Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2006

F0 tornado, Fredonia, Kansas, March 30, 2006

Name: F0 tornado, Fredonia, Kansas, March 30, 2006
Start: 2006-03-30T21:50:00.000Z
Location: Fredonia, Kansas

This F0 tornado ran 2.5 miles across Wilson County on March 30, 2006, touching down at 3:50 PM CST and reaching 50 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.

F040 to 72 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
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: F0
Date: March 30, 2006
Touchdown: 3:50 PM CST (21:50 UTC)
Path length: 2.5 miles (4.0 km)
Path width: 50 yards (46 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Wilson County
Touchdown point: 37.570, -95.820
Lift-off point: 37.580, -95.820
Record number: 183

What the Weather Service recorded

Sporadic touchdowns along a 2 to 3 mile path over open country. Did not produce any known damage.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 14:49 UTC and running to 23:40 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
14:49 UTC	23:40 UTC	Tornado Watch	ICT
15:00 UTC	02:00 UTC	Wind Advisory	ICT
21:35 UTC	22:30 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT
21:51 UTC	22:03 UTC	Tornado Warning	ICT
22:27 UTC	22:48 UTC	Tornado Warning	ICT
23:23 UTC	00:15 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT
23:33 UTC	00:05 UTC	Tornado Warning	ICT
23:40 UTC	01:45 UTC	Tornado Watch	ICT

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, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:42 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Mar 30, 3:14 PM CST, 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 30, 3:14 PM CST, 36 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
314 PM CST THU MAR 30 2006

.DISCUSSION...
FORECAST CONCERNS DEAL WITH REMNANT CONVECTION IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS
AND PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL. FOCUS THEN SHIFTS TO PERIODS OF
CONVECTION SATURDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING INTO SUNDAY NIGHT. ALSO,
TEMPERATURES WILL BE A CHALLENGE AS THE SYSTEMS MOVE THROUGH DUE TO
TIMING ISSUES... BUT FOCUS OF THIS DISCUSSION WILL BE ON THE
THUNDERSTORM CHANCES.

TONIGHT:
BY THIS FORECAST VALID TIME (00Z) STORMS SHOULD BE CONFINED TO THE
EASTERN HALF OF THE CWA AND MOVING TO THE EAST. STORMS SHOULD BE OUT
OF OUR FAR EASTERN COUNTIES BY MIDNIGHT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL
REMAIN A THREAT AS STORMS CONGEAL INTO A LINE AND MOVE TO THE EAST.
THE MAIN HAZARDS THROUGH 06Z WILL BE FROM HAIL AND HIGH WINDS. ANY
CELLS THAT REMAIN AHEAD OF THE DRYLINE WILL CONTINUE TO POSE A
TORNADO THREAT AS WELL AS A HAIL AND HIGH WIND THREAT. ALSO ADDED
SLIGHT CHANCE POPS THROUGH 06Z FOR THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL KS THAT
ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW ITSELF. THINK THIS BIT OF CONVECTION WILL
ONLY LAST A FEW HOURS AFTER SUNSET BUT DIDNT WANT TO REALLY GET
CUTE WITH THE GRIDS GIVEN CURRENT EVENTS.

SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY:
DECIDED TO HOLD OFF THUNDERSTORM CHANCES UNTIL THE AFTERNOON HOURS
WHEN MORE MOISTURE CAN MAKE IT NORTH. AROUND THIS TIME A SURFACE LOW
DEEPENS AND WILL BE ABLE DRAW MORE MOISTURE INTO. ALSO THE SHORTWAVE
ENERGY INCREASES LATER IN THE DAY SATURDAY. GOING TOWARDS THE
OVERNIGHT HOURS A VERY STRONG LOW-LEVEL JET COMES INTO PLAY AND THE
WHOLE AREA IS EXPECTED TO BE IN A DIFFLUENT AREA OF THE UPPER LEVEL
JET.

TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY:
MODELS SEEM TO BE SLOW THINGS DOWN A BIT FOR THE MID-WEEK SYSTEM.
DUE TO LACK OF MODEL CONSISTENCY DECIDED TO HOLD OFF MAKING
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE GOING FORECAST. HAVING SAID THAT IT NOW
LOOKS LIKE WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY AFTERNOON. AS A RESULT DID PUT
MENTION OF STORMS IN THE FORECAST FOR THURSDAY WHEN IT LOOKS LIKE
THE MAIN SYSTEM FINALLY EJECTS OUT INTO THE PLAINS.

REGARDING TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE FORECAST... THE GENERAL THEME WAS
TO RAISE MAX AND MINS AHEAD OF THE SYSTEMS DUE TO STRONG SOUTHERLY
FLOW AND MOISTURE ADVECTION. UPPED MAX AND MIN TEMPERATURES SUNDAY
MORNING AND SUNDAY AFTERNOON. ALSO RAISED TEMPERATURES TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY AHEAD OF THE MID-WEEK SYSTEM.

