EF1 tornado in Jefferson County, Illinois
Tornado November 17, 2013 · Jefferson County, Illinois
The path drawn at its surveyed width of 25 yards (0.01 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.
What the National Weather Service wrote
Several trees were snapped during this brief touchdown on the north side of Interstate 64. Peak winds were estimated near 105 mph.
The wider storm
Supercell thunderstorms developed along a pre-frontal low pressure trough over Missouri and then moved east across southern Illinois. Very strong wind fields coupled with moderate amounts of instability resulted in several supercell thunderstorms, some of which produced tornadoes. The storms moved through the warm sector of a low pressure system characterized by mixed-layer capes around 1000 j/kg. Southerly surface winds transported rich low-level moisture north of the Ohio River, with dew points in the mid 60's. Areas of partial sunshine immediately preceding the convection bolstered instability. The low level wind shear was very strong, with 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity at or above 500. Strong southerly surface winds ahead of the storms gusted to around 45 mph from Mount Vernon to Carbondale during the midday hours.
Began near Opdyke (38.2779, -88.7577).
Other tornadoes from the same storm system
5 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 482624. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.
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