Tornado in Washington County, Illinois

A tornado briefly touched down about a third of a mile north of Covington, IL. The only evidence of this tornado was a video provided via social media. Duration was likely less than 1 minute, no damage or injuries. The tornado was rated EFU with an estimated path length of 0.17 miles and an estimated path width of 50 yards.

Several strong to severe thunderstorms moved into eastern Missouri in the afternoon hours of April 15th. These storms were initially producing copious large hail, but rapidly transitioned into tornadic storms. The first tornado was associated with a supercell ahead of a congealing line of convection moving rapidly toward the Mississippi River. A portion of this line of storms rapidly surged eastward, resulting in numerous tornadoes in Jefferson county in Missouri, and Monroe, Madison, St. Clair, and Washington counties in Illinois. In total, 12 tornadoes have been identified, including 3 EF-1s, 6 EF-0s, and 3 tornadoes of unknown intensity that produced no damage.