F1 tornado, Pinckneyville, Illinois, May 30, 2004

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 mphthis tornado

   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 mph

   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

F1

Date

May 30, 2004

Touchdown

6:25 PM CDT (23:25 UTC)

Path length

12.0 miles (19.3 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$250,000

County

Perry County

Touchdown point

38.150, -89.420

Lift-off point

38.220, -89.230

Record number

1035

Widespread damaging winds raked all of southern Illinois. The storms were in the form of short lines or bows as they moved through Jefferson, Perry, and Jackson Counties, including Mount Vernon and Carbondale. A couple of tornadoes were spawned in those areas. As the storms moved east, they evolved into an intense squall line, producing widespread damaging gusts around 60 MPH with isolated higher gusts to 90 MPH. Numerous trees were blown down in nearly every county. Some of the trees fell on roads and power lines. In Wayne County, trees and utility poles were down in Sims, but the northwest part of the county from Orchardville to Johnsonville was hardest hit with utility damage. In Hamilton County, the whole city of Mcleansboro was without power after numerous trees fell. Several of the trees landed on houses, causing severe damage to at least one house. Trees fell on vehicles in Mount Carmel, where gusts were reported to 68 MPH. At least two occupied vehicles were struck by falling trees, one on Route 34 north of Harrisburg, and another north of Old Shawneetown. In both cases, the occupants were freed by rescue workers without being injured. In Harrisburg, trees fell on several houses and vehicles, and a radio tower used for fire dispatch operations was blown down. Two roofs were blown off of houses in Raleigh, just north of Harrisburg. A tree fell on a house in Thebes, near the Mississippi River in Alexander County. The most intense winds (estimated near 90 MPH) occurred in Massac County about 5 miles west of Round Knob, where a house lost portions of its roof and attic. At least 10 to 15 trees were reported down in Massac County. The storms produced very heavy rain that caused street flooding. The U.S. Highway 51 overpass on the north side of Cairo was blocked by high water.

The tornado began on Bethel Church Road and ended at the Washington County line near where U.S. Highway 51 crosses the county line. Five barns were destroyed directly by wind. Other damage was due mostly to trees falling on buildings. At least four residences were moderately damaged. A machinery storage building and sheds were demolished. An airplane hangar was destroyed. Numerous trees were blown down, blocking some roads. At a church camp along the Washington County line, many trees were blown down, including one that fell on the camp office. A house was damaged. Peak winds were estimated near 90 MPH.

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

6 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:19 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:45 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 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 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 St Louis radar (KLSX), 131 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:23 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

80 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 81 of them

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.