F3 Tornado — Tazewell, Illinois

2003-05-10 · near South Pekin, Tazewell, Illinois

Event narrative

This long track tornado first touched down 3 miles southwest of South Pekin and traveled to the northeast. It destroyed several homes before reaching the eastern sections of South Pekin where it intensified to F3 strength. The tornado destroyed 50 homes, caused minor to major damage on an additional 80 homes before exiting the town. As the tornado approached Morton, it weakened briefly but quickly intensified again as it crossed the intersection of I-74 and I-155. When it crossed the highways, 8 vehicles were damaged and one injury was sustained when a car was overturned by the tornado as it crossed I-74. It destroyed several three story apartment buildings and severely damaged several others in the complex. A couple of businesses in the area were destroyed as well. It then moved through several subdivisions, damaging over 100 homes, some severely. The tornado eventually weakened and lifted 2.5 miles north of Morton. In all, 32 people were injured by the tornado, three seriously, but they have since recovered.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.4667, -89.6833)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5354873. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.