EF1 Tornado — Marion, Illinois

2023-03-31 · near Selmaville, Marion, Illinois

Event narrative

At 8:11 PM CDT, a tornado touched down to the southwest of Salem, IL, near the intersection of Selmaville Rd and Lowery Ln. There it damaged several trees before moving through a forested area. The tornado then moved through a neighborhood, resulting in more tree damage, roofing and siding damage to a number of homes, and the collapse of a newly built large garage. Next, the tornado intensified as it moved through the southern portion of Salem, IL, damaging several homes, businesses, and numerous trees. This includes significant damage to the roof and walls of a commercial building and a home that was shifted off of its foundation. The tornado continued east of town, moving through a golf course and more wooded areas before approaching U.S. Highway 50 east of Salem. As the tornado crossed the highway, it collapsed a large outbuilding before quickly dissipating. Overall, the tornado was rated EF1 with a max wind speed of 105 mph. The path length was 5.95 miles with a max path width of 250 yards. No deaths or injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

Ahead of a strong cold front, discrete supercells developed and rapidly moved northeast across the region during the early afternoon. Then as the front moved through the activity became more linear before moving out by late evening. There were numerous reports of large hail, damaging winds and two tornadoes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.6021, -88.9980)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1087336. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.