Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2006
F0 tornado, Champaign to Flatville, Illinois, April 2, 2006
From Champaign to Flatville, this F0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Champaign County on April 2, 2006, touching down at 7:25 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.
F040 to 72 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
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
- F0
- Date
- April 2, 2006
- Touchdown
- 7:25 PM CDT (00:25 UTC)
- Path length
- 0.3 miles (0.5 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Champaign County
- Touchdown point
- 40.230, -88.050
- Lift-off point
- 40.230, -88.050
- Record number
- 264
What the Weather Service recorded
The tornado briefly touched down. No damage was reported.
The tornado briefly touched down causing minor structural damage.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
32 minutes of warning. NWS ILX issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:53 UTC, 32 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:34 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:45 UTC and running to 02:11 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22:45 UTC | 02:11 UTC | Tornado Watch | ILX |
| 23:53 UTC | 00:34 UTC | Tornado Warning | ILX |
| 00:16 UTC | 00:48 UTC | Tornado Warning | ILX |
| 11:00 UTC | 20:00 UTC | Wind Advisory | ILX |
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 19:55 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
0.4 hours before the tornado, 48 km from the path. April 3, 2006.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1184 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -39 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1184 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 746 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 253 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 276 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.1
- Supercell composite
- 4.9
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.9 K/km
Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z
11.6 hours after it, 48 km from the path. April 3, 2006.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 11 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 512 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 122 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 93 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.4 K/km
The surface observations
Rantoul (TIP), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22:25 UTC | 60.8 | 60.8 | 160° 11 kt | 1002.7 | ||
| 22:45 UTC | 62.6 | 60.8 | 150° 14 kt | 1001.4 | ||
| 23:05 UTC | 62.6 | 60.8 | 160° 14 kt | 18 | 1001 | |
| 23:25 UTC | 62.6 | 60.8 | 150° 13 kt | 1001 | ||
| 23:45 UTC | 60.8 | 60.8 | 160° 15 kt | 1001.7 | ||
| 00:05 UTC | 60.8 | 60.8 | 150° 12 kt | 1001 | ||
| 00:25 UTC | 60.8 | 60.8 | 140° 12 kt | 1000.3 | -TSRA | |
| 00:45 UTC | 53.6 | 51.8 | 250° 20 kt | 41 | 1003.4 | -TSRA |
| 01:05 UTC | 53.6 | 53.6 | 260° 22 kt | 31 | 1002.7 | TSRA |
| 01:25 UTC | 53.6 | 53.6 | 250° 17 kt | 24 | 1002.7 | -TSRA |
| 01:45 UTC | 53.6 | 53.6 | 270° 10 kt | 1001 | -RA | |
| 02:05 UTC | 53.6 | 51.8 | 220° 6 kt | 1001 | -RA |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 110 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Bement | Piatt, IL | 10 POWER POLES DOWN. TREE LIMBS DOWN. |
| 23:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Bement | Piatt, IL | POWER POLES DOWN. |
| 23:58 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Garrett | Douglas, IL | 1 TREE DOWN, STORAGE SHED GONE, MACHINE SHED ROOF GONE, DAMAGE TO HOME AND GARAGE. |
| 00:01 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 2 Nne Weldon | De Witt, IL | NO DAMAGE. |
| 00:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 E Camargo | Douglas, IL | HUGE TREE SNAPPED, POWER POLES SNAPPED, METAL SHED BLOWN OVER. |
| 00:07 UTC | TORNADO | 1 N Sadorus | Champaign, IL | TORNADO 1 MILE NORTH OF SADORUS REPORTED BY THE EOC |
| 00:09 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Mansfield | Piatt, IL | POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS US-150 WEST OF TOWN. |
| 00:09 UTC | TORNADO | Lodge | Piatt, IL | TORNADO ON GROUND. |
