Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2006

F0 tornado, Round Spg, Missouri, February 16, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Shannon County on February 16, 2006, touching down at 4:00 PM CST and reaching 100 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.

  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
February 16, 2006
Touchdown
4:00 PM CST (22:00 UTC)
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Shannon County
Touchdown point
37.320, -91.420
Lift-off point
37.320, -91.420
Record number
56

What the Weather Service recorded

A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that a tornado briefly touched down in a wooded area two miles north of Round Spring. The only significant damage was to trees.

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

The warnings

17 minutes of warning. NWS SGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:43 UTC, 17 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:18 UTC and running to 23:59 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:18 UTC23:59 UTCTornado WatchSGF
21:37 UTC22:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
21:43 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningSGF
23:10 UTC23:25 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF

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 19:52 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.

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

10.0 hours before the tornado, 216 km from the path. February 16, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2006-02-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 22 joules per kilogram, CIN -433, lifted condensation level 810 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2006-02-16The 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 530 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 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
22 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-433 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
810 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
530 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
609 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

2.0 hours after it, 216 km from the path. February 17, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2006-02-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 513 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2006-02-17The 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 -153 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 78 knots.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
513 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
78 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-153 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
1.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

West Plains (UNO), 65 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:53 UTC7154190° 14 kt231007.5
21:53 UTC7154190° 10 kt281006.8VCTS
22:26 UTC60.853.6290° 8 kt221007.8TSRA
22:36 UTC57.253.6300° 17 kt291009.5+TSRA BR
22:38 UTC55.453.6300° 18 kt291009.1+TSRA BR
22:41 UTC55.453.6310° 14 kt291008.8+TSRA FG
22:51 UTC53.651.8300° 8 kt211010.2TSRA BR
22:53 UTC5452310° 8 kt201010.2TSRA BR
23:02 UTC53.650310° 12 kt161010.5VCTS -RA BR
23:09 UTC53.648.2300° 13 kt181010.8BR
23:53 UTC4943290° 11 kt211013.2HZ

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

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 166 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:59 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
21:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 50HoustonTexas, MOCOOP OBSERVER ESTIMATED WIND SPEED IN HOUSTON AT 50 MPH. NO WIND DAMAGE SEEN. REPORTED AUTO ACCIDENT 2S OF HOUSTON DUE TO HAIL ACCUMULATION ON ROAD FORCING CAR TO SLIDE OFF THE HIGHWAY
21:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGRaymondvilleTexas, MOTREES DOWN ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF TOWN. SMALL HAIL.
21:37 UTCHAIL 0.88HoustonTexas, MONICKEL SIZE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS. NO ESTIMATE ON WIND SPEEDS OR REPORTS OF DAMAGE
21:45 UTCHAIL 1.75HartshornTexas, MO*** 1 INJ *** 80 YEAR OLD MAN INJURED BY GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL
21:53 UTCHAIL 0.75AkersShannon, MO
22:00 UTCTORNADO 02 N Round SpringShannon, MONWS STORM SURVEY DETERMINED A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 2 MILES NORTH OF ROUND SPRING. THE DAMAGE PATH WAS 100 YARDS WIDE AND 300 YARDS LONG. ONLY SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WAS DOWNED TREES.
22:40 UTCHAIL 0.758 S CentervilleReynolds, MO
22:45 UTCHAIL 0.755 Nw EminenceShannon, MO
22:55 UTCHAIL 0.88EminenceShannon, MO
23:00 UTCHAIL 0.886 Ne WinonaShannon, MO

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 MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of February 16, 2006

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 164:35 PM CSTF1Iroquois, IL0.125$20,000
February 167:54 PM ESTF1Vigo, IN4.2100$1.5 million
February 167:18 PM CSTF1Scott, MO0.5225$100,000

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.