April 2, 2006 Tornado Outbreak

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April 2, 2006 Tornado Outbreak

F3 tornado near Kennett, Missouri

Date of tornado outbreak:

April 2, 2006

Duration¹:

6 hours, 43 minutes

Maximum rated tornado²:

F3 tornado

Tornadoes caused:

66 confirmed

Damages:

$193 million^[1]

Fatalities:

27 + 2 non-tornadic

Areas affected:

Mississippi and Ohio Valley regions

¹Time from first tornado to last tornado
²Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

The April 2, 2006 Tornado Outbreak was a tornado outbreak that occurred on the late afternoon and evening of April 2, 2006 in the central United States. It was the second major outbreak of 2006, in the same area that suffered considerable destruction in a previous outbreak on March 11 and March 12, as well as an outbreak on November 15, 2005.^{[citation needed]} The most notable tornadoes of the outbreak struck northeastern Arkansas, the Missouri Bootheel and West Tennessee, where several communities - including Marmaduke, Arkansas, Caruthersville, Missouri and Newbern, Tennessee suffered devastating damage from several tornadoes triggered from a supercell. In total, 66 tornadoes touched down across seven states, which is the most in a single day in 2006. In addition, there were over 850 total severe weather reports, including many reports of straight-line winds exceeding hurricane force and hail as large as softballs, which caused significant additional damage in a nine-state region.^[2]

The outbreak was a deadly one; there were a total of 27 tornado-related deaths plus two other deaths from straight-line winds.^[3]^[4] It is the deadliest tornado outbreak in the United States since the May 2003 Tornado Outbreak Sequence in the first week of May 2003, which killed 48. 25 of those deaths were caused by a single supercell thunderstorm which produced damaging and long lived tornadoes from north central Arkansas into northwest Tennessee.

1 Meteorological synopsis
2 Confirmed tornadoes
3 Tri-State Supercell tornadoes
- 3.1 Aftermath
4 Damage Images
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Meteorological synopsis

The outbreak took place as a result of a cold front that tracked across the central United States, which was triggered by a deep low pressure area in the Upper Midwest. The warm, humid air mass ahead of the cold front, along with high upper-level wind shear, allowed for the production of supercells across the region.^[5]

The outbreak was expected to have started the previous day in the High Plains as the cold front tracked across that region. However, the supercells did not fire up as expected and only one small tornado was reported on April 1, in Pawnee County, Kansas. Severe weather that day was largely restricted to significant microbursts and large hail. ^[6]

A moderate risk of severe weather was issued by the Storm Prediction Center for April 2, with the main risk being tornadoes and large hail.^[7] The primary risk area was the central Mississippi Valley and lower Ohio Valley up to central Illinois, which is where most of the tornadoes touched down. Many tornado watches - although no PDS watches - would be issued across the region. While a significant severe weather event was expected, the extreme nature caught many forecasters by surprise, based on the risk levels and probabilities estimated by the SPC in the main area affected.^[8]

Farther north, the initial thunderstorm development in eastern Missouri quickly developed into a squall line, eventually becoming a derecho that produced many embedded - and generally weak - tornadoes and widespread wind damage across Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. Springfield, Illinois, which was struck by two tornadoes less than a month earlier, was hit again by tornadoes and damaging straight-line winds of up to 80 mph (129 km/h), as was the St. Louis, Missouri area.^{[citation needed]} The storm quickly tracked through Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky with a peak wind gust of 82 miles per hour (132 km/h) in Lexington, Kentucky.^{[citation needed]} Wind damage was reported in and around Cincinnati, Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky and Indianapolis, Indiana among other cities.^[9]

The line of storms would slowly weaken as it travelled eastward, and the severe weather came to an end late that evening.

