F3 tornado, Cantrall to Beason, Illinois, May 9, 1995

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mphthis tornado

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F3

Date

May 9, 1995

Touchdown

5:22 PM CDT (22:22 UTC)

Path length

50.0 miles (80.5 km)

Path width

880 yards (805 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

6

Property damage

$5 million to $50 million

Counties

Sangamon, Menard and Logan counties

Touchdown point

39.880, -89.730

Lift-off point

40.220, -89.120

Record number

297

A tornado developed 3 NE of Salisbury and moved northeast lifting 5 NE of Beason in Logan County at 1756 CST. The path width varied from one-quarter to three-quarters of a mile and was on the ground for 40 miles. The tornado caused significant damage in Cantrall (three homes destroyed, 10 had major damage, 11 had minor damage, and the roof and interior of a grade school suffered extensive damage). In the Brookwood Hills Subdivision in Menard County (3 SE Athens), one home was destroyed, one had major damage, 12 homes suffered minor damage, and one farm in the area sustained damage to barns and silos. In Elkhart, 50 to 75 homes were damaged, as well as, several businesses. In Flamingo Heights subdivision (4S of Lincoln), all 23 homes were damaged. Numerous power lines, poles, trees, and a 400 foot cellular tower were blown down. With all of the damage, only six people suffered minor injuries. Preliminary damage estimates were $1 million in Sangamon County, $1 Million in Menard County, and over $8 million in Logan County.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

27 minutes of warning. NWS ILX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:55 UTC, 27 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:57 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1995 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

38 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.