Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2004

F2 tornado, Goreville to Abbott, Illinois, October 18, 2004

Name: F2 tornado, Goreville to Abbott, Illinois, October 18, 2004
Start: 2004-10-19T00:43:00.000Z
Location: Goreville to Abbott, Illinois

From Goreville to Abbott, this F2 tornado ran 14.0 miles across Johnson and Pope counties on October 18, 2004, touching down at 7:43 PM CDT and reaching 300 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $200,000 of property damage.

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 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mphthis tornado
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: F2
Date: October 18, 2004
Touchdown: 7:43 PM CDT (00:43 UTC)
Path length: 14.0 miles (22.5 km)
Path width: 300 yards (274 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $200,000
Counties: Johnson and Pope counties
Touchdown point: 37.570, -88.830
Lift-off point: 37.530, -88.580
Record number: 1690

What the Weather Service recorded

A supercell thunderstorm organized over southern Jackson County, then spawned a tornado as it moved east along the Union/Williamson County line. This supercell continued east-southeast across northern Johnson and northern Pope Counties, producing two significant tornadoes and large hail. Although the storm exhibited strong rotation as it continued east through Hardin County and across the Ohio River into Kentucky, no additional tornadoes were reported there.

From Union County, the tornado crossed into extreme northwest Johnson County, only about a half mile south of the Williamson County line. The tornado then moved northeast into Williamson County where Interstate 57 crosses the county line. A semi was overturned on Interstate 57 less than a mile south of the Interstate 24 interchange. The driver was injured. Peak winds along this portion of the tornado path were around 75 MPH.

The tornado turned east-southeast from Williamson County back into Johnson County. The bulk of the damage and injuries occurred in a neighborhood on the southern half of the Lake of Egypt. The two injured persons were mobile home residents whose homes were demolished. One of the mobile homes was swept clean off its foundation. The demolished home was deposited 50 to 100 yards away. The 32-year-old male occupant of the mobile home, who was ejected from the home, received numerous bruises and cuts. A female resident of another mobile home was injured. In total, three mobile homes were destroyed, and dozens of mobile homes, barns, and sheds were damaged. Rescue efforts were hampered by a large amount of tree debris on roads. Peak winds in the Lake of Egypt neighborhood were estimated near 120 MPH. The tornado lifted as it reached the southeast side of the Lake of Egypt. The parent thunderstorm produced another tornado in northern Johnson County only a few miles beyond where this tornado lifted.

This tornado touched down less than ten minutes after an earlier tornado in northern Johnson County lifted. Both tornadoes were produced by the same supercell thunderstorm. The tornado tracked entirely across Shawnee National Forest land, causing extensive tree damage. Near the touchdown point, a mobile home was destroyed, and another mobile home was damaged. In the community of Ozark, the general store received extensive roof damage. Branches were blown down in the community, and large trees were down 1 to 2 miles east of Ozark. The tornado strengthened to F-2 intensity after crossing into Pope County.

This tornado entered Pope County from Johnson County in a remote area of the Shawnee National Forest. Most of the track was through heavily forested areas, causing extensive tree destruction. The tornado reached its peak intensity about a mile northeast of Bell Smith Springs, a scenic river gorge about 4 miles northwest of Eddyville. Peak winds were estimated near 120 MPH. Near the end of the damage path, just as the tornado was reaching Illinois Route 145, a mobile home was damaged.

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

The warnings

21 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:22 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
00:22 UTC	01:15 UTC	Tornado Warning	PAH

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:55 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Oct 18, 3:40 AM CDT, 16 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 18, 3:40 AM CDT, 16 hours 3 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
340 AM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

.DISCUSSION...
WILL NEED TO BE AS BRIEF AS POSSIBLE DUE TO ONGOING WEATHER
SITUATION. MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS LIE WITH PRECIP CHANCES...SVR
WEATHER CHANCES AND TEMPERATURES NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.

MODELS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE SHORT TERM WITH SFC FEATURES.
WARM FRONT WILL CONTINUE LIFTING NORTH ACROSS THE REGION TODAY AS
SFC LOW PRESSURE MOVES EAST INTO EAST CENTRAL MO. MAIN FOCUS OF
SHOWERS AND STORMS EARLY TODAY WILL BE ALONG AND NORTH OF THE
FRONT...ESP ACROSS SW IN AND SOUTHEAST IL. COULD BE SOME ISOLD SVR
STORMS TODAY...BUT REALLY THINK THE BEST CHC OF ORGANIZED SVR STORMS
WILL COME THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. STORMS SHOULD DEVELOP ALONG
THE SFC COLD FRONT/DRY LINE OUT IN SE MO AND CNTRL ARKANSAS LATER
THIS AFTERNOON. AS PER SPC DISCO...THESE STORMS MAY ACTUALLY FORM AN
MCS TYPE SYSTEM OVERNIGHT AS THEY MOVE EAST INTO WRN KY AND SW IN.

