EF1 Tornado — Morgan, Illinois

2025-06-18 · near Alexander Negus Arpt, Morgan, Illinois

Event narrative

Sentinel satellite data indicated a tornado began west of Highway 123 and north of Old Route 36. It crossed the highway at Kern Road and widened to about 50 yards as it continued northeast through farm fields. The tornado damaged a farm outbuilding and dented two grain silos at the intersection of Hog Barn Road and Buelah Road before continuing northeast through additional farm fields. A woman suffered a dislocated shoulder when winds associated with the tornado tossed her against her house. It damaged a few hardwood trees, then dissipated just north of Donnan Lane near the Morgan-Sangamon county line. The tornado was rated EF-1.

Wider weather episode

A mesoscale convective vortex, or MCV, moved into central Illinois late on the morning of Wednesday, June 18th. Moderate instability developed ahead of this feature, and as scattered storms formed they quickly obtained rotation due to shear from the MCV. A total of 14 tornadoes occurred within the NWS Central Illinois county warning area, mainly west of I-55. One minor injury occurred when winds associated with a tornado tossed a woman against her home in Morgan County. Across eastern Illinois, a line of storms developed during the afternoon, mainly producing wind damage before shifting east into Indiana. A wake low developed after the MCV passed, resulting in a short period of non-thunderstorm wind gusts, generally between 45 and 55 mph. The highest non-thunderstorm wind gust associated with the wake low was 58 mph.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.7689, -90.0478)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1261211. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.