Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2006

F1 tornado, Berlin to Riverton, Illinois, April 2, 2006

Name: F1 tornado, Berlin to Riverton, Illinois, April 2, 2006
Start: 2006-04-02T23:06:00.000Z
Location: Berlin to Riverton, Illinois

From Berlin to Riverton, this F1 tornado ran 0.8 miles across Sangamon County on April 2, 2006, touching down at 6:06 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 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 2, 2006
Touchdown: 6:06 PM CDT (23:06 UTC)
Path length: 0.8 miles (1.3 km)
Path width: 50 yards (46 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Sangamon County
Touchdown point: 39.800, -89.650
Lift-off point: 39.800, -89.650
Record number: 243

What the Weather Service recorded

The tornado completely destroyed a grain bin and a pole barn, with numerous 12 to 18 inch diameter trees splintered off at various heights. Near the end of the tornado track, a pole barn had its main door blown in, and half of the roof completely destroyed.

The tornado removed roofing material from several new construction homes.

The tornado caused minor roof and structural damage to several businesses on the southwest side of Springfield.

The tornado caused damage to the roof of the Illinois Department of Transportation building.

The tornado struck a mobile home park, destroying eight homes and damaging thirty others. Numerous trees were blown down. One injury (direct) occurred when a woman exited her mobile home and was blown into an adjacent home.

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

The warnings

18 minutes of warning. NWS ILX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:48 UTC, 18 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:45 UTC and running to 02:11 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
22:41 UTC	23:38 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX
22:45 UTC	02:11 UTC	Tornado Watch	ILX
22:48 UTC	23:15 UTC	Tornado Warning	ILX
23:15 UTC	23:38 UTC	Tornado Warning	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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. 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), 12:00Z

11.1 hours before the tornado, 98 km from the path. April 2, 2006.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: -108484 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 985 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 255 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 297 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 1.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

