EF1 Tornado — Iroquois, Illinois

2025-12-28 · near Clifton, Iroquois, Illinois

Event narrative

A tornado with peak winds of 95 mph touched down in a field approximately two miles east of Clifton. In the first few minutes of its lifespan, the tornado largely remained over open fields and may have briefly lifted as little damage was observed west of Route 45. The tornado began to strengthen as it moved northeast and at the intersection of N 1600 East Road and E 3100 North Road, a sizable portion of an eastward facing roof of a house was torn off and deposited in a downstream field. Several trees at this property were damaged including one pine tree whose top half was snapped off and tossed nearly 100 yards to the east. At an adjacent property, a barn was shifted off of its foundation and had a portion of its roof peeled off.

As the tornado reached the Iroquois River, it tore the roof off of a garage and peeled roofing material off of a house at a property next to the river. Extensive tree damage was noted at this property and just to the east along the river, where multiple trees were uprooted and dozens of trees lost limbs. The tornado weakened a bit east of the Iroquois River, but continued to cause tree damage as it approached and crossed N 1800 East Road. A residence along N 1900 East Road and two additional barns along N 2000 East Road were damaged by the tornado. The tornado lifted southwest of St. Anne, shortly after it tipped over an irrigation pivot.

Wider weather episode

Severe thunderstorms moved across portions of central Illinois during the late morning of December 28th producing localized wind damage. Additional severe thunderstorms moved across parts of central Illinois during the afternoon producing additional wind damage and six tornadoes. Heavy rain also caused localized flooding.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.9388, -87.9033)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1304678. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.