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EF1 tornado in Stark County, Illinois

Tornado August 15, 2024 · Stark County, Illinois

EF1
Rating
3.2 mi
Path length
50 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 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

A tornado touched down along Walnut Creek near the Knox County-Stark County line about 3 miles northwest of West Jersey at 11:06pm CDT. It moved east-northeastward through farm fields before crossing over Walnut Creek again and snapping trees as it progressed across 250 East Road. The tornado then crossed State Route 78 and dissipated in a field at 11:12pm CDT.

The wider storm

A cold front interacting with a highly unstable airmass triggered a line of severe thunderstorms across west-central Illinois during the evening of August 15th. The storms swept across Knox County, northern Peoria County, and Stark County...producing scattered wind damage and hail as large as quarters. One cell spawned a brief EF-1 tornado northwest of West Jersey in Stark County. The tornado caused mainly tree damage before quickly dissipating.

Began near West Jersey (41.0400, -89.9800).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1212884. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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