| 00:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lake of The Woods | Champaign, IL | SIDING DAMAGED ON A BUILDING. TREE LIMBS ON TOP OF HOUSE. GARAGE DOOR PULLED OUT. SHED LOST PART OF ITS ROOF. |
| 00:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Mahomet | Champaign, IL | TREE FELL ON A HOUSE. OTHER TREES DAMAGED IN TOWN. |
| 00:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Rantoul | Champaign, IL | ROOF AND BROKEN WINDOWS AT REC BUILDING. |
| 00:10 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Champaign | Champaign, IL | JUST NORTHWEST OF I-57/SPRINGFIELD AVE INTERSECTION |
| 00:11 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Champaign | Champaign, IL | SIDING RIPPED OFF A MOBILE HOME. |
| 00:12 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Champaign | Champaign, IL | ROOFS OF COUNTY BUILDINGS DAMAGED. MANY TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. |
| 00:12 UTC | TSTM WND GST 80 | Champaign | Champaign, IL | MEASURED 70 TO 80 MPH WINDS IN CHAMPAIGN. |
| 00:14 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Pesotum | Champaign, IL | VEHICLE BLOWN OFF THE ROAD. TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. |
| 00:14 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Savoy | Champaign, IL | PIECES OF COLLEGE PARK APTS BLOWN OFF. |
| 00:14 UTC | TSTM WND GST 63 | 4 W Champaign | Champaign, IL | |
| 00:14 UTC | TSTM WND GST 74 | Champaign | Champaign, IL | |
| 00:14 UTC | TSTM WND GST 74 | (Cmi)Champaign Arpt | Champaign, IL | |
| 00:15 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 2 E Champaign | Champaign, IL | BRIEF TOUCHDOWN ON OAK STREET, WEST OF ASSEMBLY HALL, SOUTH OF KIRBY AVE. NO DAMAGE. REPORTED BY UNIVERSITY POLICE DEPT. |
| 00:15 UTC | TORNADO 0 | Urbana | Champaign, IL | BRIEF TOUCHDOWN ON OAK STREET, WEST OF ASSEMBLY HALL, SOUTH OF KIRBY AVE. NO DAMAGE. REPORTED BY UNIVERSITY POLICE DEPT. |
| 00:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Sw Arrowsmith | Mclean, IL | BARNS BLOWN DOWN OR DAMAGED. |
| 00:20 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Sidney | Champaign, IL | TIME ESTIMATED. |
| 00:21 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ne Mahomet | Champaign, IL | 30 FOOT TALL, 18 INCH DIAMETER TREE DOWN. |
| 00:21 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 S Arrowsmith | Mclean, IL | TWO BARNS AND TWO SILOS DAMAGED. POWER LINES DOWN. MACHINE SHED DOORS BLOWN OFF. |
| 00:21 UTC | TSTM WND GST 58 | 3 Ne Mahomet | Champaign, IL | |
| 00:23 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | 2 Wnw Champaign | Champaign, IL | I-74 AT I-57. FUNNEL CLOUD SPOTTED. |
| 00:24 UTC | TSTM WND GST 69 | Thomasboro | Champaign, IL | |
| 00:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | St. Joseph | Champaign, IL | 7 HOMES DAMAGEDE IN WILSHIRE SUBDIVISION. 5 OTHER HOMES IN RURAL AREAS DAMAGED. |
| 00:25 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 5 Ssw Gifford | Champaign, IL | LOCATED NEAR FLATVILLE. PATH LENGTH 1/4 MILE, WIDTH 50 YARDS. CAUSED MINOR STRUCTURE DAMAGE. |
| 00:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 E Ogden | Vermilion, IL | SEMI BLOWN OVER ON I-74 AT MILE MARKER 200 |
| 00:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Urbana | Champaign, IL | BILLBOARD BLOWN OVER, 2 MILES EAST OF UNIVERSITY AND HIGHCROSS. |
| 00:30 UTC | TSTM WND GST 57 | Brocton | Edgar, IL | |
| 00:30 UTC | TSTM WND GST 58 | Ogden | Champaign, IL | SWOP REPORT. |
| 00:30 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Sw Saybrook | Mclean, IL | TORNADO DAMAGE REPORTED BY COUNTY ESDA. |
| 00:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 N Oakwood | Vermilion, IL | WIND DAMAGE TO BARNS AND A GRADE SCHOOL. |
| 00:39 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Bismarck | Vermilion, IL | TREES DOWN. |
| 00:39 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Catlin | Vermilion, IL | 7 POWER LINES DOWN, POLES WERE BROKEN IN HALF. TRAIN CARS BLOWN OVER. |
| 00:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Danville | Vermilion, IL | SEMI BLOWN OVER ON I 74 AND A TREE DOWN IN TOWN. |
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 2, 2006
66 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2 | 3:47 PM CDT | F0 | Davis, IA | 0.2 | 30 | |||
| April 2 | 3:57 PM CDT | F0 | Davis, IA | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| April 2 | 4:03 PM CDT | F2 | Van Buren, IA | 3.0 | 100 | $30,000 | ||
