Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2004
F1 tornado, Marine, Illinois, May 30, 2004
This F1 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Madison County on May 30, 2004, touching down at 4:05 PM CDT and reaching 70 yards wide. It killed nobody.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.
The record
- Rating
- F1
- Date
- May 30, 2004
- Touchdown
- 4:05 PM CDT (21:05 UTC)
- Path length
- 2.0 miles (3.2 km)
- Path width
- 70 yards (64 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Madison County
- Touchdown point
- 38.820, -89.830
- Lift-off point
- 38.830, -89.780
- Record number
- 130
What the Weather Service recorded
A tornado initially formed near the intersection of Highway 4 and Fruit Road where several trees were damaged. The tornado moved northeast and caused minor roof damage to a couple of homes and more extensive damage to several farm buildings for about 2 miles. Sheet metal from one roof flew at least one-quarter mile.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21:04 UTC | 21:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX |
| 21:13 UTC | 22:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | LSX |
| 21:20 UTC | 22:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | LSX |
| 22:09 UTC | 22:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX |
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 forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk, with a 0.25 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 16:38 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 air that afternoon
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.
Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z
9.1 hours before the tornado, 180 km from the path. May 30, 2004.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1629 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -53 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 643 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 569 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 201 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 177 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.4
- Supercell composite
- 8.9
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.0 K/km
Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z
2.9 hours after it, 180 km from the path. May 31, 2004.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 7 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -270 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 845 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 51 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -89 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -31 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.5 K/km
The radar
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:02 UTC.
Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track
Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 W Jamestown | Clinton, IL | 6 INCH TREE DOWN |
| 21:11 UTC | TORNADO | Edwardsville | Madison, IL | TORNADO ON THE GROUND AT ROUTE 4...NEAR EDWARDSVILLE...REPORTED BY STATE POLICE. |
| 21:30 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Breese | Clinton, IL | |
| 21:33 UTC | HAIL 2.75 | 5 W Breese | Clinton, IL | FUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED BY SPOTTER. |
| 21:35 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Ne Breese | Clinton, IL | DAMAGE TO HOG FARM...AND ADJACENT HOUSE. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 21:40 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Aviston | Clinton, IL | |
| 21:40 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | Donnellson | Montgomery, IL | |
| 21:40 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Hillsboro | Montgomery, IL | |
| 21:45 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | 4 E Donnellson | Montgomery, IL | |
| 21:52 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Ne Breese | Clinton, IL | BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN...FOLLOWING FUNNEL CLOUD NE. |
| 21:57 UTC | TORNADO | 8 Ne Breese | Clinton, IL | TORNADO ON THE GROUND |
| 22:00 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Columbia | Monroe, IL | 52KT...60 MPH WIND GUST |
| 22:05 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 2 W Troy | Madison, IL | HIGHWAY 270 AND INTERSTATE 55...GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AND 60 MPH WIND GUST. |
| 22:08 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Carlyle | Clinton, IL | FUNNEL CLOUD OVER CARLYLE LAKE. |
| 22:15 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Hazelwood | Fayette, IL | |
| 22:20 UTC | TSTM WND GST 64 | 5 S Belleville | St. Clair, IL | SPOTTER MEASURED WIND GUST |
| 22:21 UTC | TORNADO | 5 W Patoka | Fayette, IL | TORNADO ON THE GROUND WEST OF PATOKA. |
| 22:26 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Wood River | Madison, IL | TREE BRANCHES BLOWN DOWN |
| 22:29 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Scott Afb | St. Clair, IL | LARGE TREE LIMBS BLOWN DOWN...AT MID AMERICA AIRPORT. |
| 22:29 UTC | TSTM WND GST 97 | Scott Afb | St. Clair, IL | SCOTT AFB...KBLV...PEAK WIND GUST OF 97 MPH AT 529 PM. |
| 22:30 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Patoka | Marion, IL | FUNNEL CLOUD DROPPING DOWN OVER TOWN OF PATOKA. |
