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EF2 tornado in Cumberland County, Illinois

Tornado March 14, 2025 · Cumberland County, Illinois

EF2
Rating
12.9 mi
Whole path
300 yd
Path width
2
Injuries

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Cumberland County → Coles County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

An EF-2 tornado began on the southeast side of Neoga, tracking through Cumberland County for 5.2 miles before continuing into Coles County for an additional 7.7 miles, where it also produced EF-2 damage. The tornado began south of county road 1000N, then moved into the southeast side of Neoga where it damaged the roof of a home, the roof of the high school, and caved in the front door of the elementary school. From there, it moved northeast and damaged a grain bin near the US Route 45 and I-57 intersection. Two injuries occurred to semi-truck drivers as their vehicles were overturned on I-57 at the US-45 exit. As the tornado continued northeast, additional damage occurred to trees, power poles, and farm outbuildings. Just south of the Cumberland-Coles County line, the tornado produced EF-2 damage to a home where large sections of the roof structure were removed. The tornado crossed into Coles County just over a half mile west of US Route 45.

The wider storm

A potent low pressure system progressed across the Midwest on Friday, March 14, 2025. Ahead of this system, temperatures soared nearly 30 degrees above normal with high temperatures reaching the low 80s across central Illinois. Into the evening and overnight hours, a cold front swept across Illinois, with a line of severe thunderstorms developing ahead of the front. These storms produced widespread damaging straight-line winds and eight tornadoes within the NWS Lincoln County Warning Area, all of which occurred in eastern Illinois. Two of these tornadoes were rated EF-2: one in Moultrie and Piatt counties, and another in Cumberland and Coles counties. The latter of these resulted in two injuries.

Began near Neoga (39.3100, -88.4400).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

7 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1240125. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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