Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2006

F0 tornado, Greenville to Woburn, Illinois, May 24, 2006

From Greenville to Woburn, this F0 tornado ran 1.2 miles across Bond County on May 24, 2006, touching down at 5:53 PM CDT and reaching 75 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
May 24, 2006
Touchdown
5:53 PM CDT (22:53 UTC)
Path length
1.2 miles (1.9 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Bond County
Touchdown point
38.970, -89.370
Lift-off point
38.970, -89.330
Record number
563

What the Weather Service recorded

The first tornado touched down 5 miles north of Greenville, southwest of the intersection of Red Ball Trail and Hastings Cemetery Avenue, just north of Peach Avenue. It blew down several large trees. Three of the trees fell onto a home causing extensive damage. As it traveled to the east it destroyed a machine shed before lifting and dissipating. No injuries were reported.

The second tornado touched down 1.4 miles northwest of Woburn along Hastings Cemetery Avenue. The tornado caused minor roof damage to one home. Otherwise, most of the damage was to trees before it lifted and dissipated. No injuries were reported.

The third and final tornado in Bond County touched down 2.4 miles north of Woburn, just north of the intersection of Woburn Road and Dry Creek Road. There was some damage to a machine shed on a farmstead on Dry Creek Road. Otherwise, the tornado traveled over some forest and mainly open farmland before lifting and dissipating. No injuries were reported.

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

The warnings

2 minutes of warning. NWS LSX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:51 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:47 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:47 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WatchLSX
22:22 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX
22:51 UTC23:30 UTCTornado WarningLSX
23:06 UTC23:34 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX
00:16 UTC04:15 UTCFlash Flood WarningLSX

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 20:01 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), 12:00Z

10.9 hours before the tornado, 146 km from the path. May 24, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2006-05-24Temperature 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 -83994, lifted condensation level 1421 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2006-05-24The 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 226 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 25 knots.1939Sfc1 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
-83994 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1421 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
226 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
204 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

1.1 hours after it, 146 km from the path. May 25, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2006-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1105 joules per kilogram, CIN -58, lifted condensation level 1025 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2006-05-25The 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 210 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 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
1105 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-58 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1122 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1025 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
210 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
288 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.5
Supercell composite
7.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:53 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
21:23 UTCTSTM WND DMGPalmerChristian, ILPOWER LINES DOWN IN PLAMER.
21:27 UTCTSTM WND DMGMorrisonvilleChristian, ILPOWER LINES DOWN.
21:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 W PanaChristian, ILWIND DAMAGE IN ROSAMOND...NUMEROUS TREES BLOWN DOWN AND SIDING ON HOUSE DAMAGE. BETWEEN 450 AND 505 PM.
21:56 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDBethaltoMadison, IL
22:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 E RoxanaMadison, ILNUMEROUS LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN
22:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGNokomisMontgomery, ILWINDS ESTIMATED OVER 60MPH...NUMEROUS TREE BRANCHES AND WHOLE TREES BLOWN OVER.
22:00 UTCHAIL 0.88Mount OliveMacoupin, IL
22:34 UTCHAIL 1.75EdwardsvilleMadison, IL
22:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 N GreenvilleBond, ILPOWER LINES DOWNED.
22:54 UTCTORNADOWoburnBond, IL2 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF WOBURN AND TRAVELED JUST NORTH OF TOWN. NUMEROUS TREES UPROOTED...POWER LINES SNAPPED. STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO SEVERAL RESIDENTIAL HOMES.
22:55 UTCTORNADO1 Ne WoburnBond, ILSEVERAL HOMES SUFFERED EXTENSIVE ROOF DAMAGE 1.5 MILES NORTHEAST OF WOBURN.
23:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 E RoxanaMadison, ILNUMEROUS LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN
23:03 UTCTSTM WND DMGGreenvilleBond, ILTELEPHONE POLES SNAPPED OFF...NUMEROUS TREES DOWN...ONE THROUGH THE ROOF OF A HOUSE. FIRE DEPARTMENT ON SCENE.
23:07 UTCTSTM WND DMGAltamontEffingham, ILLARGE MAPLE TREE FELL ON A HOUSE IN ALTAMONT CAUSING MAJOR DAMAGE. SCATTERED POWER LINES DOWN IN EFFINGHAM COUNTY.
23:07 UTCTSTM WND DMGAltamontEffingham, ILTREES DOWN IN TOWN.
23:07 UTCHAIL 1.751 N St. RoseClinton, IL
23:10 UTCHAIL 1.751 N JamestownBond, IL
23:14 UTCHAIL 1KeyesportClinton, IL
00:26 UTCFLASH FLOODSmithboroBond, IL1 TO 2 FEET OF WATER COVERING THE ROAD AT HIGHWAY 140 AND NORTH MAIN STREET.

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 May 24, 2006

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 244:05 PM CDTF1Christian, IL3.8150$100,000
May 244:57 PM CDTF0Richland, WI1.015$4,000
May 245:10 PM CDTF0Madison, IL0.250$20,000
May 245:20 PM CDTF1Kankakee, IL1.550$70,000
May 245:35 PM CDTF0Coles, IL0.250
May 245:51 PM CDTF0Bond, IL1.3100
May 245:53 PM CDTF0Sauk, WI0.120
May 245:54 PM CDTF0Bond, IL1.3100

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.