Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2006
F1 tornado, Eliza to Mannon, Illinois, April 13, 2006
From Eliza to Mannon, this F1 tornado ran 1.5 miles across Mercer County on April 13, 2006, touching down at 9:57 PM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 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.
F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mphthis tornado
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
- F1
- Date
- April 13, 2006
- Touchdown
- 9:57 PM CDT (02:57 UTC)
- Path length
- 1.5 miles (2.4 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- County
- Mercer County
- Touchdown point
- 41.250, -90.970
- Lift-off point
- 41.230, -90.930
- Record number
- 364
What the Weather Service recorded
Tornado developed at 2029 CST 6.2 miles southwest of Illinois City near 297th Street West in Rock Island County and crossed into Mercer County 2.9 miles north northeast of Eliza at 2033 CST. The tornado continued moving east southeast for 11.1 miles and dissipated 0.8 miles west of Hamlet. Intermittent F0 and F1 damage was noted to trees and outbuildings along its path.
Tornado developed 1 mile northwest of Mannon at 2057 CST and moved southeast just missing the village and dissipated 0.5 miles east southeast of Mannon at 2101 CST. A mobile home was destroyed.
Entered from Rock Island County
Rated F1
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
61 minutes of warning. NWS DVN issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:56 UTC, 61 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:00 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 22:33 UTC and running to 04:57 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22:33 UTC | 04:57 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | DVN |
| 01:56 UTC | 03:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | DVN |
| 02:54 UTC | 03:47 UTC | Tornado Warning | DVN |
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 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.
Davenport, (KDVN), 00:00Z
3.0 hours before the tornado, 57 km from the path. April 14, 2006.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 774 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -72 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 736 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2028 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 59 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 122 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 250 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 5.6
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.8 K/km
Davenport, (KDVN), 12:00Z
9.0 hours after it, 57 km from the path. April 14, 2006.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 755 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -276 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1868 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 56 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 19 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 103 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 150 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.7
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.1 K/km
The surface observations
Muscatine (MUT), 21 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01:00 UTC | 80.6 | 62.6 | 170° 14 kt | 19 | 1004.7 | |
| 01:20 UTC | 78.8 | 62.6 | 170° 12 kt | 1005.1 | ||
| 01:40 UTC | 78.8 | 64.4 | 160° 15 kt | 20 | 1003.7 | |
| 02:00 UTC | 77 | 66.2 | 130° 23 kt | 30 | 999.3 | |
| 02:20 UTC | 73.4 | 68 | 310° 25 kt | 57 | 1000.7 | |
| 02:40 UTC | 77 | 64.4 | 260° 4 kt | 34 | 1004.4 | |
| 03:00 UTC | 75.2 | 66.2 | 360° 14 kt | 1006.1 | ||
| 03:20 UTC | 66.2 | 62.6 | 90° 17 kt | 21 | 1005.4 | |
| 03:40 UTC | 66.2 | 62.6 | 40° 8 kt | 14 | 1005.4 | |
| 04:00 UTC | 66.2 | 62.6 | 90° 9 kt | 1005.1 | ||
| 04:20 UTC | 66.2 | 60.8 | 130° 4 kt | 8 | 1005.4 | |
| 04:40 UTC | 64.4 | 60.8 | 0° 0 kt | 1005.4 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 52 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:57 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Buffalo Prairie | Mercer, IL | POSSIBLE TORNADO. POWER POLES SNAPPED...BARN BLOW DOWN AND SEVERAL MACHINE SHEDS DAMAGED IN BUFFALO PRAIRIE FROM 1/2 WEST THROUGH TOWN TO 1/4 MILE EAST. |
| 02:36 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Illinois City | Rock Island, IL | REPORTED CROSSING THE RIVER BY LAW ENFORCEMENT IN EXTREME NORTHWESTERN MERCER COUNTY. |
| 02:38 UTC | HAIL 1 | Andalusia | Rock Island, IL | |
| 02:44 UTC | HAIL 1 | Illinois City | Rock Island, IL | HAIL DEPTH 2 TO 3 INCHES COVERING THE GROUND |
| 03:08 UTC | HAIL 1 | New Windsor | Mercer, IL | |
| 03:09 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 4 Wnw Alexis | Mercer, IL | |
| 03:16 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | N Alexis | Warren, IL | SPOTTER REPORTED FUNNEL CLOUD JUST NORTH OH ROUTE 34 IN WARREN COUNTY. |
| 03:20 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | North Henderson | Mercer, IL | |
| 03:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Alexis | Warren, IL | ROOF BLOWN OFF BUILDING |
| 03:30 UTC | TSTM WND GST 80 | Alexis | Warren, IL | WINDS POSSIBLY HIGHER |
| 03:52 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Galesburg | Knox, IL | TRAILER ON WESTERN EDGE OF GALESBURG MOVED OFF FOUNDATION. SHED BLOWN DOWN. MINOR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE AND TREE LIMBS DOWN. TREE BLOWN DOWN ON HOUSE. FREE STANDING METAL FLAGPOLE AT POST OFFICE BENT OVER. |
| 03:52 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | Galesburg | Knox, IL | REPORT FROM TRAINED SPOTTER NEAR GALESBURG AIRPORT. |
| 03:52 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Galesburg | Knox, IL | REPORT FROM TRAINED SPOTTER NEAR THE GALESBURG AIRPORT |
| 03:52 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Galesburg | Knox, IL | NICKEL SIZE HAIL |
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.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 13 | 7:10 PM CDT | F0 | Tama, IA | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| April 13 | 7:40 PM CDT | F0 | Linn, IA | 1.0 | 200 | $70,000 | ||
| April 13 | 7:50 PM CDT | F0 | Benton, IA | 4.8 | 150 | $10,000 | ||
| April 13 | 8:15 PM CDT | F1 | Jones, IA | 3.7 | 880 | 1 | $100,000 | |
| April 13 | 8:16 PM CDT | F1 | Johnson, IA | 3.6 | 350 | $20,000 | ||
| April 13 | 8:29 PM CDT | F2 | Johnson, IA | 4.5 | 587 | 30 | $12 million | |
| April 13 | 8:38 PM CDT | F1 | Johnson, IA | 5.1 | 700 | $70,000 | ||
| April 13 | 8:45 PM CDT | F1 | Muscatine, IA | 9.4 | 440 | 1 | 1 | $120,000 |
| April 13 | 8:48 PM CDT | F1 | Muscatine, IA | 4.8 | 176 | $80,000 | ||
| April 13 | 9:13 PM CDT | F0 | Muscatine, IA to IL | 6.4 | 220 | $15,000 | ||
| April 13 | 9:19 PM CDT | F1 | Johnson, IA | 0.5 | 25 | $10,000 | ||
| April 13 | 9:29 PM CDT | F1 | Mercer, IL | 13.0 | 880 | $20,000 | ||
| April 13 | 9:42 PM CDT | F1 | Scott, IA | 1.5 | 100 | $60,000 | ||
| April 13 | 10:07 PM CDT | F2 | Mercer, IL | 2.0 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| April 13 | 10:12 PM CDT | F1 | Mercer, IL | 0.8 | 200 | $100,000 | ||
| April 13 | 12:25 AM CDT | F0 | Logan, IL | 0.1 | 100 | |||
| April 13 | 12:27 AM CDT | F0 | Logan, IL | 3.8 | 125 | $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.