Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2006

F0 tornado, South Haven, Minnesota, September 16, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Wright County on September 16, 2006, touching down at 9:02 PM CDT and reaching 25 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.

  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
September 16, 2006
Touchdown
9:02 PM CDT (02:02 UTC)
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$200,000
County
Wright County
Touchdown point
45.270, -94.220
Lift-off point
45.270, -94.220
Record number
881

What the Weather Service recorded

An NWS damage survey confirmed a brief tornado touched down along the western shore of Twin Lake. There were an estimated two hundred trees downed at the north end of Quinn Avenue, and two homes suffered substantial damage, partially from falling trees. Minor damage was reported to several additional homes.

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 22:10 UTC and running to 05:11 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:10 UTC05:11 UTCTornado WatchMPX
01:48 UTC02:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPX
02:43 UTC03:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPX

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 01:39 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.

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), 00:00Z

2.0 hours before the tornado, 67 km from the path. September 17, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2006-09-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1108 joules per kilogram, CIN -53, lifted condensation level 1090 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2006-09-17The 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 328 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 64 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
1108 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Surface CAPE
708 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1090 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
328 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
428 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.8
Supercell composite
11.8
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), 12:00Z

10.0 hours after it, 67 km from the path. September 17, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2006-09-17Temperature 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 -84845, lifted condensation level 991 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2006-09-17The 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 -98 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 62 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84845 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
991 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-98 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
247 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.4
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Maple Lake (MGG), 19 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:15 UTC75.262.6130° 8 kt141000
00:35 UTC75.262.6130° 8 kt1000
00:55 UTC73.462.6130° 7 kt999.7
01:15 UTC75.262.6140° 10 kt14999.7
01:35 UTC75.264.4140° 8 kt999.7
01:55 UTC73.464.4150° 10 kt161000TSRA
02:35 UTC6866.2240° 5 kt201000+TSRA
02:55 UTC69.864.4180° 4 kt999.7-TSRA
03:15 UTC69.864.4250° 17 kt371000.7+RA
03:35 UTC69.864.4210° 4 kt999-VCTSRA
03:55 UTC6864.40° 0 kt1000

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

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:02 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
01:45 UTCHAIL 0.75Silver LakeMcleod, MN
02:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGDarwinMeeker, MNTREES DOWN
02:29 UTCTSTM WND DMGHoward LakeWright, MNTREES DOWN.
02:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 W South HavenWright, MNLARGE BRANCHES DOWN ALONG A 1 MILE STRETCH.
02:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGRogersHennepin, MN2X4S AND OTHER DEBRIS. LARGE ROAD SIGN WRAPPED AROUND POLE.
02:55 UTCHAIL 0.751 Se AlbertvilleWright, MN
02:58 UTCTORNADO3 W RogersHennepin, MNNWS STORM SURVEY TEAM DETERMINED THAT THE PATH LENGTH OF THE F2 TORNADO WAS 8 MILES. FROM 3.5 MILES WEST OF DOWNTOWN ROGERS TO THE CITY OF DAYTON...THEN CONTINUED EAST ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE CITY OF RAMSEY.
03:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Se Elk RiverAnoka, MNSEMI TRAILER BLOWN INTO POWER POLES.
03:15 UTCHAIL 0.75MonticelloWright, MNWRIGHT-HENNEPIN-ANOKA COUNTY BORDER
03:16 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Se Elk RiverAnoka, MNWALL BLOWN OUT OF FURNATURE STORE NEAR U.S. HWY 10.
03:40 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD2 Ene RogersHennepin, MN
04:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 S OtsegoWright, MN12X16 FOOT FARM OUT BUILDING BLOWN INTO DITCH.
04:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGOtsegoSherburne, MN12X16 FOOT FARM OUT BUILDING BLOWN INTO DITCH.

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 MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of September 16, 2006

13 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 164:10 PM CDTF2McCook, SD12.0100$100,000
September 164:37 PM CDTF0Clark, SD0.110
September 164:50 PM CDTF0Clark, SD0.110
September 164:54 PM CDTF1Minnehaha, SD1.850$10,000
September 165:05 PM CDTF0Brookings, SD0.450
September 165:12 PM CDTF0Brule, SD0.150
September 165:35 PM CDTF0Douglas, SD0.150
September 165:45 PM CDTF0Hutchinson, SD0.150
September 166:10 PM CDTF0Sanborn, SD0.150
September 168:45 PM CDTF0Meeker, MN3.550$200,000
September 168:46 PM CDTF0McLeod, MN1.030
September 169:08 PM CDTF0Sarpy, NE0.175
September 169:52 PM CDTF2Hennepin, MN8.01001$30 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.