Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2006

F0 tornado, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, April 14, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 3.2 miles across Tippecanoe County on April 14, 2006, touching down at 7:58 PM EDT 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
April 14, 2006
Touchdown
7:58 PM EDT (23:58 UTC)
Path length
3.2 miles (5.1 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Tippecanoe County
Touchdown point
40.550, -86.930
Lift-off point
40.530, -86.870
Record number
372

The warnings

11 minutes of warning. NWS IND issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:47 UTC, 11 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:09 UTC and running to 05:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
14:15 UTC19:47 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchIND
23:09 UTC05:00 UTCTornado WatchIND
23:39 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningIND
23:47 UTC00:30 UTCTornado WarningIND
23:57 UTC01:00 UTCTornado WarningIND
00:20 UTC01:15 UTCTornado WarningIND

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 22:14 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

12.0 hours before the tornado, 150 km from the path. April 14, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2006-04-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1011 joules per kilogram, CIN -195, lifted condensation level 1797 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 12:00Z on 2006-04-14The 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 254 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 41 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
1011 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-195 J/kg
Surface CAPE
845 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1797 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
254 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
194 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

0.0 hours before the tornado, 150 km from the path. April 15, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2006-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2079 joules per kilogram, CIN -17, lifted condensation level 1966 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2006-04-15The 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 67 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 41 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
2079 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2387 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1966 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
285 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
13.7
0-3 km lapse rate
8.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Lafayette (LAF), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
22:54 UTC7366110° 5 kt1002.4
23:42 UTC71.664.4150° 10 kt1000VCTS HZ
23:54 UTC7264160° 9 kt1000VCTS
00:36 UTC6864.4360° 8 kt1002.7+TSRA BR
00:50 UTC6864.4 5 kt1002TSRA BR
00:54 UTC6865110° 8 kt1002+TSRA BR
01:06 UTC6866.2160° 7 kt1000.7-TSRA BR
01:54 UTC6965190° 7 kt1000.7VCTS -RA BR

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

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:58 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
23:30 UTCHAIL 0.88RensselaerJasper, INNICKLE SIZED HAIL REPORTED IN RENSSELAER...VIA JASPER COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT
23:31 UTCHAIL 1WolcottWhite, INHAIL MEASURED IN WOLCOTT
23:32 UTCHAIL 1.75WolcottWhite, INGOLF BALL SIZED HAIL OBSERVED 4 MILES WEST OF WOLCOTT
23:32 UTCHAIL 1.75RemingtonJasper, INGOLF BALL SIZED HAIL IN REMINGTON
23:43 UTCHAIL 1.75WolcottWhite, INHAIL OBSERVED IN WOLCOTT
23:45 UTCHAIL 1.75AmbiaBenton, IN
23:50 UTCHAIL 1FowlerBenton, INPEA TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL ACROSS SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF COUNTY.
23:50 UTCHAIL 1.5RemingtonJasper, INBROKEN GLASS.
23:52 UTCHAIL 1.55 W ChalmersWhite, INHAIL MEASURED 5 MILES WEST OF CHALMERS BY NWS COOP OBSERVER
23:55 UTCHAIL 1.75BoswellBenton, INSOUTH OF TOWN AT THE COUNTY LINE.
23:57 UTCTORNADOAmbiaBenton, IN
00:00 UTCHAIL 0.757 Sw Pine VillageWarren, INTHREE QUARTER INCH DIAMETER HAIL
00:02 UTCTORNADOBattle GroundTippecanoe, INTORNADO REPORTED NEAR BATTLE GROUND
00:04 UTCHAIL 1.75DelphiCarroll, INNUMEROUS REPORTS OF GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WESTERN PARTS OF CARROLL COUNTY
00:05 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD1 N AtticaFountain, INPENNY SIZE HAIL 1 NORTH OF ATTICA
00:10 UTCHAIL 1BoswellBenton, INACROSS PORTIONS OF COUNTY WITH POCKESTS OF FLOODING.
00:15 UTCHAIL 15 N WilliamsportWarren, INQUARTER SIZE HAIL 5 N OF WILLIAMSPORT
00:15 UTCHAIL 1.75DelphiCarroll, INGOLFBALL SIZE HAIL AT DELPHI/STATE POLICE RPTD WALL CLOUD SW OF DELPHI
00:19 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD2 Ne WilliamsportFountain, INSTATE POLICE RPT FUNNEL CLOUD 2 NE OF WILLIAMSPORT
00:20 UTCTSTM WND GST 68WilliamsportWarren, INMEASURED GUST OF 68 MPH AT COUNTY EOC
00:22 UTCHAIL 2.510 N AtticaWarren, INTENNIS BALL SIZE HAIL HALFWAY BETWEEN ATTICA AND PINE VILLAGE
00:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGWest LebanonWarren, INROOF OFF/WALLS DOWN ON BUSINESS
00:35 UTCHAIL 0.758 S LafayetteTippecanoe, INPENNY SIZE HAIL 8S SOUTH OF LAFAYETTE
00:37 UTCHAIL 1.751 W OtterbeinBenton, IN
00:45 UTCHAIL 1.75BurlingtonCarroll, INGOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AT BURLINGTON
00:51 UTCHAIL 1.753 E Royal CenterCass, IN
00:55 UTCHAIL 1.75LindenMontgomery, INGOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AT LINDEN
01:00 UTCTORNADO4 W CrawfordsvilleMontgomery, INSTATE POLICE RPT TORNADO
01:02 UTCFLOODLindenMontgomery, INLOTS OF STREET FLOODING/POWER OUTAGE
01:15 UTCFLOODLindenMontgomery, INWATER OVER RD BETWEEN 900N AND 500N
01:25 UTCHAIL 1.753 N RemingtonJasper, INTIME AND LOCATION ESTIMATED.
01:30 UTCHAIL 1.75RemingtonJasper, INHAIL RANGED FROM NICKLE TO GOLF BALL SIZE...VIA JASPER COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT
01:42 UTCHAIL 1.753.5 S WolcottWhite, IN
01:43 UTCHAIL 0.75WolcottWhite, IN
01:50 UTCTSTM WND GST 60WolcottWhite, IN
01:52 UTCHAIL 1.255 Wnw BrookstonWhite, IN
02:04 UTCHAIL 1.75BurnettsvilleWhite, INON US24...NEAR THE WHITE AND CASS COUNTY LINE
02:10 UTCHAIL 1.75DelphiCarroll, INGOLF BALL SIZE HAIL RPTD BY STATE POLICE AT DELPHI
02:11 UTCHAIL 1.753 W LogansportCass, IN
02:30 UTCHAIL 1.75RossvilleClinton, INGOLF BALL SIZE HAIL NEAR ROSSVILLE/HAIL GETTING LARGER

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 IndianaEvery tornado in Indiana since 1950Warnings in force in Indiana nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 14, 2006

5 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 146:33 PM CDTF0LaSalle, IL0.525
April 144:35 PM PDTF1Stanislaus, CA0.50$10,000
April 147:57 PM EDTF0Benton, IN0.525
April 148:18 PM EDTF1Carroll, IN2.3100$60,000
April 1410:58 PM EDTF1Decatur, IN0.8530$100,000

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.