EF1 tornado in Crawford County, Illinois

The tornado began about three miles southeast of Hardinville, where it damaged several trees near the intersection of East 350th Avenue and North 825th Street. It then intensified to EF-1 as it moved northeast, severely damaging two homes including one mobile home that was thrown off its foundation and wrapped around a tree. An elderly woman in that mobile home was hospitalized with serious injuries. The tornado continued northeast, crossing several tree lines and damaging additional homes and farm buildings along 1125th Street and East 465th Avenue. After that, the tornado only produced minor tree damage. It eventually crossed State Highway 1 and dissipated about 2.5 miles north-northeast of Flat Rock.

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.