Tornadoes · United States · Pennsylvania · 2006

F0 tornado, Dallas, Pennsylvania, July 22, 2006

Name: F0 tornado, Dallas, Pennsylvania, July 22, 2006
Start: 2006-07-22T16:15:00.000Z
Location: Dallas, Pennsylvania

This F0 tornado ran 1.5 miles across Luzerne County on July 22, 2006, touching down at 12:15 PM EDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $100,000 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: July 22, 2006
Touchdown: 12:15 PM EDT (16:15 UTC)
Path length: 1.5 miles (2.4 km)
Path width: 75 yards (69 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
County: Luzerne County
Touchdown point: 41.330, -75.970
Lift-off point: 41.330, -75.970
Record number: 753

What the Weather Service recorded

On Saturday, July 22, a tornado touched down on the northwest side of Dallas, PA around 12:15 pm. The damage was largely done to trees that were uprooted and snapped. As many as one hundred trees were damaged. There was minor wind damage to homes, consisting of peeled flashing and siding, some shingle damage to roofs, and damage to sheds. The hardest hit areas were the College Manor and Elmcrest neighborhoods. A construction trailer was blown over and destroyed along Route 415. Additional property damage included a boat, cars and fencing that were damaged by falling trees. Pipes blown from a construction site on Route 415 damaged a nearby business.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
10:00 UTC	00:09 UTC	Flash Flood Watch	BGM
20:23 UTC	21:30 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BGM

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 12:32 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.

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 Binghamton, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jul 22, 9:08 AM EDT, 3 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 9:08 AM EDT, 3 hours 7 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
905 AM SAT JUL 22 2006

.SHORT TERM (TODAY - MONDAY)...
UPDATE...CURRENT FORECAST IN GOOD SHAPE JUST BUMPED UP TIMING OF
CATEGORICAL PRECIP BY A COUPLE OF HOURS AS ACTIVITY JUST A BIT AHEAD
OF PREVIOUS SHIFTS TIMING.  RRM

ONE LOOK AT THE CURRENT NORTHEAST REGIONAL RADAR...AND WE ARE VERY
CONCERNED TODAY ABOUT FLASH FLOOD POTENTIAL IN OUR ALREADY FLOOD
RAVAGED AREA. BROAD AREA OF SYNOPTIC FORCING EXISTS OVER AREA AHEAD
OF DIGGING UPR S/WV OVER GTLKS WITH SCT GULLYWASHERS ALREADY IN
PROGRESS ACROSS W-CNTRL NY. AREA OF MDT-HVY RAIN OVER CNTRL OH LINES
UP WELL WITH GFS DEPICTION OF 850-700 MB FGEN FORCING NORTH OF SFC
LOW PRES AND BENEATH RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF POTENT MID-SUMMER UL
JET. THIS ENHANCED FORCING MOVES RIGHT THROUGH THE HEART OF FCST
AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SHORT RANGE MDLS STILL JOCKEYING
FOR POSITION OF AXIS OF HVY RAIN...WHICH TONIGHT HAS TRENDED
SLIGHTLY FURTHER SOUTH THAN 12Z OR 18Z RUNS YDY. AT LEAST THERE IS
GENERAL AGREEMENT IN THE OP RUNS THAT THERE WILL BE AN AXIS OF HVY
RAINFALL IN OUR CWA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. 21Z RUN OF SREF
ENSEMBLES SHOW 30 PERCENT OF MEMBERS THINK SC NY-NEPA WILL SEE MORE
THAN AN INCH OF RAINFALL BY 03Z TONITE. GIVEN LATEST FRONTAL
POSITION AND AFORMENTIONED FORCING ALONG UPR FRONTS...WE WILL LEAN
WITH THE GFS POSITION OVER THE NYPENN BORDER VS THE WRF MDL FOCUS
ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE POCONOS. PWATS REMAIN WELL ABOVE NORMAL...AND
FCST QPF AMOUNTS ARE IN THE 1-2.5 INCH RANGE...BUT TSTMS EASILY
COULD DOUBLE THAT FOR SOME AREAS.

THE RUN-RUN CONSISTENCY OF THE EVENT AND ULTRA SENSITIVITY IN OUR
AREA TO FLOODING DICTATES THAT THIS IS NOW THE TIME FOR A FLASH
FLOOD WATCH. ONE WILL BE ISSUED FOR ENTIRE CWA...ALTHOUGH THE LEAST
THREAT IS PROBABLY THE FINGER LAKES/WRN MHWK VALLEY. I DO NOT WANT
TO TOTALLY DOWNPLAY THIS AREA THOUGH WITH CONVECTIVE ELEMENTS PSBL
THAT FAR NORTH LEADING TO LOCAL FLOOD PROBLEMS. RIVER MODELS SAY THE
MAIN STEMS CAN HANDLE THIS EVENT...AND IN GENERAL THAT MAY BE
BASICALLY TRUE...HOWEVER THE NOTORIOUSLY FLASHY HEADWATERS...AND
SOME OF THE OTHER LOW FLOOD STAGE ROUTED POINTS COULD GET INTO MINOR
FLOOD JEOPARDY IF HVY RAIN ELEMENTS DECIDE TO PICK ON THEIR LOCAL
RUNOFF BASINS.

