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EF1 tornado in Marion County, Illinois

Tornado March 31, 2023 · Marion County, Illinois

EF1
Rating
6.0 mi
Path length
250 yd
Path width
$2.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

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.

The wider storm

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.

Began near Selmaville (38.6021, -88.9980).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1087336. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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