F1 tornado, Poynor, Texas, December 29, 2006

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

F1

Date

December 29, 2006

Touchdown

6:34 PM CST (00:34 UTC)

Path length

3.0 miles (4.8 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$2.0 million

County

Henderson County

Touchdown point

32.070, -95.580

Lift-off point

32.110, -95.580

Record number

1100

A rare winter tornado outbreak occurred on December 29 over portions of North Texas, spawning almost two dozen tornadoes. Very high shear and low instability created an environment favorable for tornadoes. A strong surface low pressure system and warm front located in southern North Texas increased the probablitity for low-level rotation. In addition to tornadoes, severe reports of large hail and flash flooding were widespread.

At least two dozen houses were damaged in Poynor Friday night as a tornado ripped through the community. Dozens of sheds, barns, and storage units were demolished. Significant damage to roofs and garages occurred at residences, while dozens of fences and trees were blown down. At least one home was considered a total loss. A metal support beam from a destroyed storage unit was driven through a truck, and the truck was then rolled onto its side by the strong winds. Numerous other vehicles were rolled and damaged by debris. In addition, houses which had portions of their roofs removed sustained heavy water damage from the rainfall following the tornado.

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

6 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:28 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:50 UTC and running to 08:00 UTC.

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 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 20:00 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 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.

Tyler/Pounds Field (TYR), 34 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 168 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:33 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2006 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

26 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.