THE LOW PASSES THROUGH NEPA AND INTO NEW ENGLAND THIS EVENING...
WHICH IS PROBABLY THE SILVER LINING OF THE EVENT IN THAT IT APPEARS
QUICK HITTING. DRIER AIR ON NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ADVECTS INTO THE
REGION WITH RAIN DIMINISHING TO SCATTERED SHOWERS. SFC HIGH PRESSURE
BUILDS IN LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY...BUT STILL A FEW S/WVS TO ROTATE
AROUND UPPER LVL CYCLONIC FLOW. PLENTY OF LLVL MOISTURE FOR CU
DEVELOPMENT...BUT DRY AIR IN THE LOW-MID LVLS WILL HELP KEEP A CHECK
ON ANY SHOWERS...SO HAVE LIMITED POPS DOWN TO LOW CHC. SIMILAR DRY
TREND CONTINUES SUNDAY NIGHT WITH MORE REFRESHING LESS HUMID AIR
INTO MONDAY WITH INCREASING SUNSHINE.

TEMPS TODAY STARTING OUT MILDER THAN GUIDANCE...SO WILL BUMP UP
NUMBERS JUST A BIT FROM MAV MOS. OTHERWISE...USED A RELIABLE BLEND
OF FWC/MAV THROUGH MONDAY. -JAB
&&

.AVIATION (22/06Z TO 23/06Z)...
VFR CIGS AND VFR TO MVFR VSBYS TO START. THE VSBYS ARE AROUND 5
MILES AT AVP AND ITH WITH ELM AND BGM FOLLOWING SOON. A BAND OF
SHOWERS SLOWLY LIFTING NE COULD BRING SOME MVFR CIGS AND IFR VSBYS
BRIEFLY BEFORE 12Z. ELM COULD AGAIN FALL TO IFR CIG AND VSBY IN FOG
AROUND 10Z.

SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP LATER THIS MORNING FROM SW TO NE THEN BECOMING
STEADY EARLY AFTN. HAVE GONE WITH MOS WITH MVFR CIGS AND IFR VSBYS.
A SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT NEAR THE END OF THE PERIOD TONIGHT AS THE RAIN
TAPERS OFF.

EAST WINDS OF 5 KTS OR LESS WILL BACK TO NE TODAY AND INCREASE TO 5
TO 10 KTS. THIS EVENING N WIND AROUND 5 KTS.
&&

.LONG TERM (MON NIGHT - FRIDAY)...

FLOW ALOFT FLATTENS OUT AND BECOMES VERY NEAR TO ZONAL EARLY NEXT
WEEK...THEN TROF APPROACHES THE REGION WED INTO THURS. THE TROF IS
VERY PROGRESSIVE AND LIFTS OUT OF THE REGION BY FRIDAY. TEMPS
SEASONAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. WEATHERWISE THE PATTERN IS QUIET JUST A
CHANCE OF SHOWERS WED AND THU. -JFC
&&

.BGM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.NY...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THIS EVENING ALL COUNTIES.
.PA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THIS EVENING ALL COUNTIES.

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 22, 4:11 AM EDT, 8 hours 4 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY
411 AM EDT SAT JUL 22 2006

NYZ009-015>018-022>025-036-037-044>046-055>057-062-PAZ038>040-043-
044-047-048-072-230815-
NORTHERN ONEIDA-YATES-SENECA-SOUTHERN CAYUGA-ONONDAGA-STEUBEN-
SCHUYLER-CHEMUNG-TOMPKINS-MADISON-SOUTHERN ONEIDA-CORTLAND-
CHENANGO-OTSEGO-TIOGA-BROOME-DELAWARE-SULLIVAN-BRADFORD-
SUSQUEHANNA-NORTHERN WAYNE-WYOMING-LACKAWANNA-LUZERNE-PIKE-
SOUTHERN WAYNE-
411 AM EDT SAT JUL 22 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL NEW
YORK...SOUTHEASTERN NEW YORK AND NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT
HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING OF STREAMS...SMALLER RIVERS AND
URBAN AREAS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY AND THIS EVENING THROUGHOUT
CENTRAL NEW YORK AND NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA. FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN
EFFECT FOR THE AREA...SEE ALBFFABGM /WGUS61 KBGM/ FOR DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SKYWARN SPOTTER ASSISTANCE MAY BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT.
SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT RAINFALL AMOUNTS AND ANY FLOODING.

JAB

The radar

The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 97 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 16:15 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
16:15 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Dallas	Luzerne, PA	TREES DOWN
16:15 UTC	TORNADO 0	Dallas	Luzerne, PA	TREES DOWN. SHINGLES AND FLASHING BLOWN OFF HOUSES.

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

This ground now

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

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.