[edit] Confirmed tornadoes

Table of confirmed tornadoes - after surveys by local weather service offices

Confirmed Total	Confirmed F0	Confirmed F1	Confirmed F2	Confirmed F3	Confirmed F4	Confirmed F5
66	27	25	8	6	0	0

F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Iowa
F0	SW of Bloomfield	Davis	2047	unknown	Brief touchdown over open fields.
F0	N of Pulaski	Davis	2057	unknown	Brief touchdown with a narrow swath over open fields.
F2	Pittsburg	Davis	2101	3 miles (5 km)	Two houses lost their roofs and four outbuildings were destroyed. Extensive tree and power line damage also reported.
F1	Mount Zion	Van Buren	2109	2.5 miles (4 km)	Minor damage reported to one house, plus a barn was seriously damaged and an outbuilding was destroyed.
F1	S of Fairfield	Jefferson	2118	unknown	Brief tornado touchdown destroyed an outbuilding.
F1	E of Stockport	Van Buren	2119	3 miles (5 km)	Several outbuildings were destroyed and numerous trees were knocked down.
F2	Washington	Washington	2147	1 mile (1.6 km)	Moderate damage was reported to at least one business. Two outbuildings were destroyed, and many trees were knocked down.
F1	S of Riverside	Washington	2200	unknown	Trees and power lines were knocked down by the brief tornado.
F0	SW of Hartford	Warren	2206	unknown	Brief touchdown over open fields.
F0	N of Runnells	Polk	2231	unknown	Brief touchdown over open fields.
Missouri
F2	Clarence Cannon Dam	Ralls	2125	3.2 miles (5 km)	Several businesses were damaged in the Mark Twain Lake area. Many trees were knocked down as well.
F0	Park Hills	St. Francois	2200	150 yd (130 m)	Minor damage to the roofs of three houses and a business. Numerous trees were also snapped.
F0	SW of Weingarten	Ste. Genevieve	2205	2 miles (3.2 km)	Minor damage reported to three houses.
F0	N of Sikeston	Scott	2343	2 miles (3.2 km)	Minor damage to several buildings on a farm.
Arkansas
F1	Ravenden	Sharp, Lawrence	2159	10 miles (16 km)	Related to main long-track tornado. 40 houses and several barns were damaged.
F3	Pocahontas to Caruthersville, MO	Randolph, Greene, Dunklin (MO), Pemiscot (MO)	2237	77 miles (124 km)	1 death - Part of the Tri-State Supercell - see section on this tornado.
F2	Searcy	White	2235	6.3 miles (10 km)	Several mobile homes were damaged, including two destroyed. Damage was also reported to several houses, four businesses and many outbuildings. Tree and power line damage was also reported.
F3	Wynne area	Woodruff, Cross, Crittenden	2352	22 miles (35 km)	Major damage reported. Numerous houses were destroyed along with several mobile homes and many outbuildings. Extensive damage to trees and power lines were reported, especially around Village Creek State Park. Five people were injured.
Illinois
F1	Good Hope area	McDonough	2214	12 miles (20 km)	Considerable damage was reported, including 11 grain bins destroyed and several barns also destroyed. Hire Township also lost its maintenance facility.
F0	Piasa	Macoupin	2215	2 miles (3.2 km)	Intermittent damage; mostly minor to several houses, plus a barn was destroyed. Numerous trees were knocked over.
F0	NE of Piasa	Macoupin	2215	0.5 mile (800 m)	One mobile home was destroyed along with several farm buildings.
F2	Fairview Heights area	St. Clair	2215	unknown	1 death - One death and 11 injuries reported from this non-supercell tornado. Significant damage reported on the north side of O'Fallon (photos below).
F0	N of Terre Haute	Henderson	2218	unknown	Brief touchdown at the intersection of Highway 96 and Highway 94. No major damage reported.
F0	Staunton area	Madison, Macoupin	2220	16 miles (26 km)	Damage was intermittent and minor along a long swath. Mostly limited to trees, although a few houses suffered minor damage.
F1	Highland	Madison	2230	2 miles (3.2 km)	Severe damage was reported to several houses, including one weak structure destroyed.
F0	N of Gillespie	Macoupin	2235	100 yd (90 m)	One mobile home was destroyed.
F0	N of Walshville	Montgomery	2241	1 mile (1.6 km)	Damaged limited to a single farm, where a house suffered minor damage and a shed was destroyed.
F1	SW of Loami	Sangamon	2246	0.5 mile (800 m)	Damage limited to several trees and power lines.
F1	Berlin	Sangamon	2249	2 miles (3.2 km)	One grain bin was destroyed, along with several barns. At least one house also suffered minor damage.
F2	Hillsboro	Montgomery	2250	20 miles (32 km)	Significant damage reported. Many buildings of various types were damaged, plus at least one mobile home was overturned. Farm structures, including grain bins, were also hit hard. Many trees and power lines were also down along a narrow swath.
F1	N of Chatham	Sangamon	2256	1 mile (1.6 km)	Damage was reported to the roofs of several homes, and substantial damage to several construction sites.
F1	E of Farmersville	Montgomery, Christian	2256	3 miles (5 km)	Several outbuildings and barns were heavily damaged at three farms.
F1	Springfield (1st tornado)	Sangamon	2258	1 mile (1.6 km)	Light to moderate damage reported in the same area hit on March 12. Damage limited to a few commercial businesses and several outbuildings.
