Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2006
F1 tornado, Jackson County, Indiana, April 2, 2006
This F1 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Jackson County on April 2, 2006, touching down at 9:37 PM EDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $200,000 of property damage.
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
- 9:37 PM EDT (01:37 UTC)
- Path length
- 0.5 miles (0.8 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $200,000
- County
- Jackson County
- Touchdown point
- 38.970, -85.900
- Lift-off point
- 38.970, -85.900
- Record number
- 270
The warnings
26 minutes of warning. NWS IND issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:11 UTC, 26 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:00 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:44 UTC and running to 03:03 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22:44 UTC | 03:03 UTC | Tornado Watch | IND |
| 01:07 UTC | 02:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IND |
| 01:11 UTC | 02:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | IND |
| 01:40 UTC | 02:14 UTC | Tornado Warning | IND |
| 12:35 UTC | 23:00 UTC | Wind Advisory | IND |
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. The outlook in force was issued at 01:19 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.
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 00:00Z
1.6 hours before the tornado, 188 km from the path. April 3, 2006.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -97170 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1550 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 253 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 315 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.3 K/km
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), 12:00Z
10.4 hours after it, 188 km from the path. April 3, 2006.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 79 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -97 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 24 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1247 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 76 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 205 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 239 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.8 K/km
The radar
The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:38 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01:06 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 5 Sw Bedford | Lawrence, IN | |
| 01:19 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 5 E Bedford | Lawrence, IN | |
| 01:19 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 10 W Seymour | Jackson, IN | TREES DOWN AND FLYING DEBRIS AT CLEAR SPRINGS |
| 01:20 UTC | TSTM WND GST 59 | Bloomington | Monroe, IN | MEASURED BY AWS SCHOOL MESONET SITE AT BLOOMINGTON TRI NORTH MIDDLE SCHOOL |
| 01:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 N Saltillo | Washington, IN | NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. ALSO SOME STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. |
| 01:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Salem | Washington, IN | TREES...POWER LINES...AND BARNS DAMAGED THROUGHOUT COUNTY. |
| 01:30 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | Martinsburg | Washington, IN | SHINGLES BLOWN OFF ROOF. |
| 01:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Seymour | Jackson, IN | 12 TO 24 INCH DIAMETER TREES DOWN, CONCRETE LIGHT POLES TWISTED AND DOWN, WIDESPREAD TREE DAMAGE |
| 01:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Seymour | Jackson, IN | ONE HOUSE ON NORTHWEST SIDE OF SEYMOUR DESTROYED |
| 02:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Hanover | Jefferson, IN | TREES DOWN |
| 02:08 UTC | TSTM WND GST 61 | 3 S Shelbyville | Shelby, IN | |
| 02:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Holton | Ripley, IN | EIGHT 24 INCH TREES DOWN |
| 02:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 W Westport | Decatur, IN | 20 INCH DIAMETER TREE DOWN |
| 02:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Greensburg | Decatur, IN | SEMI BLOWN OVER..LOCATION IN COUNTY NOT KNOWN |
| 02:40 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Osgood | Ripley, IN | ALSO HAD TREE LIMBS DOWN |
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 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 | 7:25 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 | 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.