EF3 Tornado — Woodford, Illinois

2013-11-17 · near Metamora, Woodford, Illinois

Event narrative

This tornado crossed the border from Tazewell County at 11:12 AM CST, then tracked northeastward across rural Woodford County before entering into far southern LaSalle County in National Weather Service Chicago's County Warning Area (CWA) at 11:33 AM CST. It weakened a bit to EF3 intensity but remained between 1/4 and 1/2 mile wide as it crossed into Woodford County. During much of its time in Woodford County, the tornado traveled across open fields, impacting dozens of farmsteads. Nearly 70 farm buildings and 7 homes were destroyed. Major damage occurred to 17 homes, while 23 others received minor damage. About 100 vehicles were damaged, including several semi trucks at a truck stop north of Minonk. Three people were injured in overturned semi trucks. One cell tower was toppled and hundreds of power poles and trees were snapped. Total damage from the tornado was estimated at $25 million.

Wider weather episode

A powerful low pressure system tracked from the central Rockies toward the southern Great Lakes on November 17th. As the system approached central Illinois, unseasonably warm and humid air was pulled northward into the area, resulting in high temperatures soaring into the 70s. This very unstable airmass coupled with strong jet stream level winds aloft created numerous strong to severe thunderstorms. Many of the storms became supercells, producing damaging long-track tornadoes. A total of 10 tornadoes touched down across central Illinois, including an EF4 tornado that severely impacted the community of Washington in Tazewell County. Three people were killed and 142 others were injured as the storms tracked through the area. Total damage was estimated at 1.06 billion dollars across central Illinois.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.7482, -89.3549)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 483781. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.