Tornadoes · United States · Virginia · 2006

F0 tornado, Weber City, Virginia, April 25, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 1.5 miles across Scott County on April 25, 2006, touching down at 6:25 PM EDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 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
6:25 PM EDT (22:25 UTC)
Path length
1.5 miles (2.4 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
County
Scott County
Touchdown point
36.620, -82.700
Lift-off point
36.620, -82.650
Record number
416

What the Weather Service recorded

An F0 tornado touched down on Stanley Valley Road and traveled east crossing Frisco Road. Three barns were destroyed and several trees uprooted along its 1.5 mile path.

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

The warnings

3 minutes of warning. NWS MRX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:22 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:45 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:10 UTC22:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMRX
22:22 UTC22:45 UTCTornado WarningMRX

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.

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), 12:00Z

10.4 hours before the tornado, 256 km from the path. April 25, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2006-04-25Temperature 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 -86147, lifted condensation level 1476 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2006-04-25The 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 11 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 34 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
-86147 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1476 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), 00:00Z

1.6 hours after it, 256 km from the path. April 26, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC 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 373 joules per kilogram, CIN -23, lifted condensation level 1784 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC 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 89 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 47 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
373 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1211 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1784 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
153 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
2.9
0-3 km lapse rate
8.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Bristol/Tri-City (TRI), 29 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:53 UTC7758190° 16 kt201008.1
21:53 UTC7759200° 14 kt171007.1
22:40 UTC75.257.2190° 13 kt1006.8TS
22:53 UTC7157280° 19 kt251008.1TS
23:00 UTC69.857.2280° 16 kt241008.8TS
23:07 UTC62.657.2290° 14 kt341010.2+TSRA
23:25 UTC60.857.2240° 12 kt1010.2TSRA BR
23:33 UTC60.857.2240° 8 kt1010.2TSRA BR
23:53 UTC6159220° 4 kt1009.8-RA BR

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

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 82 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:24 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
22:15 UTCHAIL 0.755 W Gate CityScott, VAPENNY SIZE HAIL 5 MILES WEST OF GATE CITY. REPORTED BY SPOTTER.
22:16 UTCTSTM WND DMGCastlewoodRussell, VATHREE TREES DOWN IN CASTLEWOOD. REPORTED BY DISPATCH.
22:25 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 W Weber CityScott, VATWO BARNS DESTROYED AND SEVERAL TREES UPROOTED ON AND ALONG STANLEY VALLEY ROAD IN YUMA AREA. REPORTED BY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR.
22:25 UTCTORNADO7 W Weber CityScott, VAAT APPROXIMATELY 625 PM...AN F0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ON STANLEY VALLEY ROAD AND TRAVELED EAST CROSSING FRISCO ROAD...DESTROYING THREE BARNS AND UPROOTING AND SNAPPING OFF SEVERAL TREES. THE TORNADO PATH WAS 25 YARDS WIDE
22:25 UTCTORNADO7 W Weber CityScott, VAAT APPROXIMATELY 625 PM...AN F0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ON STANLEY VALLEY ROAD AND TRAVELED EAST CROSSING FRISCO ROAD...DESTROYING THREE BARNS AND UPROOTING SEVERAL TREES. THE TORNADO PATH WAS ABOUT 25 YARDS WIDE BUT THE LE
22:27 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Wsw Weber CityScott, VAONE BARN DESTROYED AND SEVERAL TREES UPROOTED ON AND ALONG FRISCO ROAD IN YUMA AREA. REPORTED BY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR.
22:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGGate CityScott, VANUMEROUS TREES DOWN AT GATE CITY. REPORTED BY SPOTTER.
22:30 UTCHAIL 1Gate CityScott, VAQUARTER SIZE HAIL AT GATE CITY. REPORTED BY DISPATCH.
22:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGBristol VaCity of Bristol, VAFROM 650 TO 700 PM EDT...SEVERAL TREES AND POWERLINES DOWNED IN BRISTOL. REPORTED BY BRISTOL VIRGINIA POWER.
22:55 UTCTSTM WND DMGBristol VaCity of Bristol, VAA LARGE LIMB WAS DOWNED AND BROKE THE WINDSHIELD OF A LADIES CAR. REPORTED BY THE BRISTOL POLICE DEPARTMENT.

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 VirginiaEvery tornado in Virginia since 1950Warnings in force in Virginia 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 257:08 PM CDTF1Pemiscot, MO15.0100$60,000
April 257:10 PM CDTF0Pemiscot, MO7.030$10,000
April 257:20 PM CDTF0Duval, TX1.0100$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.