F1 tornado, Dubois to Woodlawn, 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

6:28 PM CDT (23:28 UTC)

Path length

18.5 miles (29.8 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$100,000

Counties

Washington and Jefferson counties

Touchdown point

38.320, -89.170

Lift-off point

38.450, -88.880

Record number

1036

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 first of 5 tornadoes that occurred with a bow echo storm which moved northeast across eastern Washington County formed 1.5 miles west of Dubois Illinois at 6:24 pm CDT and traveled northeast across U.S. Highway 51. Outbuildings from two farmsteads west of U.S. Highway 5 1 sustained minor damage. The tornado then cut through an area of large trees and traveled north-northeast to 1 mile northwest of Radom before it dissipated. Overall path length was 4.5 miles long and damage width varied from 40 to 70 yards. Damage intensity with the first tornado was rated F1.

The second tornado from the Washington County bow echo formed about 2 miles north of Dubois and paralleled the first tornado damage path. Tree damage and 3 large grain bins over 120 feet tall near railroad tracks on the west side of Radom were destroyed by the second tornado. Extensive tree damage occurred just to the north of Radom from this tornado. The tornado damage path continued north-northeast for an additional 1.0 mile. Overall damage path length of the second tornado was 3.5 miles while the damage width varied from 40 to 80 yards. Damage intensity was rated on the high-end of F1.

The third tornado from the Washington County Bow echo formed approximately 1/2 mile south of Radom and traveled northeast across the eastern part of town. Ten homes, one house trailer and several outbuildings sustained varying degrees of damage. The roof of Saint Michael's Catholic School was severely damaged by this tornado. Many large trees were also severed across the eastern part of town. The damage track ended approximately 1.5 miles east of Ashley Illinois. The overall damage path length was 4 miles with the width varying from 50 to 100 yards. Damage intensity associated with this tornado was rated F1.

The fourth tornado from the Washington County bow echo formed 1/2 mile east of Radom and damaged several outbuildings on a farmstead 3/4 mile northeast of Radom. This tornado traveled to the northeast and damaged many trees along its path. Outbuildings from two other farmsteads sustained varying degrees of damage from this tornado. The fourth tornado paralleled the third tornado damage track and dissipated 2.5 miles northeast of Radom near the Washington - Jefferson County line. Overall length of the damage track was 4.5 miles while damage width varied from 40 to 70 yards. Damage intensity of the fourth tornado was rated F1.

The fifth tornado from the Washington County bow echo formed 2.5 miles northeast of Radom and caused damage to a machine shed near the intersection of Highway 15 and County Road 1175. The fifth tornado paralleled the fourth tornado damage path. This tornado crossed the Washington - Jefferson county line and caused mainly tree damage along its path. Overall damage path length in Washington County was 0.5 miles with a damage width 60 yards. Damage intensity associated with this tornado was mainly rated F0.

From Washington County, the tornado entered western Jefferson County about 5 miles south of where Interstate 64 crosses the county line, then moved northeast across the interstate near the Woodlawn exit. A semi was blown off the interstate near the exit. The tornado passed just south of Dix, then lifted north of Texico, less than 2 miles from the Marion County line. Damage in this very rural area consisted of numerous trees down and destroyed sheds and barns. About two dozen houses sustained damage, mostly due to trees falling on them. Many trees were on power lines, and power poles were snapped. The damage path was not continuous. The tornado was rated F-1 for just a brief portion of its track, where maximum winds were estimated near 110 MPH.

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

14 minutes of warning. NWS LSX issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:14 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:00 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.

Centralia (ENL), 16 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

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.