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EF2 tornado in Rock Island County, Illinois

Tornado March 15, 2016 · Rock Island County, Illinois

EF2

Rating

4.8 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

Injuries

$750K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

An EF-2 tornado tracked north then curved to the east through upper Rock Island county. An estimated 40 homes were damaged with the most severe damage to a neighborhood in rural East Moline where 10 homes were completely destroyed. Ten people reported minor injuries. The maximum wind with this tornado were estimated at 130 mph.

The wider storm

A strong area of low pressure and associated warm front tracked northeast from Missouri into northern Illinois late in the day. Numerous severe thunderstorms developed over the region, bringing large hail, damaging winds, and several tornadoes to the area. The warm front lifting north was a focus area for tornadic supercells.

Began near Barstow (41.5342, -90.3616).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 McDonough County EF0 Whiteside County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 625078. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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