BOWMAN

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
WICHITA-KICT    45  72  45  76 /   5   0  10  20
HUTCHINSON      41  71  43  75 /  10   0   5  20
NEWTON          44  71  43  75 /  10   0   5  20
ELDORADO        45  71  44  75 /  20   0  10  20
WINFIELD-KWLD   46  72  46  77 /  10   0  10  20
RUSSELL         37  67  41  73 /  20   0   5  20
GREAT BEND      38  70  42  74 /  20   0   5  20
SALINA          42  67  40  73 /  20   0   5  20
MCPHERSON       42  70  42  74 /  20   0   5  20
COFFEYVILLE     48  72  45  76 /  50   0  10  20
CHANUTE         48  71  43  75 /  50   0   5  20
IOLA            47  70  42  74 /  50   0   5  20
PARSONS-KPPF    48  71  44  75 /  50   0  10  20

&&

.ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM THURSDAY FOR KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-
082-083-091>096-098>100.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 30, 4:44 AM CST, 11 hours 6 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
444 AM CST THU MAR 30 2006

KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-311145-
RUSSELL-LINCOLN-BARTON-ELLSWORTH-SALINE-RICE-MCPHERSON-MARION-CHASE-
RENO-HARVEY-BUTLER-GREENWOOD-WOODSON-ALLEN-KINGMAN-SEDGWICK-HARPER-
SUMNER-COWLEY-ELK-WILSON-NEOSHO-CHAUTAUQUA-MONTGOMERY-LABETTE-
444 AM CST THU MAR 30 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KANSAS...
SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY ACROSS THE AREA
TODAY...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND EAST OF INTERSTATE 135.

LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THUNDERSTORMS
THIS MORNING WEST OF INTERSTATE 135. HOWEVER...THE MAIN SEVERE
THREAT WILL BE THIS AFTERNOON...GENERALLY EAST OF INTERSTATE 135.
IN ADDITION TO VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE
WINDS...TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON...A FEW OF WHICH
MAY BE STRONG AND LONG-LIVED. SEVERE WEATHER WILL EXIT SOUTHEAST
KANSAS BY MID EVENING.

ADDITIONALLY...A WIND ADVISORY IS IN AFFECT FOR ALL OF CENTRAL AND
SOUTHEAST KANSAS. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST WIND ADVISORY
BULLETIN FOR DETAILS.

FURTHERMORE...FIRE DANGER WILL BE IN THE EXTREME CATEGORY THIS
AFTERNOON...PRIMARILY ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL
KANSAS. PLEASE AVOID OUTDOOR BURNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

ANOTHER ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE SATURDAY THROUGH
SUNDAY NIGHT. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS AT LEAST STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. STAY TUNED FOR LATER OUTLOOKS.

MORE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE STARTING TUESDAY. ONCE AGAIN...IT
APPEARS AT LEAST STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. STAY TUNED
FOR LATER OUTLOOKS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED THIS
AFTERNOON...GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST OF INTERSTATE 135.

&&

FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS INFORMATION...SEE OUR
WEBPAGE AT (LOWERCASE) HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/WICHITA/HWO/HWO.PHP

ADK

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 30, 2:56 PM CST, 54 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
256 PM CST THU MAR 30 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0255 PM     HAIL             CEDAR VALE              37.11N 96.50W
03/30/2006  E0.88 INCH       CHAUTAUQUA         KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

MRU

Local storm report, Mar 30, 3:02 PM CST, 48 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
302 PM CST THU MAR 30 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0301 PM     HAIL             3 SSW PEABODY           38.13N 97.13W
03/30/2006  E0.88 INCH       MARION             KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

MRU

Local storm report, Mar 30, 3:14 PM CST, 36 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
314 PM CST THU MAR 30 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0312 PM     HAIL             3 S MOLINE              37.32N 96.30W
03/30/2006  E1.75 INCH       ELK                KS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            ON ELK AND CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY LINE.

&&

MRU

Local storm report, Mar 30, 3:19 PM CST, 31 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
319 PM CST THU MAR 30 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0316 PM     HAIL             MOLINE                  37.36N 96.30W
03/30/2006  E1.00 INCH       ELK                KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

MRU

Special weather statement, Mar 30, 3:30 PM CST, 20 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
330 PM CST THU MAR 30 2006

KSZ098-302200-
CHAUTAUQUA-
330 PM CST THU MAR 30 2006

...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER ALERT FOR CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY...

AT 325 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF BIGHEART...OR 16 MILES NORTH
OF PAWHUSKA...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

PENNY TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL...AND WINDS TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH
THIS STORM.

BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER IN THE EVENT THESE STORMS INTENSIFY AND
BECOME SEVERE, OR A WARNING IS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE.

