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F2 tornado in Brown County, Illinois

Tornado May 10, 2003 · Brown County, Illinois

F2
Rating
30.8 mi
Whole path
300 yd
Path width

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 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 that went across southeast Adams County entered Brown County about 750 pm CDT southwest of Highway 24 and Timewell. Witnesses observed a multiple vortex tornado that damaged one home, two out-buildings, several machine sheds, and several grain bins. Approximately three miles northeast of Timewell the tornado damaged another farmstead and numerous trees. Six machine sheds were destroyed while a home sustained damage to the roof and the west and south walls. A number of large trees in the vicinity of the farmstead were also damaged. Five miles northwest of Mount Sterling, several witnesses observed a multiple vortex pattern with several smaller tornadoes rotating around a larger tornado. The width of the damage area (mainly trees) varied from 50 to as large as 300 yards. Numerous trees were snapped at the base of the tree and tossed northeastward. The damage intensity was estimated from F1 to the lower end of F2. The tornado continued to travel northeast crossing county road 1500 north (5 miles north-northwest of Mount Sterling). Several large trees were either snapped half-way or uprooted at this location. Damage path width ranged from 50 to as large as 100 yards while damage intensity was estimated at the lower end of F1. The tornado damage intensified a second time as the tornado moved across Illinois Highway 99, 7 miles north of Mount Sterling. One old farm home and a large barn were completely destroyed with debris tossed 1/3 mile to the east. A second farmstead 1/2 mile east experienced damage to several machine sheds, grain bins and a barn. The nearby home sustained little damage. Several large trees in the vicinity of the barn and machine sheds were uprooted or snapped near the base of the trunk. The width of the damage pattern over this area varied from 50 to 100 yards. Damage intensity ranged from F1 to lower end of F2. Many witnesses along the track of this tornado did not hear the classic "freight train" sound as heard in other cases. Rather they heard a "swishing" type sound. Additionally, many witnesses did not observe lightning or hear thunder as the tornado passed. A special thanks to Mr. Brian Gallaher, Chief of the Mount Sterling Fire Department for providing valuable information.

Began near Timewell (39.9833, -90.9167).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5358567. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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