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EF1 tornado in Union County, Illinois

Tornado May 20, 2025 · Union County, Illinois

EF1
Rating
1.8 mi
Path length
50 yd
Path width
$80K
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

An EF1 tornado touched down along Hwy 146 approximately 6.5 miles northeast of Dongola. It uprooted and snapped several trees along with causing some minor shingle and siding damage to a few homes. Peak winds were 100 mph and max width was 50 yards along its approximately 2 mile long path as it tracked to the east-northeast before lifting just before reaching Mount Pleasant.

The wider storm

A squall line pushed eastward overnight across the warm sector of a low pressure system in Iowa. A surging portion of the line produced wind damage in portions of Southern Illinois, including the formation of a brief tornado in eastern Union County. MLCAPE was around 1000-1500J/kg, effective bulk shear was 40-50kts, and 0-3km SRH was 200-300m2/s2, with dewpoints in the mid to upper 60s.

Began near Mt Pleasant (37.4442, -89.1126).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1272625. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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