0.9 hours after it, 98 km from the path. April 3, 2006.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:03 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
22:45 UTC	HAIL 0.88	Jacksonville	Morgan, IL	TIME ESTIMATED.
22:46 UTC	TORNADO 1	3 N Berlin	Sangamon, IL	TOUCHED DOWN JUST NORTHWEST OF INTERSECTION OF SPRING CREEK RD AND COUNTY ROAD 8. DID WEAK F1 DAMAGE TO POLE BARN AND KNOCKED A TREE INTO A HOME. CREATED STRONGER F1 DAMAGE NEAR SOUTH WAKE RD, DESTROYED A GRAIN BIN AND P
22:46 UTC	TORNADO 1	4 Sw Loami	Sangamon, IL	PATH LENGTH 1/2 MILE, 200 YARDS WIDE. TOUCHED DOWN NEAR INTERSECTION OF WAVERLY RD AND CAMPBELL CEMETERY RD. KNOCKED DOWN 12 POWER POLES AND SEVERAL LARGE TREES. ESTIMATED PEAK WIND SPEED 80 MPH.
22:46 UTC	TORNADO	Loami	Sangamon, IL	TORNADO ON GROUND. FROM SANGAMON COUNTY EMA.
22:49 UTC	TORNADO 1	Berlin	Sangamon, IL	PATH LENGTH 2 MILES. TOUCHED DOWN JUST NORTHWEST OF INTERSECTION OF SPRING CREEK RD AND COUNTY ROAD 8. DID WEAK F1 DAMAGE TO POLE BARN AND KNOCKED A TREE INTO A HOME. CREATED STRONGER F1 DAMAGE NEAR SOUTH WAKE RD, DESTRO
22:53 UTC	TSTM WND GST 60	2 W Tallula	Menard, IL
22:55 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Petersburg	Menard, IL	WEST OF TOWN, ROOF BLOWN OFF ROOM ATTACHED TO BUILDING.
22:58 UTC	TORNADO 1	4 Wsw Springfield	Sangamon, IL	TOUCHED DOWN NEAR LEATH FURNITURE ON WABASH AVE. DAMAGED ROOF OF LOWES. BLEW DOWN LIGHT POLES AT LOWES PARKING LOT. ESTIMATED WIND SPEED 80 MPH.
22:59 UTC	TORNADO 1	2 N Chatham	Sangamon, IL	PATH LENGTH 1 MILE, WINDS ESTIMATED AT 80 MPH. TOUCHED DOWN 1/2 MILE SOUTHWEST OF IL-4/MANSION RD INTERSECTION. REMOVED ROOFING MATERIAL FROM SEVERAL HOMES UNDER CONSTRUCTION, AND ROOF DAMAGE TO SEVERAL OTHER HOMES.
22:59 UTC	TORNADO	Chatham	Sangamon, IL	TORNADO ON GROUND AT ROUTE 4 AND MANSION ROAD. FROM EMA.
23:00 UTC	TORNADO	Springfield	Sangamon, IL	TORNADO ON GROUND...WABASH AND COOKIE MILL. FROM EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
23:00 UTC	TORNADO	Springfield	Sangamon, IL	TORNADO ON GROUND...WABASH AND KOKE MILL. FROM EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
23:01 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 W Springfield	Sangamon, IL	IN LELAND GROVE, 7 TREES BROKEN OFF, DANAGING ROOF OF A HOUSE.
23:02 UTC	TSTM WND GST 60	Morrisonville	Christian, IL
23:02 UTC	TORNADO	Springfield	Sangamon, IL	CITY ESDA REPORTED LIGHT POLES DOWN BY TORNADO AT WABASH AND VETERANS.
23:05 UTC	TSTM WND GST 70	Oakford	Menard, IL
23:06 UTC	TORNADO 1	2 E Springfield	Sangamon, IL	PATH LENGTH 3/4 MILE. TOUCHED DOWN JUST WEST OF ILLINOIS DOT BUILDING NEAR ASH ST AND DIRKSEN PKWY. DAMAGED ROOF OF IDOT BUILDING. EYEWITNESS INDICATES THE TORNADO CROSSED I-55 AND DISSIPATED BEFORE REACHING LOST BRIDGE
23:08 UTC	TORNADO 1	6 Wsw Taylorville	Christian, IL	* 1 INJ * PATH LENGTH 6.3 MILES, MAXIMUM WIDTH 300 YARDS. ENTERED TAYLORVILLE ALONG SPRESSER ST AT THE WEST EDGE OF TOWN AROUND 612 PM. MAJOR ROOF DAMAGE AT HARDWARE STORE. MOVED THROUGH RESIDENTIAL AREAS NORTH OF SP
23:13 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Riverton	Sangamon, IL	2-3 MOBILE HOMES BLOWN OVER. FROM SANGAMON ESDA.
23:13 UTC	TORNADO 1	Riverton	Sangamon, IL	* 1 INJ * PATH LENGTH 1.5 MILES. TOUCHED DOWN JUST EAST OF OAKS GOLF COURSE. CREATED STRONG F1 DAMAGE AT LINCOLN PLACE TRAILER COURT...DAMAGING 8 MOBILE HOMES...WITH WINDS ESTIMATED 110 MPH. 30 MOBILE HOMES MOVED SIG
23:13 UTC	TORNADO	Taylorville	Christian, IL	25 HOMES AND 7 BUSINESSES DAMAGED, TWO BUSINESSES WITH MAJOR DAMAGE. ONE HOME WITH DAMAGE EAST OF TAYLORVILLE. 2 MOBILE HOMES DAMAGED WEST OF TAYLORVILLE.
23:13 UTC	TORNADO	Taylorville	Christian, IL	WEST SIDE OF TAYLORVILLE. NUMEROUS BUSINESSES AND HOMES DESTROYED... FROM COUNTY ESDA.
23:15 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Pawnee	Sangamon, IL	TREES AND BARN DAMAGED SOUTHWEST OF TOWN. TREE DOWN ON A HOUSE IN PAWNEE. DAMAGE TO A SHED NORTHEAST OF TOWN. TIME ESTIMATED.
23:22 UTC	TORNADO 0	Greenview	Menard, IL	BRIEF TOUCHDOWN. NO DAMAGE.
23:25 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Chestnut	Logan, IL	AIR CONDITIONING UNIT MOVED. SHINGLE DAMAGE TO BUILDING. LARGE DEBRIS IN ADJACENT FIELD.
23:25 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	San Jose	Logan, IL	MODERATE TREE DAMAGE. GRAIN ELEVATOR BEING TORN DOWN WAS TWISTED.
23:25 UTC	TORNADO	1 Ne Niantic	Macon, IL	TORNADO ON THE GROUND FROM A NWS TRAINED SPOTTER.
23:25 UTC	TORNADO	1 Ne Niantic	Macon, IL	TORNADO ON THE GROUND REPORTED BY NWS TRAINED SPOTTER.
23:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 N Hartsburg	Logan, IL	WINDOWS AND DOOR BROKEN. ROOF MOVED ON HOUSE. TELEPHONE POLE DOWN.
23:30 UTC	TORNADO 0	1 E Niantic	Macon, IL	PATH LENGTH 0.1 MILE, WIDTH 30 YARDS. NO DAMAGE. SIGHTED BY TRAINED SPOTTER.
23:30 UTC	TORNADO 2	1 Sw Macon	Macon, IL	PATH LENGTH 4.5 MILES, MAX WIDTH 300 YARDS. DESTROYED A 6600 SQUARE FOOT BARN 1 MILE SOUTHEAST OF MACON. DAMAGED TREES AND DID MINOR DAMAGE TO A ROOF. DISSIPATED 4 MILES EAST OF MACON AROUND 634 PM.
23:31 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Mount Pulaski	Logan, IL	HALF A TREE ACROSS POWER LINE.
23:32 UTC	TORNADO 0	2 Se Lincoln	Logan, IL	PATH LENGTH 1 MILE, WIDTH 80 YARDS. DAMAGED A BARN AND BLEW DOWN A LARGE TREE.
23:33 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 Se Lincoln	Logan, IL	WINDOWS BLOWN OUT OF A BASEMENT. HALF OF A BARN ROOF DAMAGED. TREE UPROOTED.
23:35 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	4 Sw Chestnut	Logan, IL	4 POWER POLES DOWN.
23:35 UTC	NON-TSTM WND DMG	Warrensburg	Macon, IL	ROOF OFF OF RESTAURANT.
23:35 UTC	TORNADO	Warrensburg	Macon, IL	ROOF OFF OF RESTAURANT
23:36 UTC	TORNADO 1	2 Sw Elwin	Macon, IL	* 3 INJ * PATH LENGTH 7.5 MILES, MAX WIDTH 150 YARDS. SNAPPED POWER POLES, DAMGED TREES AFTER CROSSING FAR SOUTHEAST PART OF LAKE DECATUR. CROSSED ROUTE 121 ABOUT A QUARTER MILE SOUTH OF US-36. DAMAGED ROOF OF CREDIT

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2006 tornado in Illinois Every tornado in Illinois since 1950 Warnings in force in Illinois now The 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	6:08 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	7:25 PM CDT	F0	Champaign, IL	0.3	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

All 67 of them

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.