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EF1 tornado in St. Clair County, Illinois

Tornado March 15, 2026 · St. Clair County, Illinois

EF1

Rating

0.6 mi

Path length

225 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 225 yards (0.13 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

New Athens took a direct hit from this tornado. It touched down near Julia Street where it busted the windows of a local shop and damaged the roof of a warehouse building. The tornado pathed east-northeast through town, damaging, to varying extent, multiple roofs on Lela Drive. The tornado then weakened, causing less and weaker damage before dissipating just east of the Canadian National Railway.

The wider storm

During the afternoon and evening of March 15th, a QLCS moved through southern and south-central Illinois. Stronger segments of the QLCS produced wind damage across the region. The QLCS ended up producing 8 tornadoes while it passed through the region.

Began near New Athens (38.3181, -89.8759).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Macoupin County EF1 Montgomery County EF1 Montgomery County EF1 Montgomery County EF1 Clinton County EF0 Monroe County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1325691. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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