EF1 tornado in Effingham County, Illinois

Tornado April 3, 2018 · Effingham County, Illinois

EF1

Rating

18.2 mi

Whole path

100 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Fayette County → Effingham 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 crossed from the National Weather Service St. Louis County Warning Area (CWA) in eastern Fayette County into Effingham County approximately 8 miles west-northwest of Edgewood at 4:34 PM CDT. The tornado destroyed 5 outbuildings, a large grain bin, and a garage about one-half mile east-northeast of where it entered southwest Effingham County. It also damaged the windows of a home and an automobile. As the tornado continued, it damaged three farmsteads... where it damaged or destroyed six additional outbuildings, a camper, an unoccupied trailer, and numerous trees. The tornado dissipated in a forested area about 3.4 miles northwest of Mason at 4:41 PM CDT.

The wider storm

Low pressure tracking across central Illinois triggered a line of fast-moving thunderstorms during the afternoon of April 3rd. The storms primarily impacted locations south of the I-72 corridor, with one cell embedded within the line producing an EF-1 tornado in southern Effingham County. Thunderstorms earlier in the day dropped locally heavy rainfall of 3-5 inches across portions of Coles County, including 3.76 in Charelston. Due to excessive rainfall rates over a short period of time, flash flooding occurred in the Charleston-Mattoon area. Numerous roads were closed due to high water, including IL-16 between Mattoon and Charleston. Several homes had to be evacuated and water rescues took place in a neighborhood on the south side of Mattoon.

Began near Edgewood (38.9394, -88.8065).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 746451. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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