Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky · 2006

F2 tornado, Columbia to Pellyton, Kentucky, January 2, 2006

From Columbia to Pellyton, this F2 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Adair County on January 2, 2006, touching down at 2:22 PM CST and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $150,000 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 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mphthis tornado

    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
F2
Date
January 2, 2006
Touchdown
2:22 PM CST (20:22 UTC)
Path length
0.6 miles (1.0 km)
Path width
200 yards (183 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$150,000
County
Adair County
Touchdown point
37.100, -85.280
Lift-off point
37.100, -85.270
Record number
9

What the Weather Service recorded

The first tornado touched down near Columbia. It destroyed a mobile home and removed the roof from a house. Other homes and mobile homes were damaged. The tornado lifted and the parent cell travelled into northeast Adair County. The second tornado touched down in the Pellyton area, about 13 miles to the northeast of the first touchdown. Several homes and barns in the area were damaged before the tornado lifted again.

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

The warnings

4 minutes of warning. NWS LMK issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:18 UTC, 4 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:45 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 17:59 UTC and running to 22:22 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:59 UTC22:22 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLMK
20:04 UTC20:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMK
20:18 UTC20:45 UTCTornado WarningLMK
20:48 UTC21:45 UTCTornado WarningLMK

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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:54 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

8.4 hours before the tornado, 160 km from the path. January 2, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2006-01-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 572 joules per kilogram, CIN -31, lifted condensation level 669 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2006-01-02The 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 317 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 55 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
572 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Surface CAPE
336 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
669 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
317 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
302 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
4.5
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

3.6 hours after it, 160 km from the path. January 3, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2006-01-03Temperature 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 -94499, lifted condensation level 1733 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2006-01-03The 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 129 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 34 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
-94499 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1733 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Somerset(Awos) (SME), 59 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:40 UTC64.457.2170° 12 kt171004.1
18:56 UTC64.457.2170° 9 kt191003.7
19:16 UTC66.257.2170° 11 kt151003.4
19:40 UTC64.457.2180° 10 kt151002.7
19:56 UTC64.455.4170° 10 kt1002.7
20:17 UTC64.455.4160° 12 kt151002.4
20:36 UTC64.455.4160° 13 kt171001.4
20:56 UTC66.255.4180° 13 kt201000.7
21:16 UTC66.255.4160° 12 kt201000.3
21:36 UTC64.455.4180° 14 kt211000.7
22:00 UTC64.455.4200° 15 kt221001.4VCTS
22:16 UTC57.248.2300° 15 kt241002.7TS

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

The radar

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:22 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
20:05 UTCHAIL 2BuffaloLarue, KY2 INCH HAIL AT MATHER MILL JUST SOUTHWEST OF HODGENVILLE.
20:15 UTCHAIL 2ColumbiaAdair, KY
20:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGGreensburgGreen, KYTREES DOWN ACROSS NORTHERN PART OF COUNTY.
20:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGCampbellsvilleTaylor, KYPOWER LINES DOWN.
20:42 UTCTORNADOColumbiaAdair, KYPOLICE REPORT TORNADO ON GROUND.
21:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGClementsvilleCasey, KYTREES DOWN AND 1 INCH HAIL.
21:25 UTCTSTM WND DMG9 Nnw AlbanyClinton, KYSEVERAL TREES AND POWER LINES WERE DOWNED.
21:25 UTCHAIL 0.75Russell SpringsRussell, KYREPORTED BY PUBLIC.
21:50 UTCTORNADOMckinneyLincoln, KYTORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN MCKINNEY. STRUCTURAL DAMAGE AND SEVERAL MOBILE HOMES TURNED OVER. ALSO GOLFBALL HAIL.
22:00 UTCHAIL 0.755 Wnw BobtownPulaski, KYEVENT LASTED 3 MINUTES.
22:15 UTCHAIL 0.754 Nnw MonticelloWayne, KY
22:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGEubankPulaski, KYSEVERAL LARGE CATTLE FEEDERS BLOWN OVER.

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 KentuckyEvery tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in Kentucky nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of January 2, 2006

17 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 23:00 AM CSTF0Saint Charles, MO0.540
January 24:45 AM CSTF0Reynolds, MO0.550
January 25:25 AM CSTF1Saint Louis, MO1.050
January 28:02 AM CSTF1Shelby, IL0.135$10,000
January 212:55 PM ESTF0Liberty, FL0.250$10,000
January 22:43 PM ESTF2Hardin, KY8.4150$2.0 million
January 22:50 PM ESTF1Larue, KY6.4175$500,000
January 23:22 PM ESTF1Jefferson, KY1.534$250,000
January 22:57 PM CSTF1Adair, KY0.5100$70,000
January 24:34 PM ESTF2Lincoln, KY8.72002$350,000
January 24:45 PM ESTF2Fayette, GA7.0440$2.3 million
January 25:12 PM ESTF3Pike, GA3.04403$750,000
January 25:44 PM ESTF0Lamar, GA0.250$2,000
January 25:48 PM ESTF1Henry, GA0.6300$500,000
January 26:35 PM ESTF1Jones, GA3.0300$150,000
January 28:22 PM ESTF1Johnson, GA12.0440$300,000
January 29:15 PM ESTF0Jenkins, GA0.125$50,000

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.