EF3 tornado in Fulton County, Illinois

A tornado touched down about 1 mile south of Ipava at 7:11 PM CDT. It tracked east-northeastward causing EF-1 level damage near the intersection of East Square Road and North Summum Road where several farm buildings and a home sustained damage. The tornado then curved northeastward and crossed the Spoon River Bottoms. Damage began increasing about 1.5 miles west of Lewistown near County Highway 14 where several houses and outbuildings were damaged along North Milton Road. The tornado increased in intensity, producing EF-3 damage just northwest of Lewistown where it crumpled a metal high tension transmission tower. It crossed State Highway 97 just northwest of the intersection with State Highway 100 and damaged numerous homes and farm buildings along State Highway 100 between North Grain Bin Highway and East Epworth Spring Road. The tornado blew down several power poles from this point northeastward to the southwest edge of Bryant. Much of the tornado damage within the town of Bryant was west of State Highway 100 between Ash Street and Elm Street...with damage east of State Highway 100 being caused by rear-flank downdraft winds of 70 to 100 mph. EF-3 tornado damage was observed about 1 mile southwest of Bryant near the intersection of State Highway 100 and North Wright Road where several houses were demolished. EF-3 damage was also noted 1 mile northeast of Bryant near the west end of East Hooty Road. Four injuries occurred in the Bryant area. The tornado continued northeastward, damaging trees and power lines west of Saint David and a home along West Hickory Street southwest of Canton. It dissipated about 2 miles southwest of Canton at 7:38 PM CDT.

As a warm front lifted northward, a highly unstable and sheared environment developed across west-central Illinois during the afternoon and evening of April 4th. Despite the favorable parameters, thunderstorm activity was slow to initiate due to the lack of a forcing mechanism and the presence of low-level capping. As a subtle short-wave approached from the west and weakened the cap, a large supercell thunderstorm formed over southern McDonough County then tracked east-northeast across Fulton County. This storm produced a total of 4 tornadoes in Fulton County...including an EF-3 tornado that tracked across the northwest side of Lewistown. Very large hail was reported as well...with the largest stone measuring 4 inches in diameter in the town of Bernadotte.