CARUSO

Local storm report, Mar 30, 3:50 PM CST, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
350 PM CST THU MAR 30 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0350 PM     TORNADO          5 NW FREDONIA           37.58N 95.89W
03/30/2006                   WILSON             KS   NWS EMPLOYEE

&&

LFW

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.

Topeka, KS (KTOP), 12:00Z

9.8 hours before the tornado, 159 km from the path. March 30, 2006.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 40 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -290 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 712 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 426 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 459 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Topeka, KS (KTOP), 00:00Z

2.2 hours after it, 159 km from the path. March 31, 2006.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 1075 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -25 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 1307 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 868 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 342 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 340 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.0
Supercell composite: 8.9
0-3 km lapse rate: 7.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 143 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:51 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
21:12 UTC	HAIL 1.75	3 S Moline	Elk, KS	ON ELK AND CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY LINE.
21:16 UTC	HAIL 1	Moline	Elk, KS
21:50 UTC	TORNADO	5 Nw Fredonia	Wilson, KS
21:56 UTC	TORNADO	5 N Fredonia	Wilson, KS	ROPE TYPE TORNADO, SKIPPING UP AND DOWN.
22:16 UTC	FUNNEL CLOUD	Independence	Montgomery, KS	APPEARS TO BE DIPPING UP AND DOWN FROM WALL CLOUD.
22:16 UTC	HAIL 0.88	Sycamore	Montgomery, KS
22:17 UTC	TORNADO	1 W Independence	Montgomery, KS
22:24 UTC	TORNADO	7 E Elk City	Montgomery, KS	TORNADO OVER ELK CITY LAKE.
22:25 UTC	TORNADO	1 Ne Sycamore	Montgomery, KS
23:00 UTC	HAIL 0.75	1 W Severy	Greenwood, KS
23:08 UTC	TSTM WND GST 60	1 N Climax	Greenwood, KS
23:08 UTC	HAIL 0.88	2 W Severy	Greenwood, KS
23:25 UTC	HAIL 0.5	Fall River	Greenwood, KS
23:30 UTC	HAIL 1	Coyville	Wilson, KS
23:37 UTC	HAIL 2	Coyville	Wilson, KS
00:00 UTC	TORNADO	6 E Buffalo	Wilson, KS
00:03 UTC	TORNADO	1 S Buffalo	Wilson, KS	TORNADO LASTED 5 MINS. DAMAGE TO A CARPORT AND TREE DAMAGE.
00:03 UTC	TORNADO	1 S Buffalo	Wilson, KS	THE TORNADO LASTED FOR 5 MINUTES.
00:03 UTC	TORNADO	5 Nnw Chanute	Allen, KS

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2006 tornado in Kansas Every tornado in Kansas since 1950 Warnings in force in Kansas now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 30, 2006

25 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 30	1:25 PM CST	F0	Reno, KS	3.0	50			$80,000
March 30	2:13 PM CST	F1	Marion, KS	6.0	75		1	$70,000
March 30	2:18 PM CST	F0	Stephens, OK	0.5	50
March 30	2:23 PM CST	F0	Butler, NE	0.5	440
March 30	2:29 PM CST	F0	Colfax, NE	0.5	440
March 30	3:35 PM CST	F0	Saunders, NE	0.3	100			$50,000
March 30	3:55 PM CST	F0	Woodbury, IA	0.5	100			$100,000
March 30	4:00 PM CST	F0	Sarpy, NE	3.0	150
March 30	4:04 PM CST	F1	Brown, KS	3.0	100			$350,000
March 30	4:06 PM CST	F2	Montgomery, KS	16.0	125		1	$1.0 million
March 30	5:35 PM CST	F1	Wilson, KS	10.0	75			$20,000
March 30	5:57 PM CST	F0	Union, IA	0.2	30			$40,000
March 30	6:00 PM CST	F0	Woodson, KS	0.1	50
March 30	6:00 PM CST	F0	Union, IA	0.1	25
March 30	6:03 PM CST	F0	Allen, KS	0.5	50
March 30	6:04 PM CST	F0	Dallas, IA	0.1	25
March 30	7:10 PM CST	F2	Andrew, MO	5.0	800		8	$800,000
March 30	7:15 PM CST	F0	Cooke, TX	0.1	15
March 30	8:10 PM CST	F0	Harrison, MO	1.0	50
March 30	8:20 PM CST	F0	Johnson, MO	9.0	50			$10,000
March 30	8:28 PM CST	F1	Pettis, MO	13.6	75	1		$450,000
March 30	8:30 PM CST	F0	Grayson, TX	0.1	15
March 30	8:36 PM CST	F0	Grayson, TX	0.1	10			$10,000
March 30	10:55 PM CST	F1	Pike, IL	4.5	200
March 30	11:10 PM CST	F1	Pike, IL	2.7	250

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.