Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2006

F0 tornado, Canton, Texas, April 29, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Van Zandt County on April 29, 2006, touching down at 3:52 AM CDT and reaching 50 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 29, 2006
Touchdown
3:52 AM CDT (08:52 UTC)
Path length
0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Van Zandt County
Touchdown point
32.530, -95.870
Lift-off point
32.550, -95.870
Record number
439

What the Weather Service recorded

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Fort Worth indicated that a short-lived F0 tornado developed on the south and southeast sides of the city of Canton. Significant tree damage was noted on the south side of the city, and a very large tree was uprooted near the intersection of Jack and Elm Streets. The tornado moved northeast across Highway 19 and dissipated west of Highway 64. Numerous trees were downed in a neighborhood east of Highway 19 and north of Highway 243. The damage path suggested that the tornado dissipated in an area roughly 200 yards northeast of the intersection of Goshen and Pecan Streets in Canton.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 04:10 UTC and running to 10:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
04:10 UTC10:15 UTCTornado WatchFWD
08:45 UTC09:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:54 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.

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 00:00Z

8.9 hours before the tornado, 137 km from the path. April 29, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2006-04-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 446 joules per kilogram, CIN -52, lifted condensation level 654 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2006-04-29The 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 532 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 74 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
446 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-52 J/kg
Surface CAPE
316 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
654 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
74 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
532 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
752 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
8.7
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 12:00Z

3.1 hours after it, 137 km from the path. April 29, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2006-04-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1 joules per kilogram, CIN -305, lifted condensation level 667 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2006-04-29The 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 12 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 85 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-305 J/kg
Surface CAPE
6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
667 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
85 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Mineola/Quitman (JDD), 42 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
07:05 UTC71.666.2150° 7 kt1008.5-DZ
07:25 UTC69.868170° 8 kt1008.8RA
07:45 UTC69.868140° 8 kt1007.8BR
08:05 UTC69.868140° 5 kt1007.5BR
08:25 UTC6868140° 8 kt1007.5BR
08:45 UTC6866.2130° 5 kt1006.4BR
09:05 UTC66.266.2130° 6 kt1006.4VCTS BR
09:25 UTC66.266.2120° 5 kt1006.1VCTS -RA
09:45 UTC66.266.2120° 4 kt1005.1VCTS RA
10:05 UTC66.266.2200° 11 kt161005.8VCTS +RA
10:45 UTC66.266.2230° 6 kt1006.8VCTS +RA

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

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 08:53 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
09:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGCantonVan Zandt, TXMULTIPLE TREES SNAPPED/BLOWN DOWN IN A 2 BLOCK SQUARE JUST SOUTH OF THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT JUST SOUTH OF THE INTERSECTION OF STATE HIGHWAYS 19 AND 243. DETACHED BUILDING WHERE LUMBER WAS STORED AT AN ACE HARDWARE
09:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGCantonVan Zandt, TXMULTIPLE TREES SNAPPED/BLOWN DOWN IN A BLOCK SQUARE JUST SOUTH OF THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT JUST SOUTH OF THE INTERSECTION OF STATE HIGHWAYS 19 AND 243. DETACHED BUILDING WHERE LUMBER WAS STORED AT AN ACE HARDWARE ST
09:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGCantonVan Zandt, TXNUMEROUS DAMAGED STRUCTURES WITH WINDOWS BLOW OUT ALL OVER TOWN. EM OFFICES HAS SUSTAINED DAMAGE AS WELL.

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 29, 2006

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 295:55 AM CDTF0Montgomery, TX0.220$20,000
April 297:00 AM CDTF0Liberty, TX0.220$10,000
April 297:26 AM CDTF0Polk, TX0.220$200,000
April 297:35 AM CDTF2San Jacinto, TX1.0304$100,000
April 299:20 AM CDTF0Harris, TX0.220$30,000
April 2910:15 AM CDTF1Liberty, TX0.725$60,000
April 2910:55 AM CDTF0Hardin, TX1.010$10,000
April 295:50 PM CDTF0Lafayette Parish, LA0.210$50,000

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.