EF1 tornado in Lee County, Illinois

Tornado April 2, 2026 · Lee County, Illinois

EF1

Rating

6.3 mi

Whole path

250 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Whiteside County → Lee County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 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

An NWS damage survey confirmed that an EF-1 tornado with estimated peak winds of 100 mph began in far northeastern Whiteside County west of Palmyra before moving northeast into Lee County. It tracked for over 6.5 miles before lifting near the town of Woosung. The tornado damaged or destroyed multiple farm outbuildings, downed several trees and power poles, and caused minor damage to a few residences.

The wider storm

Scattered thunderstorms moved across portions of northern Illinois during the evening of April 2nd producing wind damage and three tornadoes.

Began near Prairieville (41.8500, -89.6300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Ogle County EF0 Ogle County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1331363. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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