Funnel Cloud in Richland County, Illinois

Storm chaser video showed a well-defined funnel cloud extending at least half way to the ground approximately four miles west of Chauncey. However, no evidence of a tornado was found in this area. This thunderstorm went on to produce a tornado in Crawford County four minutes after this funnel cloud was sighted.

A surface low lifted northeastward across Missouri towards the Illinois-Iowa border during the afternoon and evening of February 19th. A warm front extended east from the low into southeast Illinois. In response to this system, scattered supercell thunderstorms developed across central and southeast Illinois, with the greatest coverage being in the general vicinity of the I-70 corridor. Environmental conditions supported all severe hazards, including large hail up to 2.5 inches in diameter, damaging winds, and tornadoes, with a total of eight tornadoes occurring in the NWS Lincoln coverage area. Most of these tornadoes were brief, and none were stronger than EF-1, but one serious injury occurred in Crawford County as a result of a tornado. Another indirect injury occurred on I-57 in Effingham County when thunderstorm winds contributed to a multi-vehicle accident.