Tornadoes · United States · South Carolina · 2006

F0 tornado, Cross, South Carolina, June 13, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 0.7 miles across Berkeley County on June 13, 2006, touching down at 12:34 AM EDT and reaching 150 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 1, 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
June 13, 2006
Touchdown
12:34 AM EDT (04:34 UTC)
Path length
0.7 miles (1.1 km)
Path width
150 yards (137 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
1
Property damage
$20,000
County
Berkeley County
Touchdown point
33.320, -80.170
Lift-off point
33.320, -80.170
Record number
634

What the Weather Service recorded

NWS damage survey confirms F0 tornado touchdown near the intersection of Mudville Road and Highway 311. Path was 3/4 mile long and path width was 150 yards wide. There was tree damage, damage to a house, a shed was destroyed, and damage to a carport. Injury occured when a large tree limb dropped onto car. Wind speeds are estimated at 60 to 70 mph.

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

The warnings

29 minutes of warning. NWS CHS issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:05 UTC, 29 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:37 UTC and running to 09:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
16:00 UTC09:07 UTCFlood WatchCHS
16:00 UTC09:16 UTCWind AdvisoryCHS
18:25 UTC01:37 UTCTornado WatchCHS
23:59 UTC01:00 UTCTornado WarningCHS
01:37 UTC09:00 UTCTornado WatchCHS
04:05 UTC05:00 UTCTornado WarningCHS
04:58 UTC06:00 UTCTornado WarningCHS
09:16 UTC20:00 UTCLake Wind AdvisoryCHS

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 01:02 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.

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), 00:00Z

4.6 hours before the tornado, 49 km from the path. June 14, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Charleston AFB, SC at 00:00Z on 2006-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 720 joules per kilogram, CIN -4, lifted condensation level 504 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 00:00Z on 2006-06-14The 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 267 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 35 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
720 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Surface CAPE
870 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
504 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
267 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
393 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
6.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), 12:00Z

7.4 hours after it, 49 km from the path. June 14, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2006-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 117 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 556 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2006-06-14The 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 127 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 23 knots.193958Sfc1 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
117 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
442 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
556 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Charleston (CHS), 48 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
02:56 UTC7369110° 14 kt1012.5
03:41 UTC73.471.6110° 13 kt201011.5-RA
03:56 UTC7572130° 11 kt201011.2-TSRA BR
04:23 UTC75.273.4200° 12 kt231011.9+TSRA BR
04:33 UTC75.271.6210° 10 kt1011.5-TSRA BR
04:44 UTC75.271.6200° 9 kt171010.8-RA
04:56 UTC7673150° 14 kt221010.8-RA
05:05 UTC7773.4150° 19 kt251010.8-RA BR
05:56 UTC7771150° 13 kt1010.5

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

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 110 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:35 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
04:10 UTCTORNADOLincolnvilleCharleston, SCPOSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN LINCOLNVILLE. TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN. POSSIBLE ROOF DAMAGE TO HOME.
04:10 UTCTORNADOLincolnvilleCharleston, SCNWS DAMAGE SURVEY DETERMINED F0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF PICKENS AND LINCOLNVILLE ROADS. SURVEY DETERMINED WINDS 60 TO 70 MPH. PATH LENGTH OF 1/4 MILE LONG AND PATH WIDTH OF 100 YARDS. TREE DAMAGE WA
04:34 UTCTORNADO 0CrossBerkeley, SC*** 1 INJ *** NWS DAMAGE SURVEY CONFIRMS F0 TORNADO TOUCHDOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF MUDVILLE RD/HIGHWAY 311/HIGHWAY 6. PATH WAS 3/4 MILE LONG AND PATH WIDTH WAS 150 YARDS WIDE. THERE WAS TREE DAMAGE...DAMAGE TO A HOUS
04:34 UTCTORNADOCrossBerkeley, SC*** 1 INJ *** POSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 6...HIGHWAY 311 AND MUDVILLE ROAD. SEVERAL HOMES SUSTAINED ROOF DAMAGE. SEVERAL SHEDS DESTROYED. TREE FELL ON CAR AND INJURED DRIVER.
04:34 UTCTORNADOCrossBerkeley, SCPOSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 6...HIGHWAY 311 AND MUDVILLE ROAD. SEVERAL HOMES SUSTAINED ROOF DAMAGE. SEVERAL SHEDS DESTROYED. TREE FELL ON CAR.

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 South CarolinaEvery tornado in South Carolina since 1950Warnings in force in South Carolina nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 13, 2006

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 133:20 AM EDTF0Orange, FL0.120$10,000
June 134:00 AM EDTF0Duval, FL1.050
June 134:30 AM EDTF0Duval, FL0.150
June 136:00 AM EDTF0Camden, GA0.150
June 131:15 PM EDTF1Chatham, GA0.5175$500,000
June 132:30 PM EDTF0Beaufort, SC0.110
June 1312:55 PM PDTF0Harney, OR1.010
June 134:37 PM EDTF0Effingham, GA0.550$10,000
June 136:05 PM EDTF0Charleston, SC1.030$3,000
June 137:50 PM EDTF0Charleston, SC1.530$1,000
June 138:43 PM MDTF1Glacier, MT10.0100
June 1312:10 AM EDTF0Charleston, SC0.2100$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.