F0	SW of Pawnee	Sangamon	2259	1.3 miles (2 km)	Three grain bins were overturned and destroyed, and three barns were also damaged.
F1	Springfield (2nd tornado)	Sangamon	2306	0.75 mile (1.2 mile)	Damage mainly to the Illinois Department of Transportation building near Interstate 55.
F1	Taylorville	Christian	2308	6.3 miles (10 km)	Damage overstated in initial report. Four businesses, a church and several houses were damaged. One minor injury was reported.
F1	S of Riverton	Sangamon	2313	1.5 miles (2.4 mile)	Severe damage reported to numerous mobile homes, a few of which were destroyed. One person was injured.
F1	Pana area	Shelby, Christian	2315	6 miles (9.5 km)	Several outbuildings were destroyed and minor damage was reported to several houses. Extensive tree damage also reported.
F0	NE of Taylorville	Christian	2317	unknown	Brief touchdown in open fields. No damage.
F1	Assumption	Christian	2320	1 miles (1.6 km)	Minor damage to one business, plus some tree damage.
F0	Greenview	Menard	2322	0.25 mile (400 m)	Confirmed by storm spotters. Minor damage reported to one house.
F0	E of Niantic	Macon	2330	0.1 mile (150 m)	Brief touchdown confirmed by storm spotters. No damage reported; tornado remained in open fields.
F2	Macon	Macon	2330	4.5 miles (7.5 km)	One barn was destroyed and one house suffered minor damage. Extensive tree damage also reported.
F0	SE of Lincoln	Logan	2332	1 miles (1.6 km)	One barn was damaged, and several trees were knocked down.
F0	NW of Chestnut	Logan	2336	2.5 miles (4 km)	Roofs were blown off several barns, and minor damage to a few houses.
F1	Decatur area	Macon	2336	7.5 miles (11.5 km)	Moderate damage overall. Damage was heaviest at the southeast corner of Lake Decatur and in the Decatur Airport area, where some damage was reported to commercial businesses. Three minor injuries were reported.
F0	Neoga	Cumberland	2342	0.75 mile (1.2 km)	The roof was damaged at a local school, plus several trees were knocked down.
F0	N of Weldon	De Witt	0001	0.1 mile (150 m)	Confirmed by storm spotters. No damage reported; remained in open fields.
F0	S of Towanda	McLean	0008	0.1 mile (150 m)	Confirmed by storm spotters. No damage reported; remained in open fields.
F0	SW of Kappa	McLean, Woodford	0012	0.5 mile (800 m)	Minor damage reported, mainly to a pole barn.
F0	Champaign	Champaign	0015	0.1 mile (150 m)	Tornado sighted on Oak Street south of Assembly Hall. Sighted by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign police. No damage reported.
F0	SW of Saybrook	McLean, Livingston	0022	2.25 miles (3.5 km)	No damage reported. Remained in open fields.
F0	Flatville	Champaign	0025	0.25 mile (400 m)	Minor damage reported.
Tennessee
F3	Newbern area	Dyer, Gibson	0030	18 miles (29 km)	16 deaths - Part of the Tri-State Supercell - see section on this tornado.
F3	Bradford area (1st tornado)	Gibson, Weakley, Carroll	0109	31 miles (50 km)	6 deaths - Part of the Tri-State Supercell - see section on this tornado.
F3	Bradford area (2nd tornado)	Obion, Gibson	0125	10 miles (16 km)	2 deaths - Part of the Tri-State Supercell - see section on this tornado.
F1	Longtown	Fayette	0245	1 mile (1.6 km)	10 homes and two businesses, along with numerous farm buildings, were damaged. Two people were injured.
F1	Camden area	Benton	0255	unknown	Reported on WLAC-AM coverage. Significant damage reported in the community, including at least one industrial building destroyed.
F2	Brownsville area	Haywood	0325	0.75 mile (1.2 km)	Considerable damage reported to the Hickory Mills subdivision. Several houses suffered heavy damage, such as roof damage and falling off the foundation. Many trees and power lines were also down.
Kentucky
F0	E of Gage	McCracken	0031	unknown	Brief tornado touchdown. No significant damage reported.
F3	Hopkinsville area	Christian, Todd	0150	30 miles (48 km)	Major damage reported. 93 homes were destroyed and 199 others suffered severe damage. In addition, structural damage was reported to dozens of other businesses, along with countless trees, power lines, transmission towers and other structures, cutting electricity to the city of Hopkinsville. A gas line was also damaged, causing a gas leak. 32 people were injured but none seriously.
F1	N of Shelbyville	Shelby	0215	2 miles (3.2 km)	Damage primarily to trees and powerlines. Likely an anticyclonic tornado.
F1	Edwards	Logan	0330	2 miles (3.2 km)	Minor damage along an intermittent track through the area.
Indiana
F1	Mitchell	Lawrence	0105	unknown	Photos show varying degrees of damage to several houses.
F1	Romney	Tippecanoe	0110	unknown	Damage reported on at least one farm, including a mobile home overturned.
F1	Seymour	Jackson	0145	unknown	Minor to moderate damage to several houses. Numerous trees and power lines also knocked down.
Sources: SPC Storm Reports for 04/02, Little Rock office, Quad Cities office, Memphis office, Paducah office, Lincoln office, Nashville office, Indianapolis office, Louisville office, National Climatic Data Center

