Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2006

F1 tornado, Pikeville, Indiana, April 7, 2006

This F1 tornado ran 0.7 miles across Pike County on April 7, 2006, touching down at 4:45 PM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $120,000 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.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

    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
F1
Date
April 7, 2006
Touchdown
4:45 PM CDT (21:45 UTC)
Path length
0.7 miles (1.1 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$120,000
County
Pike County
Touchdown point
38.320, -87.120
Lift-off point
38.320, -87.100
Record number
306

What the Weather Service recorded

The tornado touched down in Pikeville and moved east, lifting just west of the Dubois County border. Peak winds were estimated near 110 MPH. A mobile home was destroyed when it was picked up and thrown into a barn. The barn was also destroyed. The tornado moved a combine 15 to 20 yards and dropped it on a cow. The cow was killed, and the combine was damaged. Numerous trees were either blown down or snapped off halfway. As the tornado went over a pond, an eyewitness saw water sucked up into the funnel.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 15:20 UTC and running to 01:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
15:20 UTC01:00 UTCTornado WatchPAH
20:46 UTC21:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAH
21:13 UTC22:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAH
21:59 UTC22:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAH

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 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:32 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

9.8 hours before the tornado, 241 km from the path. April 7, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2006-04-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 9 joules per kilogram, CIN -207, lifted condensation level 1690 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2006-04-07The 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 97 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 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
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-207 J/kg
Surface CAPE
27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1690 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
125 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

2.2 hours after it, 241 km from the path. April 8, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2006-04-08Temperature 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 -35668, lifted condensation level 905 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2006-04-08The 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 176 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 39 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
-35668 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
905 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
176 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
253 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Huntingburg (HNB), 16 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:55 UTC73.460.8170° 17 kt301001
20:15 UTC69.860.8200° 14 kt1001.4
20:35 UTC6864.4180° 14 kt1000.7
20:55 UTC71.664.4180° 16 kt21999.7
21:15 UTC73.462.6190° 19 kt26999.7
21:35 UTC73.464.4190° 16 kt24999.3
21:55 UTC73.464.4180° 17 kt21998.3VCTS
22:15 UTC66.257.2310° 18 kt251000.7TS
22:35 UTC5955.4250° 11 kt191002TS
22:55 UTC55.453.680° 3 kt1000.3VCTS
23:15 UTC55.453.6150° 12 kt1000.7TS
23:35 UTC55.453.6170° 9 kt1000.7TS

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

The radar

The Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 54 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:45 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
19:41 UTCHAIL 1.752 W HatfieldSpencer, IN
19:51 UTCHAIL 0.755 S BoonvilleWarrick, IN
19:57 UTCHAIL 1TennysonWarrick, INTHIS REPORT WAS ON THE EAST SIDE OF TENNYSON.
20:18 UTCHAIL 1HuntingburgDubois, IN
20:41 UTCHAIL 1VincennesKnox, IN
20:44 UTCHAIL 0.75VincennesKnox, IN
20:44 UTCHAIL 1WinslowPike, IN
20:45 UTCHAIL 0.754 E VincennesKnox, IN
20:45 UTCHAIL 1VincennesKnox, IN
20:48 UTCHAIL 1.754 E VincennesKnox, IN
20:50 UTCHAIL 0.75HaysvilleDubois, IN
20:55 UTCHAIL 1VincennesKnox, IN
21:10 UTCHAIL 1PrincetonGibson, INTHE HAIL ACCUMULATED TO 2 INCHES DEEP.
21:15 UTCHAIL 2.5Oakland CityGibson, INTHIS WAS A FOLLOWUP REPORT TO THE GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL IN OAKLAND CITY.
21:25 UTCHAIL 1.75Oakland CityGibson, INTHERE WAS REPORTS OF 1.25 INCH DIAMETER HAIL IN OAKLAND CITY AT 425 PM.
21:28 UTCHAIL 0.75PetersburgPike, INREPORTED BY STATE POLICE. OFFICER REPORTED ZERO VISIBILITY WITH THE STORM.
21:45 UTCTORNADOPikevillePike, INLATE REPORT... F-1 TORNADO IN PIKEVILLE...PIKE COUNTY INDIANA. MOBILE HOME DESTROYED AS IT WAS PICKED UP AND THROWN INTO BARN...WHICH WAS DESTROYED. A TRACTOR COMBINE WAS MOVED 15 TO 20 YARDS AND THEN DROPPED ON A COW. T
21:55 UTCHAIL 1.75ElberfeldWarrick, INEVENT OCCURRED 1 MILE SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 64.
22:01 UTCHAIL 1JasperDubois, IN
22:14 UTCHAIL 1TennysonWarrick, INWINDS ESTIMATED 30 MPH WITH THE STORM.
22:40 UTCHAIL 0.75St. MeinradSpencer, INLATE REPORT. TIME ESTIMATED.
22:49 UTCHAIL 13 W EnglishCrawford, IN
22:50 UTCHAIL 1.25ApalonaPerry, IN
22:55 UTCHAIL 0.75EvansvilleVanderburgh, INEVENT OCCURRED ALONG HIGHWAY 62 BRIDGE CROSSING THE OHIO RIVER.
22:55 UTCHAIL 1EvansvilleVanderburgh, IN
23:00 UTCHAIL 1.75FranciscoGibson, INLATE REPORT. EVENT OCCURRED IN THE COMMUNITIES OF FRANCISO AND OAKLAND CITY.
23:01 UTCHAIL 0.75BoonvilleWarrick, IN
23:03 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDDaleSpencer, INREPORTED BY MOTORIST ON INTERSTATE 64 AT EXIT 57.
23:06 UTCHAIL 0.753 S ChandlerWarrick, IN
23:10 UTCHAIL 0.75EvansvilleVanderburgh, IN
23:40 UTCHAIL 0.754 W RockportSpencer, IN
23:45 UTCHAIL 1RockportSpencer, IN

