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F2 tornado in Shelby County, Illinois

Tornado June 1, 1999 · Shelby County, Illinois

F2
Rating
15.5 mi
Path length
450 yd
Path width
4
Injuries
$2.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 450 yards (0.26 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

A tornado touched down on the east side of Lake Pana in Shelby County. Four homes and one mobile home were destroyed. A woman in the mobile home was injured and hospitalised for a time. A mile northeast near Route 16, several more homes were damaged or destroyed and two people in one of the destroyed homes were injured. Debris was scattered in the nearby fields. For the next four miles, several homes sustained moderate damage, numerous outbuildings and grain bins were either damaged or destroyed, and one woman sustained minor cuts and bruises. As the tornado moved to the northeast into the Westervelt area, numerous trees were blown down, buildings sustained minor damage, and 9 large grain bins were destroyed. The tornado remained on the ground for another 4.5 miles, knocking down trees and power lines before lifting and dissipating 2 miles southwest of Findlay. Damage was estimated around $2 million.

Began near Tower Hill (39.3700, -89.0300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

5 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5703799. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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