[edit] Tri-State Supercell tornadoes

**Outbreak death toll**^{[citation needed]}
State	Total	County	County total	Tornado related
Illinois	1	St. Clair	1	1
Missouri	4	St. Louis	1	0
		Stoddard	1	0
		Pemiscot	2	2
Tennessee	24	Dyer	16	16
Tennessee	24	Gibson	8	8
Totals	29			27

The most prolific tornadoes of the outbreak took place in a supercell in extreme northeastern Arkansas, the Missouri Bootheel and extreme northwestern Tennessee, north of Memphis. It involved four tornadoes - all of them F3 on the Fujita scale - along a line over 140 miles (225 km) long.^{[citation needed]}

The first, and by far the longest, tornado began in Randolph County, south of Pocahontas, at just after 5:30 p.m. CDT (2230 UTC). The tornado then tracked across Greene County. The tornado was fairly weak at first. There were numerous houses damaged in Randolph County, but as it approached the town of Marmaduke at about 6:00 p.m. CDT (2300 UTC), the tornado quickly intensified.^{[citation needed]}

Marmaduke was one of the hardest hit communities. Images have shown that much of the town was destroyed, and nearly every structure has at least significant damage. 137 houses were destroyed and 25 mobile homes were flattened, and dozens of railroad cars were thrown into the air like toys. Most of the victims were being held in shelters in Paragould after the tornado hit.^[10] Remarkably, although 47 people were injured, no one was killed there.^[11]

