Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2006

F0 tornado, Miller to Antlers, Oklahoma, September 21, 2006

From Miller to Antlers, this F0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Pushmataha County on September 21, 2006, touching down at 8:28 PM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $20,000 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 21, 2006
Touchdown
8:28 PM CDT (01:28 UTC)
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$20,000
County
Pushmataha County
Touchdown point
34.280, -95.680
Lift-off point
34.280, -95.670
Record number
898

What the Weather Service recorded

A tornado produced minor damage to several homes and snapped trees.

A tornado destroyed a storage building and snapped trees.

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

The warnings

34 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:54 UTC, 34 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:53 UTC and running to 02:30 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:53 UTC02:30 UTCTornado WatchTSA
00:54 UTC02:00 UTCTornado WarningTSA
01:57 UTC02:30 UTCTornado WarningTSA
02:30 UTC07:43 UTCTornado WatchTSA
17:06 UTC01:58 UTCTornado WatchTSA

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:48 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.

Norman, OK (KOUN), 00:00Z

1.5 hours before the tornado, 189 km from the path. September 22, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2006-09-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1270 joules per kilogram, CIN -34, lifted condensation level 1512 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, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2006-09-22The 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 135 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 56 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
1270 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2461 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1512 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
254 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
6.6
0-3 km lapse rate
7.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Norman, OK (KOUN), 12:00Z

10.5 hours after it, 189 km from the path. September 22, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2006-09-22Temperature 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 -90191, lifted condensation level 3176 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, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2006-09-22The 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 188 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
-90191 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3176 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
188 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
257 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Atoka Municipal Airport (AQR), 46 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
23:37 UTC80.669.8170° 13 kt16999.3
23:57 UTC80.669.8180° 9 kt999.3
00:17 UTC80.669.8160° 12 kt17998.6
00:40 UTC80.669.8140° 8 kt998-VCTSRA
00:57 UTC7771.6340° 6 kt999.3+TSRA
01:37 UTC69.869.870° 4 kt1000.3
01:57 UTC69.868100° 5 kt1000.3
02:17 UTC66.266.20° 0 kt1000
02:37 UTC66.266.20° 0 kt1000.3
02:57 UTC66.266.20° 0 kt1000.3
03:17 UTC66.266.20° 0 kt1000.3

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

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 164 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:29 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
00:50 UTCHAIL 1TushkaAtoka, OK
01:05 UTCHAIL 1LaneAtoka, OK
01:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 S LaneAtoka, OKBRANCHES AND TREES DOWNED. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME ESTIMATED.
01:15 UTCTSTM WND GST 60LaneAtoka, OK
01:15 UTCHAIL 0.88LaneAtoka, OK
01:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 W AntlersPushmataha, OKREPORTS OF A BARN GONE AND DAMAGE TO A HOUSE. ALSO REPORTS OF NUMEROUS TREES DOWN BLOCKING ROADS BETWEEN ANTLERS AND THE ATOKA PUSHMATAHA COUNTY LINE.
01:25 UTCTORNADO8 Wnw AntlersPushmataha, OKSTORM SURVEY FOUND A .4 MILE LONG...50 YARD WIDE TORNADO TRACK. SEVERAL HOMES RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE AND TREES WERE SNAPPED. FUJITA DAMAGE SCALE RATING F0.
01:28 UTCHAIL 0.881 S MoyersPushmataha, OK
01:28 UTCTORNADO5 Nw AntlersPushmataha, OKSTORM SURVEY FOUND A ONE MILE LONG...100 YARD WIDE TORNADO TRACK. A SHED WAS DESTROYED AND TREES WERE SNAPPED. FUJITA DAMAGE SCALE RATING F0.

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 OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of September 21, 2006

14 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 211:53 PM CDTF1Russell, KS6.075$100,000
September 212:30 PM CDTF0Vermilion Parish, LA1.020$10,000
September 213:13 PM CDTF0Lincoln, KS17.0300$30,000
September 213:36 PM CDTF0Mitchell, KS6.0100
September 214:03 PM CDTF0Mitchell, KS6.050
September 214:16 PM CDTF0Lincoln, KS0.335
September 214:30 PM CDTF0Ottawa, KS0.130
September 214:55 PM CDTF0Ottawa, KS0.130
September 216:20 PM CDTF0Vermilion Parish, LA1.020$10,000
September 216:48 PM CDTF1Vermilion Parish, LA2.050$100,000
September 216:55 PM CDTF0Saint Martin Parish, LA1.020
September 218:10 PM CDTF1Atoka, OK11.0100$70,000
September 218:14 PM CDTF1Polk, AR2.240
September 218:25 PM CDTF0Pushmataha, OK0.450$10,000

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.