Tornadoes · United States · North Carolina · 2006

F0 tornado, Roper, North Carolina, May 14, 2006

Name: F0 tornado, Roper, North Carolina, May 14, 2006
Start: 2006-05-14T21:06:00.000Z
Location: Roper, North Carolina

This F0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Washington County on May 14, 2006, touching down at 5:06 PM EDT and reaching 25 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: May 14, 2006
Touchdown: 5:06 PM EDT (21:06 UTC)
Path length: 1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width: 25 yards (23 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
County: Washington County
Touchdown point: 35.920, -76.480
Lift-off point: 35.920, -76.470
Record number: 537

What the Weather Service recorded

Several structures including sheds and a mobile home roof were damaged by a weak tornado.

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 14, 4:21 PM EDT, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 14, 4:21 PM EDT, 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
421 PM EDT SUN MAY 14 2006

.SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/...NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPED ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE CWA SINCE LATE
MORNING ALONG A WARM FRONTAL BOUNDARY AND HAVE PRODUCED HAIL UP TO
PENNY SIZE. ADDITIONALLY...MORE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED INTO
THE CWA FROM THE WEST OVER THE PAST COUPLE HOURS. SOME OF THESE
STORMS HAVE HAD A HISTORY OF PRODUCING HAIL TO 2 INCHES AND EVEN A
FEW TORNADOES ACROSS CENTRAL NC. A TORNADO WATCH WILL CONTINUE
ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN NC UNTIL 10 PM.

THE BEST DYNAMICS WILL MOVE EAST OF THE AREA AFTER 10 PM AND WITH
THE LOSS OF DIURNAL HEATING...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY
SHOULD SUBSIDE. HOWEVER THE UPPER LOW WILL MOVE LITTLE
OVERNIGHT...REMAINING NEAR NRN KY...AND THE SURFACE FRONT WILL
STALL OVER EASTERN NC CONTINUING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CHANCES
INTO MONDAY.

&&

.LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/...THE UPPER LOW BEGINS TO
QUICKLY LIFT INTO NEW ENGLAND MONDAY NIGHT AND THE SURFACE FRONT
WILL PUSH OFFSHORE...HOWEVER THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS WILL REMAIN OVER
THE APPALACHIANS KEEPING THE REGION UNDER CYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT AND
SLIGHTLY BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. ANOTHER UPPER LOW WILL SLIDE
SWD TO THE NRN GREAT LAKES LATE IN THE WEEK WITH A COLD FRONT
MOVING ACROSS THE STATE WITH RAIN CHANCES INCREASING OVER THE
WEEKEND.

&&

.AVIATION...CONVECTION MOVING THROUGH THE RGN EARLY THIS EVENING
SHOULD PRODUCE MVFR CIGS AND VSBYS WITH ISOLATED IFR CONDITIONS.
THESE CONDITIONS SHOULD NOT PERSIST FOR LONG THOUGH AS CONVECTION
PUSHES THROUGH THE RGN. ANOTHER AREA OF CONVECTION IS LIKELY LATER
AS A COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE RGN TONIGHT. WINDS BEHIND THIS
FRONT DO NOT APPEAR VERY STRONG SO SOME FOG POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT
AND EARLY MONDAY WITH MVFR VSBYS LIKELY.

&&

.MARINE...BUOY DATA MISSING FOR MOST OF THE DAY BUT ONCE IT
STARTED FLOWING AGAIN NOTED THAT WINDS AND SEAS WERE A BIT HIGHER
THAN ORIGINALLY FORECAST. THINK THIS IS POTENTIALLY A PROBLEM
AGAIN TONIGHT AND MONDAY AS COLD FRONT SLOWLY MOVES INTO THE RGN
FROM THE WEST. LOOK FOR GRADIENT TO INCREASE MORE ALONG THE LINES
OF NAM WINDS TONIGHT SO HAVE BUMPED WINDS UP FROM PREVIOUS
FORECAST. HAVE ALSO GONE WITH HIGHER SEAS INITIALLY THAN WW3 BASED
ON WINDS BEING A BIT STRONGER THAN GFS FORECAST. THIS THROWS US
INTO SCA CRITERIA FOR ALL THE COASTAL WATERS BY LATE THIS EVENING
OR OVERNIGHT. WINDS ACROSS THE FAR NRN WATERS LIKELY TO DECREASE
FASTER MONDAY THAN OTHER AREAS AND OFFSHORE FLOW WILL RESULT IN
DECREASING SEAS SO WILL DROP SCA THERE DURING THE DAY MONDAY.

