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EF2 tornado in Greene County, Illinois

Tornado October 11, 2021 · Greene County, Illinois

EF2
Rating
5.8 mi
Path length
75 yd
Path width
$100K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 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

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.

The wider storm

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.

Began near Wrights (39.3547, -90.3002).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 984763. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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