Tornadoes · United States · Wisconsin · 2006

F0 tornado, Richland Center, Wisconsin, May 24, 2006

This F0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Richland County on May 24, 2006, touching down at 4:57 PM CDT and reaching 15 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $4,000 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
May 24, 2006
Touchdown
4:57 PM CDT (21:57 UTC)
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
15 yards (14 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$4,000
County
Richland County
Touchdown point
43.300, -90.380
Lift-off point
43.300, -90.380
Record number
558

What the Weather Service recorded

A small tornado touched down briefly near Richland Center (Richland County) producing minor damage to sheds, outbuildings and trees. Elsewhere around southwest Wisconsin, law enforcement officials and the public reported penny to quarter size hail. In addition, wind gusts were estimated up to 65 mph near Richland Center. Near Keyesville (Richland County), winds estimated at 60 mph blew the roof off a barn.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 19:29 UTC and running to 22:53 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:29 UTC22:53 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchARX
21:27 UTC22:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningARX
21:59 UTC22:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningARX
22:06 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningARX

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:01 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.

Davenport, (KDVN), 12:00Z

10.0 hours before the tornado, 187 km from the path. May 24, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2006-05-24Temperature 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 -83192, lifted condensation level 1234 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2006-05-24The 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 -20 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 26 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
-83192 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1234 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
2 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

Davenport, (KDVN), 00:00Z

2.0 hours after it, 187 km from the path. May 25, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2006-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 836 joules per kilogram, CIN -2, lifted condensation level 1914 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2006-05-25The 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 56 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 26 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
836 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1209 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1914 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9
0-3 km lapse rate
8.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Lone Rock (LNR), 19 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:56 UTC8265200° 15 kt191004.1
21:56 UTC8265180° 16 kt191001.4
22:08 UTC82.466.2170° 15 kt1001VCTS
22:26 UTC7768 1001.7TSRA
22:36 UTC69.862.6310° 27 kt301003+TSRA
22:44 UTC71.666.2250° 10 kt501001.7TSRA
22:50 UTC71.668240° 8 kt161001.7-TSRA BR
22:52 UTC71.668 6 kt161001.7-TSRA BR
22:56 UTC7468310° 7 kt1001.7TS HZ
23:39 UTC73.466.20° 0 kt1002
23:56 UTC7367150° 3 kt1002.4

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

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:55 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
21:43 UTCHAIL 14 W Richland CenterRichland, WI
21:55 UTCHAIL 0.7512 W HillsboroVernon, WIPENNY SIZE HAIL REPORTED AT WILDCAT MOUNTAIN STATE PARK
21:57 UTCTORNADO2 S Richland CenterRichland, WICONFIRMED F0 TORNADO. PATH LENGTH 0.5 MI AND 10 YDS WIDE. MINOR DAMAGE TO SHEDS...OUTBUILDINGS...TREES. APPROX. ON THE GROUND FROM ABOUT 457 PM TO 503 PM CDT.
22:03 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Se Richland CenterRichland, WIROOF OFF BARN
22:16 UTCTSTM WND DMG9 E Richland CenterRichland, WIMINOR DAMAGE TO BARN BEING BUILT IN THE TOWN OF KEYESVILLE.
22:39 UTCTSTM WND GST 588 W Spring GreenIowa, WIAT LONE ROCK ASOS IN SAUK COUNTY
22:41 UTCTSTM WND GST 423 Nw BelmontLafayette, WI
22:43 UTCHAIL 0.751 Se ReedsburgSauk, WI
22:43 UTCHAIL 0.751 Sw ReedsburgSauk, WI
22:43 UTCHAIL 0.751 Sw ReedsburgSauk, WI
22:43 UTCHAIL 0.886 Nnw DodgevilleIowa, WI
22:43 UTCTORNADOW Prairie Du SacSauk, WITORNADO SPOTTED ONE HALF MILE WEST OF PRAIRIE DU SAC
22:53 UTCTORNADOW Prairie Du SacSauk, WITORNADO SPOTTED ONE HALF MILE WEST OF PRAIRIE DU SAC
23:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGMarxvilleDane, WITREES DOWN IN MARXVILLE

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 WisconsinEvery tornado in Wisconsin since 1950Warnings in force in Wisconsin nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 24, 2006

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 244:05 PM CDTF1Christian, IL3.8150$100,000
May 245:10 PM CDTF0Madison, IL0.250$20,000
May 245:20 PM CDTF1Kankakee, IL1.550$70,000
May 245:35 PM CDTF0Coles, IL0.250
May 245:51 PM CDTF0Bond, IL1.3100
May 245:53 PM CDTF0Sauk, WI0.120
May 245:53 PM CDTF0Bond, IL1.275
May 245:54 PM CDTF0Bond, IL1.3100

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.