Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2006
F0 tornado, Leeton to Green Ridge, Missouri, March 30, 2006
From Leeton to Green Ridge, this F0 tornado ran 9.0 miles across Johnson and Pettis counties on March 30, 2006, touching down at 8:20 PM CST and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 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.
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
- 8:20 PM CST (02:20 UTC)
- Path length
- 9.0 miles (14.5 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Counties
- Johnson and Pettis counties
- Touchdown point
- 38.580, -93.580
- Lift-off point
- 38.630, -93.430
- Record number
- 197
What the Weather Service recorded
F0 tornado touched down 6 miles east of Leeton at 2020 CST...and exited from Johnson county into Pettis county at 2024 CST. Tornado traveled northeast over rural areas of southeastern Johnson county. One barn suffered minor damage.
F0 tornado crossed from Johnson county into Pettis county 5 miles west of Green Ridge at 2024 CST. The tornado dissipated 2 miles northwest of Green Ridge at 2027 CST. No significant damage was observed.
Tornado touched down at 2028 CST 2 miles northwest of green Ridge producing damage to trees. The tornado traveled northeast and crossed Highway 50 just west of Sedalia. It produced high end F0 damage to a Morton Building and to a farmstead. Low end F1 damage was noted to a home 3 miles north of Sedalia...just west of Highway 65...where a modular home lost its roof and a large calenabra on a broadcast tower was bent. The tornado damaged a total of 57 homes, with one being completely destroyed. The tornado lifted after this at 2042 CST. A 66 year old man injured in the tornado, died from his injuries on June 15th.
The deaths
1 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.
| Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 66 | M | Permanent Home | Direct |
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
1 minute of warning. NWS EAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:19 UTC, 1 minute before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:33 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:19 UTC and running to 03:16 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:19 UTC | 03:16 UTC | Tornado Watch | EAX |
| 00:59 UTC | 01:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EAX |
| 01:05 UTC | 02:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EAX |
| 01:40 UTC | 02:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | EAX |
| 01:58 UTC | 02:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EAX |
| 02:19 UTC | 02:33 UTC | Tornado Warning | EAX |
| 02:23 UTC | 03:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EAX |
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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:42 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.
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), 00:00Z
2.3 hours before the tornado, 190 km from the path. March 31, 2006.
- 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
Topeka, KS (KTOP), 12:00Z
9.7 hours after it, 190 km from the path. March 31, 2006.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -105386 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1481 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -52 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 47 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.9 K/km
The surface observations
Whiteman Afb (SZL), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:45 UTC | 62.6 | 62.6 | 180° 20 kt | 28 | 1003.7 | BR |
| 00:55 UTC | 64.4 | 62.6 | 180° 24 kt | 32 | 1003.4 | BR |
| 01:08 UTC | 64.4 | 60.8 | 180° 20 kt | 26 | 1003.7 | -SHRA |
| 01:34 UTC | 64.4 | 59 | 180° 21 kt | 26 | 1003.7 | TS |
| 01:55 UTC | 64.4 | 59 | 190° 14 kt | 21 | 1004.4 | -TSRA |
| 02:21 UTC | 59 | 55.4 | 260° 32 kt | 39 | 1005.4 | TSRAGS |
| 02:42 UTC | 57.2 | 55.4 | 250° 27 kt | 42 | 1005.8 | -TSRA |
| 02:55 UTC | 53.6 | 53.6 | 200° 23 kt | 42 | 1005.8 | -TSRA |
| 03:22 UTC | 55.4 | 55.4 | 190° 22 kt | 28 | 1004.4 | |
| 03:55 UTC | 57.2 | 48.2 | 190° 19 kt | 26 | 1005.4 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:22 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01:51 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Urich | Henry, MO | 0.75 INCH HAIL NEAR THE HENRY AND CASS COUNTY LINE |
| 02:00 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 2 E Chilhowee | Johnson, MO | GOLF BALL HAIL AND 55 MPH WINDS |
| 02:04 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 4 N Chilhowee | Johnson, MO | |
| 02:16 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 2 E Chilhowee | Johnson, MO | |
| 02:20 UTC | TORNADO | 6 S Whiteman Afb | Johnson, MO | |
| 02:21 UTC | TORNADO | 6 S Whiteman Afb | Johnson, MO | BARN DAMAGE REPORTED FROM TORNADO TOUCHDOWN. |
| 02:28 UTC | HAIL 1 | Warrensburg | Johnson, MO | |
| 02:41 UTC | TORNADO | Sedalia | Pettis, MO | *** 1 INJ *** TORNADO ON GROUND IN THE CITY OF SEDALIA PRODUCING DAMAGE. REPORT OF ONE BUSINESS DESTROYED AS IT CROSSED US 50. TORNADO TRACKED JUST NORTH OF CITY LIMITS. |
| 02:41 UTC | TORNADO | Sedalia | Pettis, MO | TORNADO ON GROUND IN THE CITY OF SEDALIA PRODUCING DAMAGE |
| 03:35 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Otterville | Cooper, MO | |
| 03:48 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Versailles | Morgan, MO | |
| 03:55 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 3 N Stover | Morgan, MO | NICKEL SIZE HAIL AND 40 TO 50 MPH WINDS REPORTED AT N HIGHWAY AND BB. |
| 03:57 UTC | HAIL 1 | Versailles | Morgan, 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 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 | 3:50 PM CST | F0 | Wilson, KS | 2.5 | 50 | |||
| 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 | 8:28 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.