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F2 tornado in Saline County, Illinois

Tornado April 28, 2002 · Saline County, Illinois

Rating

7.5 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

Injuries

$3.5M

Damage as recorded

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 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 struck Galatia directly, damaging about 55 structures and destroying several. Peak winds were estimated between 120 and 130 MPH. The roof of a car wash was blown off, and then the walls collapsed on a police cruiser that was sheltered there. A coal mine sustained a quarter million dollars in damage. Two persons were injured in an overturned trailer. Two brick homes lost their roofs and some walls.

Began near Galatia (37.8333, -88.6333).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5292408. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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