SCA CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST LONGER FROM OREGON INLET
SOUTH...FALLING BELOW SCA CRITERIA FROM LOOKOUT SOUTH MONDAY
AFTERNOON THEN HANGING ON FROM OREGON INLET TO LOOKOUT UNTIL
TUESDAY AFTERNOON. WENT A LITTLE HIGHER THAN GFS WINDS FOR THESE
AREAS THROUGH THE ENTIRE TIME FRAME GIVEN PRESENCE OF COLD FRONT.
ALSO WENT ABOUT A FOOT ABOVE WW3 GUIDANCE THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

FORECAST IS MORE IN LINE WITH GFS SOLUTION AFTER TUESDAY WITH WW3
USED AS A GUIDE FOR SEAS. WINDS AND SEAS SHOULD BEGIN TO DECREASE
LATE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY THEN SLOWLY INCREASE AGAIN BY FRI
AHEAD OF NEXT COLD FRONT.

&&

.MHX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...NONE.
MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR AMZ152-154-156 FROM 11 PM SUNDAY TO 2
     PM TUESDAY.
  ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR AMZ150 FROM 2 AM MONDAY TO 11 AM
     MONDAY.
  ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR AMZ158 FROM 5 AM MONDAY TO 2 PM
     MONDAY.
&&

SEK/MLF

Hazardous weather outlook, May 14, 4:30 AM EDT, 12 hours 36 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
430 AM EDT SUN MAY 14 2006

NCZ029-044>047-079>081-090>094-104-150830-
MARTIN-PITT-WASHINGTON-TYRRELL-MAINLAND DARE-GREENE-BEAUFORT-
MAINLAND HYDE-DUPLIN-LENOIR-JONES-CRAVEN-PAMLICO-OUTER BANKS HYDE-
430 AM EDT SUN MAY 14 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL LOW AND SURFACE COLD FRONT MOVING
THROUGH NORTH CAROLINA WILL PRODUCE A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE TSTMS
TODAY. THE PRIMARY THREATS FROM THE STORMS WILL STRONG DAMAGING
WINDS AND LARGE HAIL...MAINLY DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING HOURS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TODAY.

AMZ130-135-150-152-154-156-158-170-150830-
ALBEMARLE SOUND-PAMLICO SOUND-
S OF CURRITUCK BEACH LIGHT TO OREGON INLET NC OUT 20 NM-
S OF OREGON INLET TO CAPE HATTERAS NC OUT 20 NM-
S OF CAPE HATTERAS TO OCRACOKE INLET NC OUT 20 NM
INCLUDING THE MONITOR NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY-
S OF OCRACOKE INLET TO CAPE LOOKOUT NC OUT 20 NM-
S OF CAPE LOOKOUT TO N OF SURF CITY NC OUT 20 NM-
WATERS FROM CURRITUCK BEACH LIGHT TO SURF CITY NC FROM 20 TO
40 NM-
430 AM EDT SUN MAY 14 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL LOW AND SURFACE COLD FRONT MOVING
THROUGH NORTH CAROLINA WILL PRODUCE A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE TSTMS
TODAY. BOATERS SHOULD EXPECT STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND ROUGH SEAS IN
AND NEAR THE STRONGER STORMS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

NCZ095-098-103-150830-
CARTERET-ONSLOW-OUTER BANKS DARE-
430 AM EDT SUN MAY 14 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH
CAROLINA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL LOW AND SURFACE COLD FRONT MOVING
THROUGH NORTH CAROLINA WILL PRODUCE A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE TSTMS
TODAY. THE PRIMARY THREATS FROM THE STORMS WILL STRONG DAMAGING
WINDS AND LARGE HAIL...MAINLY DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING HOURS.

