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F2 tornado in Johnson County, Illinois

Tornado April 28, 2002 · Johnson County, Illinois

Rating

19.0 mi

Whole path

400 yd

Path width

Death

Injuries

$8.0M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Union County → Johnson County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado entered Johnson County near Cypress and was on the ground for only a few miles in Johnson County. Cypress was impacted directly, where about 50 structures were damaged, including a school. The school lost portions of upper story walls and the roof. Two trailers were destroyed.

Began near Cypress (37.3667, -89.0500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5289037. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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