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 41 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
1011 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-195 J/kg
Surface CAPE
845 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1797 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
254 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
194 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Lincoln (AAA), 4 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
03:43 UTC71.660.8190° 14 kt201007.8
04:03 UTC73.460.8190° 17 kt221007.5TS
04:23 UTC71.662.6190° 10 kt181007.5TS
04:43 UTC73.462.6200° 10 kt171007.1TS
05:03 UTC71.662.6190° 10 kt161007.5VCTS
05:23 UTC73.462.6230° 17 kt251007.5
06:04 UTC73.462.6200° 3 kt1008.1
06:24 UTC71.662.6210° 5 kt1007.8
06:45 UTC71.662.6200° 5 kt1007.5
07:04 UTC71.664.4210° 6 kt1007.5
07:24 UTC71.662.6210° 7 kt1007.5

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

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 5 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:24 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
04:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Sw (Pia)Peoria ArptPeoria, IL3 TO 4 INCH DIAMETER TREE LIMB DOWN.
04:30 UTCHAIL 0.883 Sw (Pia)Peoria ArptPeoria, ILNICKEL SIZE HAIL.
04:33 UTCHAIL 0.88BartonvillePeoria, IL
04:36 UTCHAIL 1.5PekinTazewell, IL
04:38 UTCHAIL 1.752 N PekinTazewell, IL
04:38 UTCHAIL 1.75PekinTazewell, ILREPORTED IN PEKIN
04:50 UTCHAIL 0.75MortonTazewell, IL
04:55 UTCHAIL 1PekinTazewell, ILREPORT AT THE PEKIN AIRPORT
05:00 UTCDOWNBURST3 E DillonTazewell, ILPOWERLINES DOWN ACROSS I-155
05:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 E DillonTazewell, ILPOWERLINES DOWN ACROSS I-155
05:23 UTCHAIL 0.75LincolnLogan, IL
05:24 UTCTSTM WND DMGLincolnLogan, ILSEMI OVERTURNED ON I-55 AT MILEPOST 125
05:25 UTCTORNADO1 Nw LincolnLogan, ILTORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AT MILEPOST 127 ON I-55...TORNADO DISSIPATED AT 1230 AM 1 MILE N OF LINCOLN
05:27 UTCTSTM WND DMGLincolnLogan, ILPOWER LINES DOWN FOR 8 CITY BLOCKS...AIRPLANE DAMAGED AT LOGAN COUNTY AIRPORT
05:27 UTCTSTM WND GST 671 E LincolnLogan, ILMEASURED WIND GUST ON RSOIS UPPER AIR SURFACE EQUIPMENT AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.
05:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGAtlantaLogan, ILPOWER LINES DOWN
05:38 UTCHAIL 0.753 W ClintonDe Witt, IL
05:38 UTCHAIL 1.75HallsvilleDe Witt, ILGOLFBALL HAIL REPORTED ALONG A LINE FROM WAPELLA...TO HALLSVILLE...TO KENNEY
05:38 UTCHAIL 1.75KenneyDe Witt, ILGOLFBALL HAIL REPORTED ALONG A LINE FROM WAPELLA...TO HALLSVILLE...TO KENNEY
05:38 UTCHAIL 1.75WapellaDe Witt, ILGOLFBALL HAIL REPORTED ALONG A LINE FROM WAPELLA...TO HALLSVILLE...TO KENNEY

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 IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 13, 2006

17 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 137:10 PM CDTF0Tama, IA0.130
April 137:40 PM CDTF0Linn, IA1.0200$70,000
April 137:50 PM CDTF0Benton, IA4.8150$10,000
April 138:15 PM CDTF1Jones, IA3.78801$100,000
April 138:16 PM CDTF1Johnson, IA3.6350$20,000
April 138:29 PM CDTF2Johnson, IA4.558730$12 million
April 138:38 PM CDTF1Johnson, IA5.1700$70,000
April 138:45 PM CDTF1Muscatine, IA9.444011$120,000
April 138:48 PM CDTF1Muscatine, IA4.8176$80,000
April 139:13 PM CDTF0Muscatine, IA to IL6.4220$15,000
April 139:19 PM CDTF1Johnson, IA0.525$10,000
April 139:29 PM CDTF1Mercer, IL13.0880$20,000
April 139:42 PM CDTF1Scott, IA1.5100$60,000
April 139:57 PM CDTF1Mercer, IL1.5100$50,000
April 1310:07 PM CDTF2Mercer, IL2.050$30,000
April 1310:12 PM CDTF1Mercer, IL0.8200$100,000
April 1312:27 AM CDTF0Logan, IL3.8125$2.5 million

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.