Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2006

F0 tornado, Duval County, Texas, April 25, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Duval County on April 25, 2006, touching down at 7:20 PM CDT and reaching 100 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.

  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
April 25, 2006
Touchdown
7:20 PM CDT (00:20 UTC)
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Duval County
Touchdown point
27.380, -98.470
Lift-off point
27.380, -98.450
Record number
419

The warnings

13 minutes of warning. NWS CRP issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:07 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:38 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:19 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:19 UTC03:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchCRP
22:10 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRP
22:32 UTC23:15 UTCTornado WarningCRP
23:09 UTC00:15 UTCTornado WarningCRP
00:07 UTC00:38 UTCTornado WarningCRP
01:12 UTC02:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRP

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. The outlook in force was issued at 20:05 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.

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), 00:00Z

0.3 hours before the tornado, 117 km from the path. April 26, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2006-04-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2996 joules per kilogram, CIN -86, lifted condensation level 754 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2006-04-26The 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 -45 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 49 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
2996 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-86 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2944 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
754 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.1
Supercell composite
-0.5
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), 12:00Z

11.7 hours after it, 117 km from the path. April 26, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2006-04-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 26 joules per kilogram, CIN -237, lifted condensation level 690 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2006-04-26The 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 112 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 48 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
26 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-237 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
690 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
7.1
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Hebbronville (HBV), 28 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
22:21 UTC
23:01 UTC
23:21 UTC
00:02 UTC
00:04 UTC40° 22 kt1005.8VCTS
00:22 UTC80.671.640° 19 kt261005.4VCTS
01:23 UTC71.669.870° 19 kt311009.5+TSRA
01:24 UTC69.869.870° 18 kt311009.5+TSRA
02:02 UTC69.868100° 17 kt211009.8

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

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:18 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
22:30 UTCHAIL 1FreerDuval, TXFREER P.D. REPORTED HAIL COVERING THE GROUND.
22:45 UTCHAIL 0.887 W San DiegoDuval, TX
00:10 UTCHAIL 1.753 Sw ConcepcionDuval, TXGOLFBALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED BETWEEN RAMIREZ AND CONCEPCION ON C.R. 268.
00:15 UTCHAIL 1.7510 S FalfurriasBrooks, TX
00:20 UTCTORNADO6 Se RealitosDuval, TXDPS REPORTED TORNADO 15 MI EAST OF HEBBRONVILLE.
00:35 UTCHAIL 0.512 S FalfurriasBrooks, TXBORDER PATROL CHECK POINT AND PERSONEL REPORTED MARBLE SIZE HAIL.
01:00 UTCHAIL 1.754 Ne EscobaZapata, TXWINDS ESTIMATED AT 75 MPH AND GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED AT THE FANDANGO GAS PLANT.
01:25 UTCHIGH SUST WINDS 65HebbronvilleJim Hogg, TXFIRE DEPARTMENT IN HEBBRONVILLE REPORTED WINDS OF AT LEAST 65 MPH.
01:25 UTCHAIL 1HebbronvilleJim Hogg, TX
01:48 UTCHIGH SUST WINDS 60HebbronvilleJim Hogg, TXESTIMATED HIGH SUSTAINED WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.

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 TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 25, 2006

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 254:40 PM CDTF0Oregon, MO8.050
April 256:25 PM EDTF0Scott, VA1.525$50,000
April 257:08 PM CDTF1Pemiscot, MO15.0100$60,000
April 257:10 PM CDTF0Pemiscot, MO7.030$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.