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EF2 tornado in La Salle County, Illinois

Tornado June 5, 2010 · La Salle County, Illinois

EF2
Rating
35.1 mi
Whole path
800 yd
Path width
17
Injuries
$8.8M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Putnam County → Marshall County → La Salle County → Livingston County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

Shortly after the Magnolia, IL tornado lifted, the same supercell thunderstorm went on to produce another tornado near the Marshall and LaSalle County line. National Weather Service damage survey teams found the damage from this tornado began just west of 2900 E Road and about one quarter mile south of 1250 N Road, or N 12th Road, which is the road that marks the county line. The tornado crossed north of 1250 N Road at Interstate 39. See Stormdata for Illinois, Central for the beginning of this tornado.

This tornado continued eastward tracking along and just north of 12th Road, producing primarily EF0 to EF1 intensity damage, largely in the form of downed trees, power lines, and very minor structural damage.

After the tornado moved past E 9th Road, the damage became more sporadic, which corresponded with spotter and storm chasers who reported that the tornado was not continuously on the ground before it reached Streator. Damage became more consistent again as the tornado moved east of E 12th Road, remaining just north of N 12th Road. The tornado appears to have remained on the ground from this point east into the city of Streator. The damage from E 9th Road east to E 15th Road was rated EF0 intensity and consisted primarily of minor tree damage.

The tornado appears to have intensified as it moved into the city of Streator with EF2 intensity damage near the Eagle Pass subdivision where there was significant tree damage, along with portions of roofs removed from well built single family homes. The tornado continued eastward across southern portions of the city of Streator, damaging numerous homes and completely destroying several homes. Some of the most intense damage in Streator occurred along Hall Street and near Southside Athletic Park, where damage was rated higher end EF2. The most intense damage occurred through an approximately one quarter mile wide path through the city of Streator.

Twenty one homes were uninhabitable and had to be destroyed. Another 33 homes were uninhabitable and had to undergo major repair. Another 150 homes had some degree of damage.

A few businesses were also damaged including the Engle Lane Theater, an auto salvage business, an auto repair shop, and a landscape and nursery business.

The tornado then continued eastward out of the city of Streator producing additional EF0 to EF1 intensity damage just north of the Livingston and LaSalle county border. The tornado appears to have jogged slightly southward before lifting near the county line, just to the west of E 22nd Road.

The wider storm

Severe thunderstorms, including a few long tracked supercells moved across central and northern Illinois, producing damaging winds, hail and tornadoes.

Began near East Wenona (41.1045, -89.0723).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 225533. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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