EF2 tornado in Henry County, Illinois

A localized rear flank downdraft (RFD) surge on the south side of a broader high precipitation(HP) supercell RFD caused a tornado to form. The EF2 tornado with 115 MPH winds began just east of Geneseo. The path had sporadic damage and based on eye-witness reports it was a multiple vortex tornado. Different suction vortices caused damage to farm buildings, trees, silos and houses along its 2.8 mile long path. Many trees were uprooted or snapped in different directions. Most houses had uplift of shingles. Towards the end of the path, the tornado strengthened just before it occluded. EF2 damage was found here as a power pole was snapped, 4 farm outbuildings were destroyed and the roof on the house was lifted then put back down on the house. Many thanks to Henry County OEM for helping with the survey.

There were two rounds of severe thunderstorms on April 4th. The first round in Illinois occurred during the morning hours. These storms developed in eastern Iowa and moved into northwest Illinois by mid morning. Despite the elevated nature of the storms and a very stable low level, a very strong downdraft surge occurred south of the hail core over the Illinois side of the Quad Cities metro, with the Quad City Airport ASOS measuring a wind gust near 90 MPH. Extensive damage occurred from Rock Island to Colona IL to buildings, trees and power poles, with some structures seeing ripped-off roofs. A survey team determined a brief tornadoes touched down in Moline, Colona, and near Geneseo Illinois.