EF2 Tornado — Randolph, Illinois

2021-10-24 · near Pujol, Randolph, Illinois

Event narrative

The tornado moved out of Missouri (Ste. Genevieve County) into Illinois (Randolph County) moving though flood plains and crossing the Mississippi River just north of the Menard Correctional Center. The tornado crossed Route 3 south of Lochhead Drive destroying a small barn, snapping or uprooting trees, and caused minor damage to several homes and a hardware store. Snapped or uprooted trees and downed power poles were found along the remainder of the tornado track through Chester with roof damage to several homes on Brenda Street. The worst damage in Chester occurred just northeast of the Palestine Road and Three Spring Roads intersection, where two farm outbuildings were completely destroyed. The larger of the two buildings was well-built with anchor bolts every 18-24 inches in the concrete foundation. This damage was rated EF-2. Further northeast, minor roof damage and the loss of the roof-mounted HVAC unit was found at the nursing home near Old Lodge Lane and Three Springs Road. The tornado continued to the northeast into Bremen paralleling and crossing Route 150, producing tree damage and minor roof damage to several homes. Minor roof damage to several homes, damage to several farm outbuildings, and snapped and uprooted trees were found along parts of Chester Road and Paradise Road. The worst of this damage was rated EF-1. The tornado dissipated around 1.6 miles northeast of Bremen, just west of Route 150. Overall the tornado was rated EF2 with a path length of 16.47 miles and a max path width of 400 yards.

Wider weather episode

Numerous severe thunderstorms formed ahead of an approaching cold front across southeast Missouri during the evening hours of Sunday, October 24th, 2021. As the storms moved northeastward, they moved into a moist, energy-rich environment with substantial wind shear in the low and mid-levels. They quickly intensified, remaining somewhat isolated as they moved through southeast Missouri and into southwest Illinois. The environment was very favorable for tornadic development, and these storms produced several tornadoes and wind damage as they moved through the area. Two storms produced tornadoes that remained on the ground for significant distances. The tornado that moved through Fredericktown, MO, passing through Madison County into Perry County, was on the ground for 18.9 miles. Another tornado moved from St. Francois County through St. Genevieve County in Missouri into Randolph County in Illinois, staying on the ground for over 40 miles.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.8773, -89.9425)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 988881. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.