EF3 Tornado — De Kalb, Illinois

2015-04-09 · near Fairdale, De Kalb, Illinois

Event narrative

This is the third segment of the Rochelle-Fairdale EF-4 tornado. At its strongest, peak winds were estimated to be 200 mph. The tornado entered the county just southwest of Fairdale before directly hitting the small community. Peak winds were estimated at 165 mph in Dekalb County, rating this section of the tornado a high end EF-3. Approximately 71 homes in the community had been damaged, 17 of which had been completely destroyed with all walls collapsed or removed from the buildings. Some homes that were only nailed to the foundation were swept clean. Two fatalities and 11 injuries occurred in Fairdale. A 67-year-old woman and her neighbor, a 69-year-old woman, were both killed in their homes. The tornado began to shift north (left) at this point during its lifecycle as it left Fairdale. Several homes were heavily damaged with large sections of the roofs removed along Wheeler road and dozens of trees were snapped and uprooted. A few trees were debarked. The second story was ripped off of a home near the intersection of McNeal Road and Irene Road. A two-story rebar reinforced cinder block silo was destroyed. The tornado continued into Boone County just east of Irene Road. (Tornado 2c of 7).

Wider weather episode

Seven tornadoes were confirmed in north central Illinois in the NWS Chicago CWA. Six of the tornadoes formed from a single supercell. The atmosphere was ripe for severe weather due to highly anomalous moisture and instability for early April across the region. A strong low pressure system advanced into this favorable air mass. Combined with robust wind shear, this helped to trigger these potent storms. A long tracked violent tornado destroyed numerous homes and farmsteads along its path across north central Lee, eastern Ogle, northwest Dekalb, and southern Boone counties. This path included the far northwest side of Rochelle, Interstate-39, and a direct hit in the community of Fairdale where two fatalities occurred. This was the strongest tornado in the NWS Chicago CWA since the F5 tornado that struck Plainfield, IL on August 28th, 1990.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.0947, -88.9392)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 574338. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.