This page documents notable tornadoes and tornado outbreaks worldwide in 2006. Strong and destructive tornadoes form most frequently in the United States, Bangladesh, and Eastern India, but they can occur almost anywhere under the right conditions. Tornadoes also develop occasionally in southern Canada during the Northern Hemisphere's summer and somewhat regularly at other times of the year across Europe, Asia, Argentina, Brazil and Australia. Tornadic events are often accompanied with other forms of severe weather, including strong thunderstorms, strong winds, and hail.
In 2006, there were 1,333 reported tornadoes in the US (of which 1,103 tornadoes were confirmed), with 67 reported fatalities (about half of those recorded in Tennessee). In addition, four other tornado-related deaths were reported in Europe - all of them in Germany where 119 tornadoes were confirmed, 12 deaths in Japan, nine deaths in China, 22 deaths in Vietnam, three deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one death in Brazil, and one tornado fatality has been reported in Canada, in the province of Manitoba for a worldwide total of 119.
Synopsis November 2005 was very active for tornadoes across the United States, with three large outbreaks and one additional significant tornado (see the List of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks). For much of December 2005; a cold, stable Arctic air mass prevailed over much of the United States east of the Rockies. However, by the start of the new year the pattern began to reverse itself, and moist, unstable air once again flowed northward from the Gulf of Mexico (a pattern normally reserved for spring) and combined with a series of strong low pressure systems tracking across the country, conditions were present for tornado formation.
The formation had led to an enormous upswing in tornado activity in the early spring, and the tornado reports were at record pace, with nearly continuous activity for an eight-week period throughout March and April, similar to the pace of tropical activity in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.
Activity slowed down in May with fewer tornadoes overall spread out over a much larger area due to less favorable conditions. The air became somewhat more stable and wind shear decreased, despite the large number of storms that tracked across the US. Since then, activity has been generally fairly low, with no major outbreaks anywhere in the summer of 2006, although the actual number of tornadoes has been moderate. However, in Canada a series of strong low pressure systems, combined with high heat and humidity had led to numerous severe weather events across the country with several tornadoes occurring in the Prairies, in Ontario and Quebec.
The fall severe weather season began unusually early, with a moderate event in mid-September followed by a significant outbreak in the latter part of the month. After that, activity slowed down with few significant tornadoes in October and early November. However, several significant events took place in the second half of November into December, to end 2006.
The most severe tornadoes reported were two F4 tornadoes. They took place on March 12 in Monroe City, Missouri and on September 22 in Crosstown, Missouri. The deadliest single tornado was on April 2 in Newbern, Tennessee where 16 people were killed (out of 29 in the outbreak). The most destructive tornado outside the US was on November 7 in Saroma, Hokkaido, Japan, where nine people died.
Events
United States Yearly Total
January There were 43 tornadoes reported in the US in January. However, 47 were confirmed.
January 2
On January 2, the Storm Prediction Center forecast a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms for much of the southeastern United States from the Ohio Valley to the Gulf Coast. Two major clusters of tornadic supercell thunderstorms developed, one in central Kentucky and one in western Georgia. 19 confirmed tornadoes touched down. This outbreak produced a few strong tornadoes, including an F2 that hit the west side of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. An F3 caused major damage near Zebulon, Georgia as well. There were only a few minor injuries. Damages from the tornadoes totalled $7.452 million.
January 11
In the final review of 2006, two isolated tornadoes were confirmed to have touched down in Virginia. Both were rated as F1. Two people were injured in James City. Damages from the tornadoes totaled $40,000.
January 12–15
On the evening of January 12, a squall line began to organize over eastern parts of Oklahoma and Texas. A rotating supercell embedded within the squall line produced an F2 tornado in Yell County, Arkansas. The next day, several tornadoes developed from supercells that evolved from the remnants of the squall line across the southeastern states, with the first tornado-inflicted death of 2006 in an F1 tornado near Belleville, Alabama as well as about a dozen students injured at a damaged school in Baker, Florida. Damages from the tornadoes totaled $8.395 million.
January 28
In the final review of 2006, four F0 tornadoes were confirmed to have touched down, three of which were in Kansas and the fourth in Washington state. Damages from the tornadoes totaled $110,000.
February There were 15 tornadoes reported in the US in February, of which 12 were confirmed.
February 2
On February 2, several tornadoes tore through Greater New Orleans which had already been devastated by catastrophic Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The western suburbs, particularly Kenner, took most of the hits. Several homes were heavily damaged, most of them already damaged by Katrina but suffering additional damage. Louis Armstrong International Airport took a direct hit from one of the tornadoes, which caused more damage than was done by the hurricane several months earlier. Electricity was also cut to the airport.
Damages from the tornadoes totaled $1.785 million.
March There were 143 confirmed tornadoes in the US in March.
March 8 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) A tornado damaged thousands of buildings, amounting to about 1/3 of the total buildings in the town of Oicha. This included houses, schools, churches, commercial buildings, and hospitals. Three were killed and 66 were injured, including 3 in critical condition.
