Thunderstorm Wind — Jackson, Illinois

2011-04-19 · near Carbondale, Jackson, Illinois

Event narrative

About one-third of the roof was blown off a brand new police station, landing on three nearby homes. The police station suffered water damage, and the nearby homes were heavily damaged. There were numerous trees and power lines blown down in the city. On the Southern Illinois University campus, windows were broken at an academic building, and a tree landed on a residence hall. Carbondale city schools were closed the following day since thousands of utility customers remained without power.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms organized into a bow echo that produced widespread very damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. A shortwave trough over the central and southern high Plains moved northeast through the Mid-Mississippi Valley into the upper Great Lakes. A surface low attendant to this system moved from west central Missouri northeast to north of St. Louis. The trailing cold front advanced southeast across the Lower Ohio Valley and served as the primary focus for thunderstorms.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.7200, -89.2200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 289115. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.