Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2006

F0 tornado, Humboldt, Illinois, April 16, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Coles County on April 16, 2006, touching down at 5:25 PM CDT 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.

  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 16, 2006
Touchdown
5:25 PM CDT (22:25 UTC)
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Coles County
Touchdown point
39.600, -88.220
Lift-off point
39.600, -88.200
Record number
397

What the Weather Service recorded

A tornado touched down in an open field, one mile south of Humboldt. It was sighted, photographed, and videotaped from 3 separate locations. It crossed I-57, and damaged an outbuilding 1/4 mile east of I-57. The tornado continued east across an open field for 1.5 miles. It damaged 2 outbuildings near the intersection of county roads 1000E and 1400N. The tornado moved east-southeast across open fields, until it dissipated.

A tornado briefly touched down in a field. No damage or injuries were reported.

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

The warnings

12 minutes of warning. NWS ILX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:13 UTC, 12 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:54 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:52 UTC and running to 02:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:52 UTC02:00 UTCTornado WatchILX
20:58 UTC22:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILX
22:04 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILX
22:13 UTC22:54 UTCTornado WarningILX
23:38 UTC00:06 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILX

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. The outlook in force was issued at 16:34 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), 12:00Z

10.4 hours before the tornado, 70 km from the path. April 16, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2006-04-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 841 joules per kilogram, CIN -218, lifted condensation level 1072 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2006-04-16The 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 241 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 53 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
841 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-218 J/kg
Surface CAPE
480 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1072 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
241 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
278 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.5
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

1.6 hours after it, 70 km from the path. April 17, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2006-04-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 406 joules per kilogram, CIN -24, lifted condensation level 1558 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, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2006-04-17The 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 -16 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 39 knots.193958Sfc1 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
406 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2031 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1558 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-1.2
0-3 km lapse rate
7.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Mattoon/Charlest (MTO), 15 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:53 UTC7362160° 15 kt22997.3
21:36 UTC71.662.6160° 14 kt19997.6VCTS
21:53 UTC7262150° 11 kt997-TSRA
22:53 UTC7164170° 10 kt996.6
23:03 UTC71.662.6170° 14 kt21997TS
23:41 UTC66.264.4190° 7 kt997.3VCTS RA BR
23:53 UTC67640° 0 kt997.6TS
00:15 UTC66.262.690° 3 kt998.3

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

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:23 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
20:09 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDLong CreekMacon, ILFUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED NEAR ROUTE 121 AND US HWY 36.
20:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGOakleyMacon, ILHOUSE DAMAGED, GARAGE DESTROYED. 4 CEDAR TREES SNAPPED OFF.
20:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGLong CreekMacon, ILHOMES WERE REPORTED DAMAGED IN LONG CREEK.
20:58 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 S SeymourChampaign, IL4 POWER POLES SNAPPED
20:58 UTCHAIL 0.75MonticelloPiatt, IL3/4 INCH HAIL REPORTED AT I74 AND BRIDGE STREET INTERSECTION.
20:58 UTCHAIL 0.75MonticelloPiatt, IL
21:13 UTCHAIL 0.75StewardsonShelby, IL
21:30 UTCHAIL 0.753 Se (Dec)Decatur ArptMacon, ILPENNY SIZE HAIL 3.5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF AIRPORT.
21:35 UTCHAIL 0.75SullivanMoultrie, ILMOULTRIE COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED 3/4 INCH HAIL IN SULLIVAN.
22:00 UTCHAIL 12 Nw ToledoCumberland, IL
22:00 UTCTORNADO7 N MattoonColes, ILAT APPROXIMATELY 5 PM TRAINED SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNDAO 7 MILES NORTH OF MATTOON AND EAST OF DORANS DAMAGIN POWER POLES AND A BARN AT A FARM.
22:10 UTCHAIL 13 N WheelerJasper, ILIN ISLAND GROVE 1 INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED.
22:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGOakleyMacon, ILDURING THE LATE AFTERNOON 6 HOMES WERE DAMAGED...2 SEVERELY AT INTERSECTION OF PRAIRIE ROAD AND COUNTY ROAD 24.
22:15 UTCTORNADO 11 S HumboldtColes, ILDAMAGED A BARN AND POWER POLES. THE TORNADO CROSSED I-57 BETWEEN MILEPOSTS 196 AND 197. THE TORNADO DISSIPATED AFTER 8 MINUTES...OR ABOUT 5 MILES...ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HUMBOLDT. MAXIMUM WIDTH 150 YARDS.
22:21 UTCTORNADOTeutopolisEffingham, ILREPORTED BY COOP OBSERVER VIA POLICE RADIO BROADCAST WAS A REPORTED TORNADO ON THE GROUND IN TEUTOPOLIS. A BUILDING IS REPORTED DAMAGED AND A GAS LEAK ALSO AT 700 BLOCK OF NORTH 200 STREET.
22:23 UTCTORNADO3 Se ArcolaDouglas, ILEYEWITNESS REPORT OF A TORNADO WITH NO DAMAGE REPORTED AT THIS TIME.
22:25 UTCTORNADO 06 Wnw RardinColes, ILTORNADO BEGAN 5.5 MILES WNW OF RARDIN...AND DISSIPATED ONE MILE TO THE EAST AFTER 2 MINUTES. MAXIMUM WIDTH 50 YARDS.
22:35 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD5 S ArcolaColes, IL
22:42 UTCTORNADO1 W ArcolaDouglas, ILTORNADO ON GROUND REPORTED BY ESDA.
22:45 UTCTORNADO5 Wnw RardinColes, ILDEBRIS CLOUD WITNESSED, UNKNOWN DAMAGE.
23:17 UTCTORNADORedmonEdgar, ILTORNADO TOUCHDOWN REPORTED BY EOC IN REDMON.
23:40 UTCHAIL 1Rose HillJasper, IL
23:45 UTCHAIL 13 Sw HidalgoJasper, IL

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 16, 2006

13 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 162:35 PM CDTF1Macon, IL1.0100
April 162:53 PM CDTF0Christian, IL0.130
April 163:05 PM CDTF0Christian, IL0.130
April 163:07 PM CDTF0Christian, IL0.130
April 164:57 PM CDTF0Ford, IL0.540$10,000
April 165:09 PM CDTF2Effingham, IL4.0200
April 165:15 PM CDTF1Coles, IL5.0150
April 165:18 PM CDTF2Jasper, IL1.5150
April 165:41 PM CDTF0Iroquois, IL0.525
April 166:09 PM CDTF0Crawford, IL0.130
April 166:20 PM CDTF0Iroquois, IL0.525
April 166:56 PM CDTF0Iroquois, IL0.525
April 167:06 PM CDTF1Crawford, IL0.175

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.