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EF3 tornado in Kankakee County, Illinois

Tornado June 5, 2010 · Kankakee County, Illinois

EF3
Rating
7.8 mi
Path length
175 yd
Path width
1
Injury
$600K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 175 yards (0.10 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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

The tornado began 3 miles northwest of St. Anne in Kankakee county. The tornado developed just west of 6000E Road and tracked to the east, where it produced damage to a home and a garage along the road. At this location, a single family home collapsed upon itself, leaving it inhabitable. The garage sustained damage to its roof and exterior walls. The tornado was rated EF2 with winds estimated at around 113 mph.

The tornado continued to move to the east northeast, where it increased in intensity as it encountered yet another family home at the intersection of Route 1 and 4000S Road. This home and the garage/barn next to it sustained considerable damage, leaving the home inhabitable. The damage to the home consisted of all the walls collapsing, with all remaining debris from the house tossed to the northeast. The garage walls collapsed with the contents tossed to the east. Two four-wheelers and a four-door automobile inside the garage were lifted and flipped over as the tornado passed. Further north along Route 1, there was minor structural damage to a couple of homes and several trees uprooted. Damage at this location was rated EF3 with winds estimated at around 142 mph and a path width of 175 yards.

As this tornado continued to the northeast, it lost its intensity as it came across another residence at the intersection of 4000S Road and 8500E Road. Here, a house sustained partial damage to its roof with several surrounding trees having limbs sheared at the top. The tornado weakened at this point, and damage was rated EF1 with winds estimated at around 97 mph and a path width of 50 yards.

The tornado moved to the northeast through a wooded area, causing damage to many trees along its way. The more significant damage occurred near the intersection of 13000E Road and Gamble Road in the Hopkins Park area, where several healthy large hardwood tree tops were sheared or broken. Some homes were damaged by falling trees. The tornado continued to weaken and damage was rated EF1, with winds estimated at around 88 mph, and a path width of 50 yards. It was along 13000E Road where the tornado appeared to lift, with no other damage evident beyond this point.

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 Aroma Park (41.0636, -87.7523).

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 226112. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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