Damage was reduced for a while but when the tornado continued eastward into Missouri, damage increased significantly once again. The worst of it occurred after the tornado reached the vicinity of Caruthersville in Pemiscot County at around 7:00 p.m. CDT (0000 UTC). Considerable destruction was reported in the community, with 226 homes destroyed and 542 houses were damaged. The water tower in Caruthersville was destroyed, cutting water service in the area after the tornado.^[12] Heavy damage was also reported in Dunklin County. At least two deaths and 130 injuries were reported in the area. The tornado dissipated as it approached the Mississippi River.

More destruction took place after the supercell crossed the Mississippi River into Tennessee, where a new tornado touched down in Dyer County and crossed into western Gibson County between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. CDT (0030-0100 UTC). The tornado touched down in the Newbern area. Damage was reported to have been very severe across the area, with 72 homes completely destroyed and another 182 homes damaged in the Newbern area. Electricity was also cut to much of the area. That section of the tornado there was also deadly, as at least 16 deaths were reported in the Newbern area, many of which were at a Jimmy Dean plant in Newbern. 70 other people were injured as a result of the tornado.^[13] It was the deadliest single tornado in the US since the Evansville tornado on November 6, 2005.

Despite speculation that the tornadoes would be upgraded on the Fujita scale, the ratings for both of those tornadoes were finalized at the high end of F3 with estimated maximum wind speeds of 200 mph (320 km/h).^{[citation needed]}

The supercell as a whole continued eastward into eastern Gibson County, where a new tornado touched down near Bradford. It too was an F3 and resulted in severe damage. A new tornado also touched down in the Rutherford area and also went southward into the Bradford area. It was also a high-end F3 tornado that left total devastation in the area. The tornadoes also affected Obion, Weakley and Carroll Counties. The two tornadoes left 85 homes destroyed, 573 homes damaged and the complete destruction of many farm and commercial buildings and the Bradford Police Department. Cars were also tossed into open fields.^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17] 8 people died and 50 were injured in the Bradford area from the two tornadoes.

The Governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, declared seven counties disaster areas due to this and other tornadoes in the state after the tornadoes hit. They were Cross, Fulton, Greene, Hot Spring, Randolph, White and Conway.^[18] The total damage from the three tornadoes was estimated at over $150 million.^[19]

[edit] Aftermath

Six months after the tornado hit, debris remained scattered throughout Marmaduke. Many homes and businesses have been rebuilt but many others remain in their tornado-damaged state. The Marmaduke water tower, which was heavily damaged, was torn down shortly after the tornado. The primary employer in the area, American Railcar Industries, has rebuilt their facility and was quickly returned to operational status.^[20]

On August 29, 2006, Caruthersville Emergency Manager and Fire Chief Charlie Jones was awarded the StormReady Community Hero Award for his actions preventing further injuries and fatalities in the area. He summoned the sirens to ring repeatedly and used the fire department's communications availability to warn of the imminent and extreme danger that lied ahead, which saved many lives that evening. No lives were lost in Caruthersville as a result.^[21] Caruthersville's reconstruction is currently underway after more than half the community was destroyed. Charitable outpouring was enormous and several key buildings, including one of the schools, has been rebuilt.^[22]

Numerous FEMA trailers - intended for Hurricane Katrina victims but unused and sitting nearby - were redirected to the communities affected in Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee after the tornado hit.^[23]

[edit] Damage Images

Tornado damage O'Fallon, Illinois April 2, 2006	Debris damage O'Fallon, Illinois April 2, 2006	Derecho damage Indianapolis, Indiana April 2, 2006	Multiple tornadoes Dunklin County, Missouri April 2, 2006
Tornado damage Marmaduke, Arkansas April 2, 2006	Tornado damage Marmaduke, Arkansas April 2, 2006	Tornado damage Caruthersville, Missouri April 2, 2006