White County May 31, 2006 F0 Tornado

...BRIEF F0 TORNADO AND NUMEROUS WEAK GUSTNADOES
CONFIRMED IN WHITE COUNTY INDIANA...

A STORM SURVEY WAS PERFORMED BY STAFF FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF
FUNNEL CLOUDS AND TORNADOES WERE RECEIVED BETWEEN 230 PM
EDT AND 330 PM EDT  ON WEDNESDAY MAY 31, 2006 FROM THE PUBLIC...TRAINED
SPOTTERS...AND LAW ENFORCEMENT.

...GUSTNADOES WEST OF MONTICELLO...

BASED ON EYEWITNESS REPORTS...VIDEO...AND DAMAGE SURVEYS THE
MAJORITY OF THESE REPORTS WEST OF MONTICELLO WERE LIKELY
GUSTNADOES...WHICH ARE NOT CONSIDERED TORNADOES. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT
A BRIEF F0 TORNADO ALSO OCCURRED OVER SOUTHWEST WHITE COUNTY AS TWO
STORMS MERGED AND INTENSIFIED...BUT NO CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE OF THIS
COULD BE FOUND. A GUSTNADO IS A WEAK CIRCULATION WHICH FORMS WITHIN
A THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOW...WHICH IS A GUST OF WIND IN ADVANCE OF A
THUNDERSTORM FORMED BY RAIN COOLED AIR. OUTFLOW WINDS AND GUSTNADOES
OCCUR IN ADVANCE OF THE THUNDERSTORM BEFORE ANY RAIN HAS
OCCURRED...WHICH ALLOWS THE GUSTNADO TO PICK UP DUST FROM FRESHLY
PLOWED FIELDS...MAKING IT LOOK LIKE A TORNADO. THIS IS CONSISTENT
WITH VIDEO AND EYEWITNESS REPORTS OF THE FUNNEL CLOUDS OCCURRING IN
ADVANCE OF THE STORM BEFORE ANY RAIN HAD FALLEN. THIS IS ALSO
CONSISTENT WITH A REVIEW OF RADAR DATA...WHICH SHOWED NO EVIDENCE OF
A MORE WELL DEFINED CIRCULATION WHICH IS TYPICALLY SEEN WITH TRUE
TORNADOES. FURTHERMORE...MATCHING EYEWITNESS AND VIDEO TIMES TO
RADAR DATA SUGGEST THESE SIGHTINGS WERE JUST IN ADVANCE OF THE
CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS...WHICH ALSO SUGGESTS GUSTNADOES ALONG THE
LEADING EDGE OF THE THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOW. WIND SPEEDS IN GUSTNADOES
ARE QUITE WEAK...USUALLY IN THE 40 TO 60 MPH RANGE.

THERE WAS SPORADIC MINOR DAMAGE IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS IN WESTERN AND
CENTRAL WHITE COUNTY. MOST OF THE DAMAGE CONSISTED OF DOWNED TREES
AND TREE LIMBS. IN ONE LOCATION A BARN DOOR AND SIDING WAS BLOWN OFF
AND CARRIED A SHORT DISTANCE INTO A FIELD. IN THE CITY OF MONTICELLO
SEVERAL TREES WERE DOWN ON HOUSES AND POWER LINES. MUCH OF THE
DAMAGE WAS LIKELY THE RESULT OF A COMBINATION OF STRAIGHT LINE
THUNDERSTORM WINDS AND THE WEAK/BRIEF GUSTNADO TOUCHDOWNS.


...F0 TORNADO EAST OF MONTICELLO...

LATER IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS THERE IS
EVIDENCE OF SEVERAL BRIEF F0 TORNADO TOUCHDOWNS JUST EAST OF
MONTICELLO INDIANA EXTENDING FROM EASTERN WHITE COUNTY INTO WESTERN
CASS COUNTY. A LAW ENFORCEMENT VIDEO TAKEN AT THIS TIME SHOWED A
MORE WELL DEFINED FUNNEL FORMATION WHICH WAS CONNECTED TO A ROTATING
CLOUD BASE. RADAR DATA AT THIS TIME DOES INDICATE SOME WEAK ROTATION
WHICH WOULD SUPPORT THE VIDEO EVIDENCE OF A MORE WELL DEFINED VORTEX
THAN THE PREVIOUS GUSTNADOES. THE FIRST TOUCHDOWN OF THIS F0 TORNADO
WAS JUST EAST OF MONTICELLO INDIANA ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE
TIPPECANOE RIVER. THE CIRCULATION THEN MOVED EAST-NORTHEAST WITH
BRIEF F0 TORNADO TOUCHDOWNS IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS NEAR IDAVILLE AND
BURNETTSVILLE. THE LAST REPORT OF A TOUCHDOWN AND DAMAGE WAS IN
EXTREME WESTERN CASS COUNTY INDIANA JUST EAST OF BURNETTSVILLE.

THE TOTAL PATH LENGTH WAS ABOUT 9 MILES STRETCHING FROM JUST EAST OF
MONTICELLO TO ABOUT 2 MILES EAST OF BURNETTSVILLE. THE TORNADO WAS
NOT ON THE GROUND FOR THE ENTIRE PATH...BUT RATHER SKIPPED...ONLY
OCCASIONALLY COMING IN CONTACT WITH THE GROUND. DAMAGE ALONG THIS
PATH WAS VERY MINOR WITH SEVERAL TREES AND TREE LIMBS DOWN. ALL THE
DAMAGE WAS CONSISTENT WITH AN F0 INTENSITY RATING.

AN F0 TORNADO HAS A WIND RANGE OF 40 TO 72 MPH ON THE FUJITA
INTENSITY SCALE.
 

 ...Map of the Damage Paths...

Click for Radar Images from the Event