EF2 Tornado — Greene, Illinois

2021-10-11 · near Wrights, Greene, Illinois

Event narrative

High resolution satellite data and information from storm spotters indicates the tornado touched down in an open field a little less than a mile south-southwest of the Berdan Road and Wrights Road intersection. The tornado moved north-northeast and intensified as it moved into the west side of the town of Wrights, IL. In Wrights, the tornado destroyed two new, well-built farm buildings, ripping one of from a concrete foundation around the perimeter of the building. The tornado then moved to the northeast, destroying two more farm buildings before crossing Wrights road, where it snapped a number of trees and rolled a camper onto a boat. The tornado continued to the northeast causing intermittent damage to trees and vegetation. The high resolution satellite data showed a prominent track in the open fields northeast of the NE 850 Ave and Super Slab Road Intersection. The last identifiable damage and where the tornado appeared to have ended is around a third of a mile west of the NE 1000 Street and NE 950 Ave Intersection. The tornado was rated EF2 with max wind speed of 115 mph. The path length was 5.83 miles with a max path width of 75 yards. No deaths or injuries were reported.

Wider weather episode

On Monday, October 11th 2021 (Columbus Day), the potential for severe weather existed across east-central/northeast Missouri and most of central and northern Illinois. Despite limited instability (energy for storms to develop), plentiful shear (changing wind speed or direction with height) from a potent mid-level storm system provided the potential for severe storms. Though most storms never became strong or severe, one supercell in particular became organized enough to produce a tornado.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.3547, -90.3002)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 984763. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.