EF1 Tornado — Woodford, Illinois

2024-07-15 · near Germantown Hills, Woodford, Illinois

Event narrative

The tornado began one mile southwest of Germantown Hills, on the northwest side of State Route 116, producing tree damage before moving southeast to the other side of the highway and causing more tree damage. The top of one pine tree was broken off and driven into the ground, about 30 yards northeast of the original tree. The tornado continued southeast into a heavily wooded area and dissipated.

Wider weather episode

On the evening of July 15, 2024, a derecho brought very strong winds, several tornadoes, and heavy rainfall to a good portion of the Midwest. Thunderstorms initiated over central Iowa during the late afternoon hours then quickly spread east-southeast through southern Wisconsin, the northern half of Illinois, southern Michigan, and the northern/central Indiana. The event produced significant tree damage, some structural damage, and 10 tornadoes within the NWS Lincoln County Warning Area, most of which were rated EF-0 or EF-1. Back building of storms into the morning of July 16, 2024, brought very heavy rainfall and flash flooding near and south of a Galesburg to Sullivan line. The heaviest rain fell over Fulton and Mason counties where 4-8 was reported, necessitating some road closures and producing damage to roadways in Fulton County. One indirect death occurred in Peoria County as part of this thunderstorm event.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.7600, -89.4890)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1200023. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.