EF4 tornado in Washington County, Illinois

A tornado touchdown on Interstate 64, about 4.4 miles southwest of New Minden, blowing a tractor trailer off the interstate and causing minor injuries to the driver. The tornado then began moving northeast towards New Minden. The worst damage was about 2 miles west southwest of New Minden, where a small farm sustained a direct hit. The outbuildings and barns sustained varying degrees of damage, but the homestead was totally destroyed with only the foundation remaining. The damage at the homestead was rated EF4, and two fatalities occurred at this location. Also, a large full size van was rolled over. Less than a quarter of a mile east of the house, a single wide mobile home was destroyed. There were 4 people at this location, three of them sought shelter in the creek bed just east of the mobile home while one went back to mobile home to retrieve something. This person rode out the tornado in the bathtub, but was thrown about 50 feet into a field. One of his ankles was broken. He was treated and released from a local hospital. The tornado then continued to race northeast, hitting the far north side of New Minden north of Illinois Route 177, and producing significant damage to St. Johns Lutheran Church and to several homes just northwest of the church. Damage to two of the homes was rated EF3. The tornado continued northeast, producing sporadic damage to just north of Hoyleton. A farm 2 miles west-northwest of Hoyleton sustained significant damage, as did a newly constructed home 2 miles north of Hoyleton. Damage at these two locations were rated EF2. The tornado then veered a bit northwest and dissipated. Overall, the entire tornado path length was 10.59 miles with a max path width of 200 yards. The tornado was rated EF4 with max wind speeds of at least 166 MPH. There were two fatalities and 2 minor injuries.

Strong cold front moved through the region with plenty of lift, moisture and instability. Numerous severe storms developed and raced east across forecast area. There were numerous reports of large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes. Also, because of a tight gradient with this system non-thunderstorm winds gusted in excess of 40 mph in a number of locations.