Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2006

F0 tornado, Burnet County, Texas, May 6, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 0.7 miles across Burnet County on May 6, 2006, touching down at 1:20 AM CDT and reaching 50 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 6, 2006
Touchdown
1:20 AM CDT (06:20 UTC)
Path length
0.7 miles (1.1 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Burnet County
Touchdown point
30.850, -97.920
Lift-off point
30.870, -97.900
Record number
487

The warnings

21 minutes of warning. NWS EWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:59 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:30 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 04:40 UTC and running to 09:13 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:05 UTC04:40 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchEWX
04:40 UTC09:13 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchEWX
05:10 UTC06:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWX
05:37 UTC06:00 UTCTornado WarningEWX
05:53 UTC09:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningEWX
05:59 UTC06:30 UTCTornado WarningEWX
06:28 UTC07:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWX
07:26 UTC08:08 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWX
19:45 UTC02:00 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 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

6.3 hours before the tornado, 227 km from the path. May 6, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2006-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 510 joules per kilogram, CIN -138, lifted condensation level 1221 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 2006-05-06The 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 -50 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
510 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-138 J/kg
Surface CAPE
823 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1221 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.3
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

5.7 hours after it, 227 km from the path. May 6, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2006-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 64 joules per kilogram, CIN -214, lifted condensation level 636 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 2006-05-06The 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 92 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
64 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-214 J/kg
Surface CAPE
73 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
636 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 53 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:19 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
05:06 UTCTORNADO5 Ene Copperas CoveCoryell, TXUSAF FORECASTER REPORTED TORNADO FROM KGRK OFFICE (10NW OF KILLEEN)
05:29 UTCHAIL 1.75LampasasLampasas, TX
05:41 UTCHAIL 1.7510 Se GatesvilleCoryell, TXPLUS 50 MPH WIND
05:55 UTCTORNADO12 Nw BurnetBurnet, TXTORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR LAKE VICTOR.
05:59 UTCHAIL 2.7511 Nnw BurnetBurnet, TXBASEBALL SIZE HAIL NEAR LAKE VICTOR.
06:00 UTCTORNADO12 Nw BurnetBurnet, TXTORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR LAKE VICTOR.
06:00 UTCTORNADO13 Ese BurnetBurnet, TXTORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR OATMEAL.
06:01 UTCHAIL 412 Nnw BurnetBurnet, TXSHERIFF REPORT LARGE HAIL NEAR LAKE VICTOR.
06:10 UTCHAIL 220 Ne BurnetBurnet, TXCOOP OBSERVER REPORT HAIL COVERING THE GROUND.
06:20 UTCTORNADOBriggsBurnet, TXTORNADO SEEN CROSSING HIGHWAY 183.
06:35 UTCFLASH FLOODHarker HeightsBell, TXHARKEN HEIGHTS. SEVERAL FLOODED STREETS CLOSED TO TRAFFIC.
06:35 UTCFLASH FLOODKilleenBell, TXMAIN ROAD THROUGH KILLEEN HAS TWO FEET OF WATER OVER ROAD
07:07 UTCHAIL 0.75FlorenceWilliamson, TXPENNY SIZE AND HEAVY RAIN.
07:20 UTCHAIL 12 W JarrellWilliamson, TXQUARTER SIZE HAIL AT THE FOOTBALL FIELD.
07:24 UTCFLASH FLOODTempleBell, TXSTREETS FLOODED AND CLOSED IN NOLANVILLE AND TEMPLE
08:01 UTCHAIL 0.8810 Nw AustinTravis, TXNICKEL HAIL REPORTED AT DUVAL AND HIGHWAY 183.

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 6, 2006

1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 61:00 AM CDTF0Burnet, TX0.230

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.