EF2 Tornado — Tazewell, Illinois

2015-07-16 · near Delavan, Tazewell, Illinois

Event narrative

A tornado touched down 0.6 miles south of Delavan at 11:39 PM CDT. The tornado then moved east-northeast across the south side of Delavan, damaging 51 homes. 15 of the homes sustained severe damage, including either the roofs being completely torn off or the majority of the roof deck being lifted off. Numerous garages, outbuildings, and trees were damaged. The tornado also crossed through the Prairie Rest Cemetery, damaging grave markers and several trees before dissipating in a cornfield 2.2 miles east-northeast of Delavan at 11:46 PM CDT.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front interacting with a highly unstable airmass triggered strong to severe thunderstorms across west-central Illinois during the evening of July 16th. Scattered wind damage and flash flooding occurred mainly west of the I-55 corridor. One of the storms produced a short-lived EF-2 tornado that impacted the town of Delavan in Tazewell County, resulting in numerous homes being damaged and two minor injuries.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.3618, -89.5496)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 593136. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.