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EF1 tornado in Whiteside County, Illinois

Tornado April 2, 2026 · Whiteside County, Illinois

EF1
Rating
3.7 mi
Path length
75 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 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

A tornado passed through northern portions of Sterling, with estimated maximum wind speeds around 90 mph. Along the path, damage was done to trees (including snapped) and two garages in the path saw complete loss of their roofs. Minor damage was noted to two church roofs. There was also a 3000 lb rooftop HVAC unit rolled over, consistent with maximum winds of at least 90 mph.

The wider storm

During the afternoon and evening of April 2nd, 2026, and early spring supercell thunderstorm event spread across eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois. This brought several swaths of damaging wind, large hail, and several tornadoes to both Iowa and Illinois.

Began near Douglas Park (41.8000, -89.7300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Carroll CountyEF1 Whiteside County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1325178. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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