Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2006

F0 tornado, Logan County, Illinois, April 18, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Logan County on April 18, 2006, touching down at 11:19 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 2.

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 18, 2006
Touchdown
11:19 PM CDT (04:19 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
2
County
Logan County
Touchdown point
40.150, -89.400
Lift-off point
40.150, -89.400
Record number
405

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.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
05:01 UTC05:53 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILX
05:18 UTC05:45 UTCTornado 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 Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 01:01 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

4.3 hours before the tornado, 68 km from the path. April 19, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2006-04-19Temperature 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 -80899, lifted condensation level 1825 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2006-04-19The 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 64 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80899 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1825 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
276 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7
0-3 km lapse rate
5.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z

7.7 hours after it, 68 km from the path. April 19, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2006-04-19Temperature 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 -87816, lifted condensation level 673 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2006-04-19The 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 113 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 41 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-87816 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
673 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
125 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Lincoln (AAA), 6 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
02:24 UTC64.444.6100° 11 kt1008.8
02:44 UTC62.644.6100° 11 kt1008.8
03:04 UTC62.644.6100° 13 kt1008.5
03:24 UTC62.644.6100° 13 kt1008.1
03:44 UTC64.444.6100° 14 kt191007.8
04:04 UTC64.444.6100° 14 kt191007.8
04:26 UTC64.444.6100° 17 kt221007.1
04:44 UTC64.444.6100° 18 kt231006.4VCTS
05:04 UTC64.444.6110° 14 kt231006.8TS

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 04:20 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
04:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 N GreenviewMenard, ILPOWER POLES SNAPPED OFF ALONG IL ROUTE 29 NEAR SALT CREEK...TIME ESTIMATED
05:04 UTCTSTM WND GST 59(Spi)Springfield ArptSangamon, IL
05:19 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Sw LincolnLogan, ILTREES DOWN AND ROOF DAMAGE TO STATE PRISON. IN ADDITION...80 FOOT HIGH VOLTAGE POWER POLES AND TREES DOWN ALONG OLD ROUTE 66 AND UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD TRACKS FOR A MILE...FROM ABOUT 2SW OF LINCOLN TO ABOUT 3 SW OF LINCO
05:19 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sw LincolnLogan, ILSEMI OVERTURNED ON I-55 AT MILE MARKER 123
05:19 UTCTSTM WND GST 701 W LincolnLogan, IL
05:19 UTCTORNADO2 W LincolnLogan, IL*** 2 INJ *** 2 SEMI TRAILERS OVERTURNED ON I-55 AT MILE MARKER 126.
05:19 UTCTORNADO2 W LincolnLogan, IL
05:22 UTCHAIL 0.75LincolnLogan, IL
05:35 UTCHAIL 0.88RowellDe Witt, ILREPORT FROM EMERGENCY MANAGER
05:35 UTCHAIL 0.88RowellDe Witt, IL
05:45 UTCHAIL 0.751 E HeyworthMclean, ILPENNY SIZE HAIL
05:56 UTCHAIL 0.75BloomingtonMclean, IL
06:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGArgentaMacon, ILPOWER LINES DOWN
06:00 UTCHAIL 0.88ArgentaMacon, ILNICKEL SIZE HAIL
06:04 UTCHAIL 1OreanaMacon, ILQUARTER SIZE HAIL NEAR INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROADS 25 AND 20
06:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Se DownsMclean, ILPICK-UP AND TRAILER OVERTURNED ON I-74 NEAR MILE MARKER 144. SWOP REPORT.
06:15 UTCHAIL 0.88CiscoPiatt, IL
06:35 UTCFLASH FLOOD2 W MattoonTazewell, ILWATER OVER DOLE ROAD BETWEEN IL ROUTE 16 AND IL ROUTE 121...REPORT FROM COLES COUNTY SHERIFF VIA COOP OBSERVER

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

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.