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 7, 2006

46 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 712:40 PM CDTF0Benton, TN1.110$50,000
April 71:05 PM CDTF0Humphreys, TN0.220$10,000
April 71:10 PM CDTF0Humphreys, TN0.220$1,000
April 71:30 PM CDTF3Dickson, TN18.8880$6.0 million
April 71:34 PM CDTF2Henderson, TN9.01005$2.0 million
April 71:40 PM CDTF1Henderson, TN3.5100$40,000
April 71:53 PM CDTF2Benton, TN6.050$250,000
April 72:05 PM CDTF1Humphreys, TN4.550$100,000
April 72:08 PM CDTF3Davidson, TN22.78807128$79 million
April 72:43 PM CDTF0Lewis, TN0.3100
April 73:04 PM CDTF2Barren, KY8.12504$1.6 million
April 73:35 PM CDTF0Union Parish, LA6.8250$70,000
April 75:14 PM EDTF1Adams, IN0.8100$40,000
April 74:36 PM CDTF0Leflore, MS3.050
April 74:45 PM CDTF1Warren, TN11.01502$500,000
April 74:53 PM CDTF0Washington, MS1.050$100,000
April 74:56 PM CDTF0Pontotoc, MS6.030$30,000
April 75:43 PM CDTF0Humphreys, MS1.030
April 75:46 PM CDTF1Cumberland, TN6.21504$4.0 million
April 75:50 PM CDTF0Colbert, AL0.150$20,000
April 75:52 PM CDTF0Leflore, MS1.050
April 76:14 PM CDTF0Lauderdale, AL0.130
April 76:17 PM CDTF0Moore, TN0.230
April 76:25 PM CDTF1Colbert, AL8.0100$120,000
April 76:28 PM CDTF1Warren, TN4.01001$100,000
April 76:30 PM CDTF0Lincoln, TN0.550$1,000
April 76:55 PM CDTF1Colbert, AL10.0100$70,000
April 77:02 PM CDTF1Muhlenberg, KY1.7150$40,000
April 77:05 PM CDTF1Limestone, AL0.7200$10,000
April 77:35 PM CDTF0Chickasaw, MS0.215$10,000
April 77:45 PM CDTF0Madison, AL0.250$10,000
April 77:48 PM CDTF0Lincoln, AL to TN2.130
April 78:01 PM CDTF0Lincoln, TN0.130$5,000
April 78:45 PM CDTF0Lawrence, AL0.130
April 78:55 PM CDTF1Marion, AL9.450$50,000
April 79:00 PM CDTF0Franklin, AL3.075$10,000
April 79:30 PM CDTF0Lawrence, AL0.150
April 79:55 PM CDTF0Sunflower, MS3.050$30,000
April 710:00 PM CDTF0Lawrence, AL0.160$10,000
April 710:00 PM CDTF1Winston, AL4.7150$80,000
April 710:16 PM CDTF0Morgan, AL1.050$1,000
April 710:24 PM CDTF0Limestone, AL0.140
April 710:35 PM CDTF1Morgan, AL9.0150$110,000
April 711:15 PM CDTF0Marshall, AL0.1150$20,000
April 711:50 PM CDTF1Cullman, AL0.230$120,000
April 712:44 AM CDTF0DeKalb, AL0.185$10,000

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.