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EF1 tornado in Bureau County, Illinois

Tornado April 20, 2025 · Bureau County, Illinois

EF1
Rating
1.0 mi
Path length
50 yd
Path width
$8K
Damage as recorded
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

One power pole was snapped at the beginning of the path of an EF-1 tornado with peak estimate wind speed of 100 MPH. Three other power poles were replaced as well. This tornado then tracked north and led to tree damage just across county border into Whiteside County.

The wider storm

A line of severe thunderstorms lifted north northeastward across northwest Illinois, mainly south of Interstate 80, on the evening of April 20th. This brought numerous tornadoes to the area as well as straight-line wind damage. Fourteen tornadoes occurred in northwest Illinois. 7 of them were EF-1, 5 EF-0, and 1 EF-U. The longest track tornado of the event was on the ground for 16 miles and traveled from Victoria in Knox County through Galva before lifting west of Kewanee in Henry County.

Began near Yorktown (41.5700, -89.8200).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 McDonough CountyEF1 McDonough CountyEF1 Henry CountyEF1 Henry CountyEF1 Henry CountyEF0 Warren CountyEF0 Henry CountyEF0 Henry CountyEF0 Rock Island CountyEF0 Mercer CountyEFU Henry County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1251997. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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