THERE WILL BE A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS ALONG AREA BEACHES
TODAY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TODAY.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 14, 1:28 PM EDT, 3 hours 38 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
128 PM EDT SUN MAY 14 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0115 PM     HAIL             MANNS HARBOR            35.87N 75.77W
05/14/2006  E0.75 INCH       DARE               NC   PUBLIC

&&

Local storm report, May 14, 4:13 PM EDT, 53 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
413 PM EDT SUN MAY 14 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0411 PM     TSTM WND DMG     FARMVILLE               35.59N 77.59W
05/14/2006                   PITT               NC   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            PITT COUNTY 911 CENTER REPORTED TREES DOWN ALONG HWY 121

&&

KLAWS

Special weather statement, May 14, 4:33 PM EDT, 33 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
433 PM EDT SUN MAY 14 2006

NCZ046-142100-
TYRRELL-
433 PM EDT SUN MAY 14 2006

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT TYRRELL COUNTY UNTIL 500 PM
EDT...

AT 433 PM EDT...THERE WERE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS 8 MILES EAST OF
COLUMBIA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

ANOTHER STRONG STORM WAS 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF BELHAVEN MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH AND SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE
STORMS. MOST LIGHTNING FATALITIES AND INJURIES OCCUR IN OPEN AREAS OR
UNDER TREES. IF OUTDOORS...SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING OR CAR.
DO NOT TAKE SHELTER IN SMALL SHEDS...UNDER ISOLATED TREES...OR IN
CONVERTIBLE AUTOMOBILES.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM EDT SUNDAY EVENING
FOR EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR
FURTHER UPDATES ON THE WEATHER SITUATION ACROSS THE AREA.

8

Local storm report, May 14, 4:56 PM EDT, 10 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 14, 4:58 PM EDT, 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
458 PM EDT SUN MAY 14 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0456 PM     HAIL             COLUMBIA                35.92N 76.25W
05/14/2006  M0.75 INCH       TYRRELL            NC   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            REPORTED BY THE COUNTY 911 CENTER

&&

KLAWS

Local storm report, May 14, 5:02 PM EDT, 4 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
502 PM EDT SUN MAY 14 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0448 PM     HAIL             7 WSW COLUMBIA          35.88N 76.37W
05/14/2006  M0.88 INCH       TYRRELL            NC   TRAINED SPOTTER

            CORRECTED, REPORT IS FROM TYRRELL COUNTY

&&

KLAWS

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.

Newport, NC (KMHX), 12:00Z

9.1 hours before the tornado, 132 km from the path. May 14, 2006.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 324 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -36 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 718 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1188 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 131 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.5
0-3 km lapse rate: 6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Newport, NC (KMHX), 00:00Z

2.9 hours after it, 132 km from the path. May 15, 2006.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 113 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -155 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 744 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1231 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 255 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 304 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 6.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Edenton_northea (EDE), 15 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:04 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2006 tornado in North Carolina Every tornado in North Carolina since 1950 Warnings in force in North Carolina now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 14, 2006

15 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 14	2:49 PM EDT	F1	Cabarrus, NC	0.2	50		$10,000
May 14	3:50 PM CDT	F0	Williamson, TX	0.2	70
May 14	4:40 PM CDT	F0	Brazoria, TX	1.0	30		$10,000
May 14	5:40 PM EDT	F1	Darlington, SC	0.6	15	1	$400,000
May 14	5:55 PM EDT	F1	Florence, SC	0.3	15		$250,000
May 14	6:10 PM EDT	F0	Durham, NC	0.5	50
May 14	6:43 PM EDT	F0	Franklin, NC	0.5	50
May 14	7:00 PM EDT	F2	Florence, SC	0.6	150		$1.3 million
May 14	7:15 PM EDT	F0	Nash, NC	1.0	100
May 14	7:42 PM EDT	F0	Berkeley, SC	0.1	25		$1,000
May 14	7:45 PM EDT	F1	Lee, NC	1.5	100
May 14	8:25 PM EDT	F0	Pitt, NC	0.1	25
May 14	8:46 PM EDT	F0	Martin, NC	0.1	25
May 14	8:48 PM EDT	F1	Charleston, SC	1.8	175
May 14	9:25 PM EDT	F1	Tyrrell, NC	2.0	150		$70,000

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.