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EF2 tornado in Montgomery County, Illinois

Tornado April 19, 2011 · Montgomery County, Illinois

EF2
Rating
3.5 mi
Path length
200 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 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

A tornado touched down about five miles north of Litchfield, Illinois, where it snapped off a dozen power poles on East 2nd Road near intersection with North 17th Avenue. As it travelled to the east along North 17th Avenue it destroyed several outbuildings, sheds and silos and caused minor to moderate damage to couple of homes just west of Interstate 55. The tornado then crossed I-55 knocking down several power lines onto the highway, causing the interstate to be shut down for about 4 hours until they could be removed. Just east of I-55, the tornado caused extensive damage to a two story log home. A section of the roof was removed and the north and south outer walls were removed as well. Further to the east several farmsteads had minor to moderate damage to homes, barns and other outbuildings. Most of the homes and outbuildings sustained damage rated EF1. One home on Rugby Trail near intersection with North 17th Avenue, approximately three quarters of a mile southeast of Honey Bend, sustained extensive damage with the entire west facing roof was removed. A large outbuilding was also completely destroyed at this farmstead. The damage was rated EF2, with peak winds of 120 mph. The tornado then continued to the east causing minor damage to a home on Shady Lane, then lifted and dissipated near the northern end of Lake Lou Yaeger. The maximum path width of the tornado was 200 yards and the length of the tornado was 3.5 miles. No injuries were reported with this tornado.

The wider storm

A warm front was lifting northward through the region, triggering numerous showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms produced tornadoes as well as a lot of large hail. There were 6 tornadoes with this event, including an EF3.

Began near Honey Bend (39.2476, -89.6611).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 315095. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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