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EF1 tornado in Bureau County, Illinois

Tornado February 28, 2017 · Bureau County, Illinois

EF1
Rating
2.3 mi
Path length
50 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

National Weather Service storm survey team reported damage along a path, mainly to trees. A farm shed was also completely destroyed along the path. The estimated peak winds were 70 mph.

The wider storm

Following a week of record highs, a late winter severe weather outbreak brought widespread severe thunderstorms to Iowa, Illinois, and northeast Missouri. Supercell thunderstorms produced numerous reports of large hail and a few tornadoes. The tornadoes were the first ever recorded in the month of February, across eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois. Additionally, some damaging winds occurred after dark, when the storms formed into a line as they moved through Illinois. This outbreak of severe weather also included many locations in the southern half of Illinois, and Missouri.

Began near Cherry (41.4151, -89.2608).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Whiteside CountyEF1 Bureau County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 674943. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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