Thunderstorm Wind — Franklin, Illinois

2009-05-08 · near West Frankfort, Franklin, Illinois

Event narrative

Widespread damaging winds across southern Franklin County caused lots of power outages. At the peak of the outages, 49 percent of the county was without power. A state disaster declaration was granted for Franklin County. Among the hardest hit cities was West Frankfort. Peak winds were estimated around 60 mph at Benton, but from 80 to 90 mph around West Frankfort and near the Williamson County line. Thirteen homes were destroyed beyond repair. Damage assessments indicated 184 dwellings sustained damage countywide. Of that number, 114 sustained minor damage, and 70 needed moderate repairs. Numerous trees were blown down, blocking some of the main roads. Near the Williamson County line, trees were blown across the southbound lanes of Interstate 57. Secondary roads stayed blocked for longer periods of time. The hardest hit areas were in and near Royalton, Zeigler, Orient, West Frankfort, and Thompsonville. In Christopher, sheds and carports were overturned, and trees were down on roads and power lines. An uprooted tree landed on a house. The community park in West Frankfort was closed for a little over a week due to downed trees and fences. Some schools were closed for part of the week following the storm.

Wider weather episode

A mature, very intense derecho moved rapidly east along a stationary front across the Mid Mississippi Valley into the Lower Ohio Valley. With a very moist and unstable atmosphere, along with strongly veering winds aloft, embedded tornadic supercells were associated with the derecho. Widespread damaging winds were the primary impact. Nearly all the damage in southern Illinois was associated with the comma head at the northern end of the bow echo. Winds were measured slightly over 100 mph under the comma head as it passed through the Carbondale area. In addition to damaging winds, the slow-moving storm complex dumped very heavy rain that flooded roads.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.9000, -88.9200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 164140. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.