| April 2 | 4:15 PM CDT | F1 | Van Buren, IA | 2.0 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| April 2 | 4:18 PM CDT | F1 | Jefferson, IA | 0.3 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| April 2 | 4:19 PM CDT | F1 | Van Buren, IA | 3.0 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| April 2 | 4:25 PM CDT | F2 | Ralls, MO | 3.5 | 350 | |||
| April 2 | 4:46 PM CDT | F2 | Washington, IA | 1.0 | 75 | $30,000 | ||
| April 2 | 4:59 PM CDT | F1 | Sharp, AR | 9.5 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| April 2 | 5:00 PM CDT | F0 | Saint Francois, MO | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| April 2 | 5:00 PM CDT | F1 | Washington, IA | 0.1 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| April 2 | 5:05 PM CDT | F0 | Sainte Genevieve, MO | 2.0 | 40 | |||
| April 2 | 5:06 PM CDT | F0 | Warren, IA | 0.2 | 30 | |||
| April 2 | 5:15 PM CDT | F2 | Saint Clair, IL | 7.0 | 100 | 1 | 11 | |
| April 2 | 5:15 PM CDT | F0 | Macoupin, IL | 2.0 | 30 | |||
| April 2 | 5:15 PM CDT | F0 | Macoupin, IL | 0.5 | 30 | |||
| April 2 | 5:16 PM CDT | F0 | Henderson, IL | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| April 2 | 5:20 PM CDT | F1 | McDonough, IL | 12.0 | 233 | $150,000 | ||
| April 2 | 5:21 PM CDT | F0 | Madison, IL | 16.0 | 50 | |||
| April 2 | 5:30 PM CDT | F1 | Madison, IL | 2.0 | 100 | |||
| April 2 | 5:31 PM CDT | F0 | Polk, IA | 0.2 | 30 | |||
| April 2 | 5:35 PM CDT | F0 | Macoupin, IL | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| April 2 | 5:37 PM CDT | F3 | Randolph, AR to MO | 77.0 | 880 | 2 | 177 | $86 million |
| April 2 | 5:41 PM CDT | F0 | Montgomery, IL | 1.0 | 50 | |||
| April 2 | 5:46 PM CDT | F1 | Sangamon, IL | 0.5 | 200 | |||
| April 2 | 5:49 PM CDT | F1 | Sangamon, IL | 2.0 | 100 | |||
| April 2 | 5:50 PM CDT | F2 | Montgomery, IL | 20.0 | 200 | |||
| April 2 | 5:56 PM CDT | F1 | Sangamon, IL | 1.0 | 100 | |||
| April 2 | 5:56 PM CDT | F1 | Montgomery, IL | 2.2 | 100 | |||
| April 2 | 5:58 PM CDT | F1 | Sangamon, IL | 1.0 | 100 | |||
| April 2 | 5:59 PM CDT | F0 | Sangamon, IL | 1.3 | 50 | |||
| April 2 | 6:00 PM CDT | F2 | White, AR | 6.3 | 100 | |||
| April 2 | 6:06 PM CDT | F1 | Sangamon, IL | 0.8 | 50 | |||
| April 2 | 6:08 PM CDT | F1 | Christian, IL | 6.3 | 300 | 1 | ||
| April 2 | 6:13 PM CDT | F1 | Sangamon, IL | 1.5 | 100 | 1 | ||
| April 2 | 6:14 PM CDT | F1 | Christian, IL | 6.0 | 150 | |||
| April 2 | 6:17 PM CDT | F0 | Christian, IL | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| April 2 | 6:20 PM CDT | F1 | Christian, IL | 1.0 | 100 | |||
| April 2 | 6:22 PM CDT | F0 | Menard, IL | 0.3 | 40 | |||
| April 2 | 6:29 PM CDT | F3 | Woodruff, AR | 38.0 | 500 | 5 | $5.0 million | |
| April 2 | 6:30 PM CDT | F0 | Macon, IL | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| April 2 | 6:30 PM CDT | F2 | Macon, IL | 4.5 | 300 | |||
| April 2 | 6:32 PM CDT | F0 | Logan, IL | 1.0 | 80 | |||
| April 2 | 6:36 PM CDT | F0 | Logan, IL | 2.5 | 50 | |||
| April 2 | 6:36 PM CDT | F1 | Macon, IL | 7.5 | 150 | 3 | ||
| April 2 | 6:42 PM CDT | F0 | Cumberland, IL | 0.8 | 100 | |||
| April 2 | 6:43 PM CDT | F0 | Scott, MO | 1.5 | 50 | $20,000 | ||
| April 2 | 7:01 PM CDT | F0 | DeWitt, IL | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| April 2 | 7:08 PM CDT | F0 | McLean, IL | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| April 2 | 7:12 PM CDT | F0 | McLean, IL | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| April 2 | 7:13 PM CDT | F1 | McLean, IL | 1.0 | 50 | |||
| April 2 | 7:15 PM CDT | F0 | Champaign, IL | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| April 2 | 7:22 PM CDT | F0 | McLean, IL | 2.6 | 50 | |||
| April 2 | 7:31 PM CDT | F0 | Ballard, KY | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| April 2 | 7:32 PM CDT | F3 | Dyer, TN | 18.0 | 880 | 16 | 70 | $20 million |
| April 2 | 9:07 PM EDT | F1 | Lawrence, IN | 0.5 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| April 2 | 8:09 PM CDT | F3 | Gibson, TN | 31.0 | 880 | 6 | 44 | $27 million |
| April 2 | 9:25 PM EDT | F1 | Tippecanoe, IN | 0.5 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| April 2 | 9:37 PM EDT | F1 | Jackson, IN | 0.5 | 100 | $200,000 | ||
| April 2 | 8:43 PM CDT | F3 | Gibson, TN | 8.0 | 880 | 2 | 6 | $15 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.