EF1 tornado in Macoupin County, Illinois

Tornado March 7, 2017 · Macoupin County, Illinois

EF1

Rating

12.9 mi

Whole path

100 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Macoupin County → Montgomery County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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

A tornado first formed on the southwest side of Sawyerville, destroying one garage and damaging two cars inside. Damage was rated EF1 in this area. Several outbuildings sustained minor to moderate damage as well as the tornado moved through the southern portions of town. Most damage was to trees and loss of roof covering on homes and outbuildings. Several power poles were also downed. Further to the northeast, the tornado caused similar damage in the Lake Kaho area. The tornado crossed Interstate 55 near Panther Creek Road, continued northeast crossing into Montgomery County about 2.2 miles northeast of Interstate 55.

The wider storm

As a cold front moved across the region, a squall line developed and moved rapidly east across the forecast area. There were numerous reports of damaging winds, large hail and 8 tornadoes.

Began near Sawyerville (39.0745, -89.8150).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Montgomery County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 686707. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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