March 9–13
An enormous multi-day tornado outbreak occurred starting on March 9 and continuing until March 13. Over those five days, there were 99 tornadoes confirmed out of as many as 160 tornadoes reported. 27 of them were considered "strong" (F2-F3) and one was considered "violent" (F4-F5) The majority (62) of the tornadoes occurred on March 12, particularly in Missouri and Illinois. At least 12 deaths were blamed on the severe weather, 10 as a result of tornadoes.2006 Tornado Fatality Information Storm Prediction Center. Accessed May 11, 2008.
Most of the activity on March 9 took the form of a serial derecho, although eight tornadoes were reported. At least two people were killed that day in storms, but not in tornadoes. There was little activity on March 10, but it picked up again on March 11 with 18 tornadoes in the mid-Mississippi Valley. Two people were killed near Saint Mary, Missouri when their truck was thrown into a propane tank.
The main outbreak took place on March 12, with at least 62 tornadoes, including most of the strong tornadoes and the only violent one, and eight fatalities. Activity continued farther south over Alabama and Mississippi on March 13 with 15 weak (F0-F1) tornadoes before the outbreak finally ended.
March 19–20 A small tornado event took place in the South Central United States on March 19 and March 20, with one tornado in Texas and several in Mississippi and Oklahoma.
The strongest tornado (and first of the event) took place in Uvalde, Texas late on March 19, where an F2 tornado touched down. Severe damage was reported in the community, and several homes were destroyed, including mobile homes. Remarkably, no injuries were reported. The tornado damage was difficult to distinguish from the damage reported as a result of microbursts in the area which had winds as strong as 90 mph (145 km/h). It was the strongest tornado in the region since October 2001.
A total of six tornadoes were reported on March 20. Two took place in Oklahoma and four in Mississippi. All were rated F0 or F1 and damage was generally minor.
March 23 A rare tornado touched down in Hawaii late on March 23, on the island of Lanai. It occurred at about 9:35 p.m. HAST (0735 UTC), and little damage was reported from the F0 tornado. It was only notable because of its unusual location.
March 27 (Europe) A line of thunderstorms with some supercells tracked across the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Germany, spawning tornadoes in Germany, including one that tracked through the southern section of Hamburg at about 7:00 p.m. local time (1700 UTC) on March 27. The tornadoes killed two people who were caught on construction cranes when the tornado hit. 300,000 people also lost electricity as a result of the storms. Damage was reported to be significant, including flipped cars and major roof damage to numerous houses. Rail traffic was also halted temporarily. Damage was estimated at several million euros. No Fujita scale rating was officially assigned. However, the damage suggested an F1 to F2 tornado.
March 29 (Brazil) At least four confirmed F1-F2 tornadoes hit the municipalities of Piracicaba and Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, in São Paulo state, at around 11:00 a.m. local time (UTC−03:00). An official anemometer measured winds up 158 km/h (98 mph). One person died and 15 others were injured. In Piracicaba, the damage was estimated at 1,500,000 BRL.
March 30–31 On March 30, a moderate tornado event developed across the central United States, from Iowa to Oklahoma. There were 24 tornadoes reported, of which 12 were confirmed. However, most touched down in rural areas and there have only been isolated damage reports. One person died six months later, and five others were injured. Many more reports of straight-line winds, microbursts and large hail (as large as baseballs) were reported.
There were three tornadoes of note. The strongest tornado touched down in Andrew County, Missouri, which severely damaged several houses. It was a high-end F2.sams-weather credit card deals car at sams-weather.com Another tornado touched down in Sedalia, Missouri, which was hard hit by the March 12 tornado outbreak. Damage was much less than the last hit, but one person was killed. That one was confirmed to have been a low-end F1.sams-weather credit card deals car at sams-weather.com There was a report in the city of Omaha, Nebraska of an F1.sams-weather credit card deals car at sams-weather.com
The activity continued on March 31, although it was primarily a straight line wind event across the Ohio Valley. Three tornadoes were reported, two of them were F2: one in Van Wert, Ohio and another in western Shelby County, Indiana.
April There were 244 confirmed tornadoes in the US in April.
April 2
The second major tornado outbreak of 2006 took place on April 2 in a large swath from Iowa to Mississippi and from western Missouri to the central Ohio Valley. 66 tornadoes were confirmed that day, and 30 people were killed, 28 by tornadoes.
The outbreak was first expected to begin on April 1. Despite considerable threat levels and awareness, only one small tornado was reported on April 1, in Pawnee County, Kansas. Severe weather was largely restricted to significant microbursts and large hail.
Severe weather quickly picked up on April 2 across a nine-state region. There were no less than 66 confirmed tornadoes. Damage was widespread in dozens of communities, in addition to very strong microbursts of winds as strong as 90 mph (145 km/h) and hail as large as softballs. The hardest-hit area was Dyer and Gibson counties in Tennessee, where at least 24 people were killed.