EF1 tornado in Morgan County, Illinois
Tornado August 19, 2009 · Morgan County, Illinois
NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Morgan County → Sangamon County → Sangamon County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.
The path drawn at its surveyed width of 440 yards (0.25 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.
What the National Weather Service wrote
The tornado touched down in extreme eastern Morgan County 2 miles northeast of Franklin at 146 PM CST, then crossed into Sangamon County at 151 PM CST. The tornado then continued northeastward across Sangamon County, impacting the southern edge of the town of Loami before lifting 1.5 miles nortwest of Chatham at 208 PM CST. Major tree and crop damage occurred along the path of the tornado in eastern Morgan County.
The wider storm
A vigorous upper-level disturbance in conjunction with a warm front lifting northward through central Illinois triggered strong to severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening of August 19th. Embedded supercells within a long line of storms produced enhanced wind damage and tornadoes. Seven tornadoes touched down on August 19th, affecting parts of Scott, Morgan, Sangamon, Logan, DeWitt, McLean, and Vermilion counties. The strongest tornado was rated as an EF3 by an NWS Storm Survey as it tracked across southern Logan County. Total damages to crops and property from the 7 tornadoes were estimated to be more than $25 Million.
Began near Franklin (39.6333, -90.0066).
Other tornadoes from the same storm system
5 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 194269. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.
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