| 22:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Godfrey | Madison, IL | LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN. |
| 22:31 UTC | TSTM WND GST 73 | Belleville | St. Clair, IL | GUST 63 KT...73 MPH...AT KBLV. |
| 22:38 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Belleville | St. Clair, IL | 60 MPH WIND GUST AT KBLV. |
| 22:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Scott Afb | St. Clair, IL | 6 TO 8 INCH DIAMETER LIMBS BLOWN DOWN. |
| 22:57 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Nw Litchfield | Montgomery, IL | TOPS OF TREES BROKEN...ESTIMATED 80 MPH WIND GUSTS. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 30, 2004
80 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30 | 1:42 AM CDT | F0 | Wagoner, OK | 3.5 | 300 | $10,000 | ||
| May 30 | 1:51 AM CDT | F1 | Mayes, OK | 7.2 | 600 | $30,000 | ||
| May 30 | 6:45 AM CDT | F1 | Grundy, TN | 1.0 | 10 | $30,000 | ||
| May 30 | 9:37 AM CDT | F0 | Tazewell, IL | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| May 30 | 12:15 PM CDT | F0 | McCracken, KY | 1.5 | 50 | $20,000 | ||
| May 30 | 1:05 PM EST | F1 | Owen, IN | 8.4 | 75 | $300,000 | ||
| May 30 | 1:33 PM EST | F0 | Fountain, IN | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| May 30 | 2:09 PM EST | F1 | Monroe, IN | 7.0 | 75 | $250,000 | ||
| May 30 | 2:18 PM CDT | F0 | Lee, IA | 0.3 | 40 | $3,000 | ||
| May 30 | 2:22 PM CDT | F0 | Todd, KY | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 2:23 PM CDT | F1 | Lee, IA | 0.3 | 70 | $20,000 | ||
| May 30 | 2:25 PM EST | F3 | Crawford, IN | 15.0 | 400 | 1 | 11 | $5.0 million |
| May 30 | 2:26 PM CDT | F0 | Lee, IA | 0.3 | 40 | $10,000 | ||
| May 30 | 2:30 PM CDT | F1 | Lee, IA | 0.5 | 70 | $20,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:30 PM EDT | F1 | Clark, IN | 2.0 | 10 | $500,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:40 PM EDT | F0 | Floyd, IN | 3.8 | 10 | |||
| May 30 | 2:40 PM CDT | F2 | Hopkins, KY | 7.0 | 175 | $300,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:10 PM EST | F1 | Washington, IN | 10.6 | 30 | $120,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:12 PM CDT | F0 | Daviess, KY | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| May 30 | 3:23 PM CDT | F0 | Shannon, MO | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 3:28 PM CDT | F0 | Benton, IA | 0.2 | 40 | |||
| May 30 | 3:35 PM CDT | F0 | Sherburne, MN | 0.5 | 30 | |||
| May 30 | 3:36 PM CDT | F1 | Iowa, IA | 0.2 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:50 PM CDT | F0 | Buchanan, IA | 0.2 | 30 | |||
| May 30 | 3:51 PM CDT | F0 | Buchanan, IA | 0.3 | 40 | $10,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:53 PM CDT | F1 | Laclede, MO | 1.0 | 200 | $10,000 | ||
| May 30 | 3:56 PM CDT | F0 | Jones, IA | 0.3 | 30 | |||
| May 30 | 5:27 PM EDT | F0 | Jefferson, KY | 0.3 | 30 | $100,000 | ||
| May 30 | 4:50 PM CDT | F1 | Clinton, IL | 7.0 | 80 | |||
| May 30 | 4:55 PM EST | F0 | Clay, IN | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| May 30 | 5:05 PM CDT | F1 | Woodford, IL | 9.0 | 75 | |||
| May 30 | 5:10 PM CDT | F0 | Fayette, IL | 0.1 | 40 | |||
| May 30 | 5:20 PM CDT | F1 | Saint Louis, MO | 2.0 | 50 | 1 | $100,000 | |
| May 30 | 5:45 PM CDT | F0 | Reynolds, MO | 0.1 | 40 | |||
| May 30 | 5:57 PM CDT | F0 | Logan, IL | 0.1 | 40 | 3 | $250,000 | |
| May 30 | 6:00 PM EST | F0 | Morgan, IN | 0.1 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| May 30 | 7:05 PM EDT | F0 | Powell, KY | 0.1 | 17 | |||
| May 30 | 6:10 PM EST | F1 | Morgan, IN | 5.0 | 75 | $20,000 | ||
| May 30 | 6:11 PM CDT | F1 | Livingston, IL | 12.0 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 6:12 PM CDT | F0 | Livingston, IL | 0.2 | 20 | |||
| May 30 | 6:24 PM CDT | F1 | Washington, IL | 4.5 | 70 | |||
| May 30 | 6:25 PM CDT | F1 | Washington, IL | 3.5 | 80 | |||
| May 30 | 6:25 PM CDT | F1 | Perry, IL | 12.0 | 75 | $250,000 | ||
| May 30 | 6:26 PM CDT | F1 | Washington, IL | 4.0 | 100 | |||
| May 30 | 6:27 PM CDT | F1 | Washington, IL | 4.5 | 70 | |||
| May 30 | 6:28 PM CDT | F1 | Washington, IL | 18.5 | 75 | $100,000 | ||
| May 30 | 6:30 PM EST | F0 | Hendricks, IN | 0.8 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 6:32 PM CDT | F0 | Livingston, IL | 0.2 | 20 | |||
| May 30 | 6:32 PM CDT | F0 | Jackson, IL | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 6:32 PM EST | F0 | Hendricks, IN | 4.1 | 75 | |||
| May 30 | 6:40 PM CDT | F0 | Livingston, IL | 1.0 | 20 | |||
| May 30 | 7:00 PM CDT | F1 | Nevada, AR | 10.0 | 100 | $80,000 | ||
| May 30 | 7:00 PM EST | F2 | Marion, IN | 20.0 | 100 | 26 | $19 million | |
| May 30 | 7:13 PM CDT | F0 | Clay, IL | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 7:19 PM CDT | F0 | Clay, IL | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| May 30 | 7:26 PM EST | F0 | Tippecanoe, IN | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| May 30 | 7:28 PM CDT | F0 | Goodhue, MN | 0.5 | 25 | |||
| May 30 | 7:28 PM CDT | F0 | Chisago, MN | 0.3 | 25 | |||
| May 30 | 7:29 PM EST | F2 | Tippecanoe, IN | 1.8 | 75 | $1.0 million | ||
| May 30 | 7:32 PM CDT | F0 | Newton, IN | 2.5 | 20 |
What this means
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.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.