Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2006

F0 tornado, Williamson County, Texas, May 14, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Williamson County on May 14, 2006, touching down at 3:50 PM CDT and reaching 70 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
May 14, 2006
Touchdown
3:50 PM CDT (20:50 UTC)
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
70 yards (64 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Williamson County
Touchdown point
30.830, -97.920
Lift-off point
30.830, -97.920
Record number
536

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 severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:41 UTC and running to 23:56 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
15:08 UTC20:41 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchEWX
20:14 UTC21:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWX
20:41 UTC23:56 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchEWX

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 20:04 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), 12:00Z

8.8 hours before the tornado, 230 km from the path. May 14, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2006-05-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 610 joules per kilogram, CIN -393, lifted condensation level 1168 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 2006-05-14The 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 23 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 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
610 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-393 J/kg
Surface CAPE
13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1168 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
2 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.7
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

3.2 hours after it, 230 km from the path. May 15, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2006-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -80906, lifted condensation level 2454 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2006-05-15The 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 39 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 38 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80906 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2454 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Fort Hood/Gray Aaf (GRK), 28 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:55 UTC69.866.260° 12 kt1015.6TS
19:55 UTC6866.2190° 9 kt1014.9-TSRA
20:55 UTC6866.2 2 kt1014.9
21:55 UTC6866.250° 6 kt1015.2

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

The radar

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 53 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:51 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
20:38 UTCTORNADO6 Wsw FlorenceWilliamson, TXSHERIFF REPORTED TORNADO TOUCHDOWN AT JUNCTION OF HWY 183 AND S STATE HWY 138 W OF FLORENCE.
20:38 UTCTORNADOW FlorenceWilliamson, TXSHERIFF REPORTED TORNADO TOUCHDOWN AT JUNCTION OF HWY 183 AND S STATE HWY 138 W OF FLORENCE.
20:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 Wsw FlorenceWilliamson, TXTWO TRAINED SPOTTERS REPORTED SEVERAL BUILDINGS BLOWN DOWN INCLUDING A BARN. WIND APPEARED TO BE STRAIGHT LINE. WINDS ESTIMATED BETWEEN 70 AND 80 KTS. REPORT RELAYED TO NWS AT 505 PM.
20:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 Wsw FlorenceWilliamson, TXROOF TORN OFF OF HOUSE.
20:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 W FlorenceBurnet, TXROOF TORN OFF OF HOUSE.
22:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 Nw FlorenceBurnet, TXTWO TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED SEVERFAL BUILDINGS BLOWN DOWN INCLUDING A BARN. WIND APPEAR TO BE STRAIGHT LINE. WINDS ESTIMATED BETWEEN 70 AND 80 KTS.
22:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 Nw FlorenceBurnet, TXTWO TRAINED SPOTTERS REPORTED SEVERAL BUILDINGS BLOWN DOWN INCLUDING A BARN. WIND APPEARED TO BE STRAIGHT LINE. WINDS ESTIMATED BETWEEN 70 AND 80 KTS.

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 May 14, 2006

15 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 142:49 PM EDTF1Cabarrus, NC0.250$10,000
May 145:06 PM EDTF0Washington, NC1.025$10,000
May 144:40 PM CDTF0Brazoria, TX1.030$10,000
May 145:40 PM EDTF1Darlington, SC0.6151$400,000
May 145:55 PM EDTF1Florence, SC0.315$250,000
May 146:10 PM EDTF0Durham, NC0.550
May 146:43 PM EDTF0Franklin, NC0.550
May 147:00 PM EDTF2Florence, SC0.6150$1.3 million
May 147:15 PM EDTF0Nash, NC1.0100
May 147:42 PM EDTF0Berkeley, SC0.125$1,000
May 147:45 PM EDTF1Lee, NC1.5100
May 148:25 PM EDTF0Pitt, NC0.125
May 148:46 PM EDTF0Martin, NC0.125
May 148:48 PM EDTF1Charleston, SC1.8175
May 149:25 PM EDTF1Tyrrell, NC2.0150$70,000

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.