Tornadoes · United States · Indiana · 2006

F0 tornado, Lynnville, Indiana, May 10, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Warrick County on May 10, 2006, touching down at 6:08 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $2,000 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 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 10, 2006
Touchdown
6:08 PM CDT (23:08 UTC)
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2,000
County
Warrick County
Touchdown point
38.170, -87.300
Lift-off point
38.170, -87.300
Record number
524

What the Weather Service recorded

A brief touchdown was observed along State Route 61, damaging some power lines. The touchdown was mostly on abandoned strip mine property which was barren. Witnesses reported the funnel bounced along the ground several times. The funnel cloud later touched down again east of Lynnville.

The funnel cloud which produced a brief tornado south of Lynnville briefly touched down again. On State Route 68, tops of trees were blown out, and minor debris was thrown into power lines.

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

The warnings

12 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:56 UTC, 12 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:34 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:01 UTC and running to 00:50 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
13:42 UTC23:00 UTCFlash Flood WatchPAH
22:56 UTC23:34 UTCTornado WarningPAH
23:01 UTC00:50 UTCTornado WatchPAH

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 0.10 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.

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 12:00Z

11.1 hours before the tornado, 235 km from the path. May 10, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2006-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 149 joules per kilogram, CIN -222, lifted condensation level 849 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2006-05-10The 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 156 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 15 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
149 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-222 J/kg
Surface CAPE
6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
849 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
178 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.8
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 00:00Z

0.9 hours after it, 235 km from the path. May 11, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2006-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 24 joules per kilogram, CIN -2, lifted condensation level 816 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2006-05-11The 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 191 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
24 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Surface CAPE
139 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
816 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
286 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
5.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Evansville (EVV), 24 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:11 UTC6864.4120° 5 kt1000.7
21:54 UTC676570° 6 kt999.7-RA
22:01 UTC66.264.490° 4 kt999.7-RA BR
22:12 UTC66.264.480° 6 kt999-RA BR
22:26 UTC66.264.4 3 kt999.3+RA BR
22:33 UTC66.264.4290° 9 kt999RA BR
22:38 UTC66.264.4230° 5 kt999-RA BR
22:42 UTC66.264.4 4 kt999-RA BR
22:54 UTC68640° 0 kt999-RA
23:06 UTC6864.4 4 kt999+RA BR
23:15 UTC6864.4250° 9 kt999-RA
23:24 UTC6864.4240° 8 kt999
23:33 UTC66.264.4260° 11 kt999-RA BR
23:50 UTC66.262.6280° 15 kt20999.3-RA BR
23:52 UTC64.462.6290° 12 kt19.83999-RA
23:54 UTC6562310° 13 kt999-RA
00:52 UTC60.855.4350° 18 kt25.851000.3
00:54 UTC6056340° 17 kt261000.7

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

The radar

The Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 38 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:09 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
22:08 UTCTORNADOEvansvilleVanderburgh, INTORNADO BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN IN LANDFILL ON NORTH SIDE OF EVANSVILLE. TRACKED NORTHEAST THROUGH A CLUMP OF TREES CAUSING DEBRIS...LIFTED FOR 3 MINUTES AND THEN BREIFLY TOUCHED DOWN AGAIN IN AN OPEN FIELD.
23:08 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD3 N PoseyvilleGibson, IN
23:08 UTCTORNADO2 S LynnvilleWarrick, INBRIEF TOUCHDOWN ALONG STATE ROUTE 61 JUST SOUTH OF COMMUNITY.
23:25 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDLynnvilleWarrick, INFUNNEL CLOUD DROPPED TO TREE LEVEL WHICH BLEW OFF TOPS AND THREW MODERATE DEBRIS INTO POWER LINES JUST EAST OF COMMUNITY ON STATE ROUTE 68.
23:25 UTCTORNADO 0LynnvilleWarrick, INFUNNEL CLOUD DROPPED TO TREE LEVEL WHICH BLEW OFF TOPS AND THREW MODERATE DEBRIS INTO POWER LINES JUST EAST OF COMMUNITY ON STATE ROUTE 68. ...CORRECTED TO CHANGE TYPE OF EVENT FROM FUNNEL CLOUD TO TORNADO...
23:35 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDFort BranchGibson, INEVENT OCCURRED OVER COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL.
23:49 UTCTORNADO3 Sw HuntingburgDubois, INF1 TORNADO...PATH LENGTH OF 1 MILE...100 YARDS WIDE WITH MINOR STRUCTURAL AND TREE DAMAGE
00:01 UTCTSTM WND DMGHuntingburgDubois, INHEAVY DAMAGE TO A HOME ON HIGHWAY 585 WEST.

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 May 10, 2006

19 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 101:40 AM CDTF1Okmulgee, OK0.575$70,000
May 1010:03 AM CDTF0Dallas, AR3.525
May 103:40 PM EDTF0Kalamazoo, MI0.120
May 102:44 PM CDTF1Marengo, AL2.6150$20,000
May 104:27 PM CDTF2Catahoula Parish, LA8.0250$250,000
May 104:35 PM CDTF0Victoria, TX0.575
May 104:35 PM CDTF0Tensas Parish, LA2.050$60,000
May 104:59 PM CDTF0Fort Bend, TX0.220$2,000
May 105:03 PM CDTF0Adams, LA to MS5.050
May 105:08 PM CDTF0Vanderburgh, IN5.275
May 106:20 PM EDTF0Highland, OH0.530$30,000
May 105:40 PM CDTF0White, IL2.550
May 105:49 PM CDTF2Jefferson, MS7.0440$120,000
May 105:58 PM CDTF0Posey, IN2.560
May 106:08 PM CDTF0Clarke, AL0.130$10,000
May 106:17 PM CDTF0Warrick, IN0.250$1,000
May 106:22 PM CDTF0Gibson, IN2.750
May 106:34 PM CDTF0Kenedy, TX0.120
May 106:49 PM CDTF1Dubois, IN1.4100$150,000

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.