F0 tornado, Chamois to Bluffton, Missouri, March 12, 2006

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.

Rating

F0

Date

March 12, 2006

Touchdown

11:43 PM CST (05:43 UTC)

Path length

6.2 miles (10.0 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Callaway, Montgomery and Osage counties

Touchdown point

38.700, -91.650

Lift-off point

38.730, -91.620

Record number

139

The tornado that formed in southern Callaway County crossed the Missouri River and moved into northern Osage County to the Chamois area at about 11:40 pm CST. Tree damage was found near Main and West Tennessee Street. The tornado traveled northeast where it damaged the roofs of two barns throwing debris approximately 150 yards into an open field. This damage was rated as F1 intensity. Approximately 3 miles northeast of Chamois two sheds were destroyed and another shed and home were damaged. Debris was thrown at least 500 yards into a nearby open field. Numerous trees where damaged just northeast of this location with a damage width of approximately 150 yards wide. This damage was rated as low end F1intensity. The tornado continued northeast crossing the Missouri River again and back into southeast Callaway County.

The tornado that formed in Callaway County at about 11:30 pm CST in southern Callaway County, then moved into Osage County, crossed the Missouri river again into southeast Callaway County. The tornado continued for about a half mile causing tree damage.

A small tornado formed in extreme northeast Osage County just south of the Missouri River causing tree damage. The tornado then crossed the river into southeast Callaway County.

The tornado that formed in northeast Osage County crossed the Missouri River into Callaway County moving northeast and damaged a home along Highway 94 about 2 miles west of the Callaway Montgomery County line. Numerous trees were also either snapped off or uprooted in this area.The tornado then moved into Montgomery County.

The tornado that formed in Osage County about 11:43 am CST, crossed the Missouri River into Callaway County, then continued northeast into Montgomery County. In Montgomery County, the tornado destroyed a small shed along County Road 289 and then dissipated about 2 miles north of Bluffton.

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

33 minutes of warning. NWS LSX issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:10 UTC, 33 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:49 UTC and running to 09:58 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk, with a 0.30 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:01 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 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.

Jefferson City (JEF), 47 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:42 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2006 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

54 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.