Tornado in Illinois, April 19, 1996

Name: Tornado in Illinois, April 19, 1996
Start: 1996-04-19T19:34
End: 1996-04-19T19:47
Location: Illinois

April 19, 1996 · NWS ILX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A tornado briefly touched down 1 mile north of Savoy (near Rt. 45 and Curtis Road) and destroyed 3 homes under construction.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 12
Property damage: $9.0 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS ILX wrote it up.

A tornado briefly touched down 1 mile north of Savoy (near Rt. 45 and Curtis Road) and destroyed 3 homes under construction. Then the tornado lifted, travelled to the northeast, and touched down again 1 mile south of Urbana. The tornado destroyed 30 homes, caused moderate damage to 29 homes and one business, and minor damage to 54 homes and 4 businesses. Twelve people were injured and damage was estimated between $7 and $11 million.

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:35 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Champaign

When: April 19, 7:34 PM CST to 7:47 PM CST
Where: Champaign County, Savoy to 1 mi SE of Urbana
Rating: F3
Path length: 4 mi
Path width: 220 yd
Injuries: 12 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $9.0 million
Coordinates: 40.070, -88.250

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Illinois in 1996 Every state in 1996 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Illinois, 1996 Warnings in Illinois, April 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5543904.