EF2 Tornado — Will, Illinois

2013-11-17 · near Braidwood, Will, Illinois

Event narrative

This is a continuation of a tornado that began at 12:22 PM CST in Grundy County. The tornado moved into Will County on N Will Road just south of State Route 113. There was considerable damage to businesses on State Route 113 between N Will Road and I-55. An RV dealership had numerous vehicles overturned and damaged. A two story structure lost its roof and had portions of its walls ripped off. A model home was completely removed from its foundation on the north side of State Route 113. A manufactured building had its roof ripped off with all the walls collapsed. Widespread tree damage was observed along the west side of I-55 where the tornado almost tracked parallel to as it weakened. The tornado crossed I-55 near Widows Road where several hardwood trees were uprooted. The tornado tracked into the Midewin Tallgrass Prairie where it damaged several metal structures just west of Route 53. The tornado lifted just east of Route 53. Maximum wind speeds were estimated to be up to 125 mph.

Wider weather episode

A major tornado outbreak impacted the Midwest and Ohio Valley on November 17th. A powerful low pressure system across the plains states steered warmth and moisture northward for nearly two days, with dew points rising into the mid 60's. This coupled with temperatures around 70 resulted in unseasonably strong instability for thunderstorms to develop. High wind shear and a cold front sweeping eastward made up the remaining ingredients of an environment favorable for supercells capable of long-lived significant tornadoes. Within the WFO LOT county warning area, ten tornadoes were confirmed, including three EF-2 tornadoes. As the event evolved, the system became linear with numerous reports of straight line wind damage. Behind the thunderstorms, a wake low developed with wind gusts to around 60 mph.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.2851, -88.2469)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 484030. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.