SFC FRONT WILL LIKELY HANG UP ALONG THE OHIO RIVER TONIGHT AND
TUESDAY...WITH AN ADDITIONAL THREAT OF SEVERE STORMS OVER WRN KY
LATER TUE AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING..ESP IF WE GET GOOD HEATING
DURING THE FIRST PART OF THE AFTERNOON. UPPER FORCING IS NOT GREAT...BUT
STRONG INSTABILITY...LIFT FROM SFC FRONT AND MOISTURE AXIS AHEAD OF
FRONT SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO POP AFTERNOON STORMS SOUTH OF THE SFC
BOUNDARY.

FOR WED...MODELS DIVERGE GREATLY WITH GFS PUSHING THE SFC FRONT
SOUTH INTO THE NORTHERN GULF STATES...WHILE THE ETA HANGS THE FRONT
OVER OUR AREA. WITH NEARLY ZONAL FLOW ALOFT...REALLY THINK THE ETA
SOLN LOOKS BEST...BUT THE GFS HAS BEEN REALLY GOOD WITH THE
SOUTHWARD PROGRESSION OF FRONTS FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS...SO WILL GO
WITH A COMPROMISE HERE AND TAKE THE FRONT INTO TN. THIS SCENARIO
WOULD DRY US OUT A BIT IN THE WED/THU TIME FRAME. WILL NOT MAKE MUCH
CHANGE AFTER THAT TO THE EXTENDED...BUT IF NEW GFS IS CORRECT...THE
NEXT FRONTAL PASSAGE WILL BE FRI NIGHT/SAT MORNING. UPPER FORCING
AND MOISTURE RETURN SUGGEST SQUALL LINE WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS
FRONT.

AS FAR AS TEMPS ARE CONCERNED...WILL GO ABOVE NGM/MAV MOS NUMBERS
TONIGHT DUE TO SOUTHERLY FLOW AND CLOUDS. WILL GO CLOSER ETA MOS.
WILL ALSO SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETA AND MAV MOS TEMPS ON WED
TIME FRAME DUE TO UNCERTAINTY OF SFC FRONTAL POSITION. MODELS ARE
ABOUT 10 DEGREES DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER.

&&

.PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KY...NONE.
MO...NONE.
IL...NONE.
IN...NONE.

&&

MEFFERT

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 18, 4:36 AM CDT, 15 hours 7 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
436 AM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100-
107>112-114-191000-
ALEXANDER IL-BALLARD KY-BOLLINGER MO-BUTLER MO-CALDWELL KY-
CALLOWAY KY-CAPE GIRARDEAU MO-CARLISLE KY-CARTER MO-CHRISTIAN KY-
CRITTENDEN KY-DAVIESS KY-EDWARDS IL-FRANKLIN IL-FULTON KY-
GALLATIN IL-GIBSON IN-GRAVES KY-HAMILTON IL-HARDIN IL-HENDERSON KY-
HICKMAN KY-HOPKINS KY-JACKSON IL-JEFFERSON IL-JOHNSON IL-
LIVINGSTON KY-LYON KY-MARSHALL KY-MASSAC IL-MCCRACKEN KY-MCLEAN KY-
MISSISSIPPI MO-MUHLENBERG KY-NEW MADRID MO-PERRY MO-PERRY IL-PIKE IN-
POPE IL-POSEY IN-PULASKI IL-RIPLEY MO-SALINE IL-SCOTT MO-SPENCER IN-
STODDARD MO-TODD KY-TRIGG KY-UNION KY-UNION IL-VANDERBURGH IN-
WABASH IL-WARRICK IN-WAYNE MO-WAYNE IL-WEBSTER KY-WHITE IL-
WILLIAMSON IL-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CAPE GIRARDEAU MO...CARBONDALE IL...
GREENVILLE MO...HARRISBURG IL...HENDERSON KY...HOPKINSVILLE KY...
MAYFIELD KY...MOUNT VERNON IL...MURRAY KY...NEW MADRID MO...
OWENSBORO KY...PADUCAH KY...PETERSBURG IN...
POPLAR BLUFF MO AND PRINCETON IN
436 AM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN
ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY LATER
THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE MAIN HAZARDS WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. HOWEVER...ISOLATED
TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. THIS FORECAST WILL BE HIGHLY
DEPENDENT ON THE EVOLUTION OF STORMS THIS AFTERNOON OVER MISSOURI AND
ARKANSAS...EAST OF A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT. HEAVY RAINFALL AND THE
POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING WILL BECOME MORE LIKELY WITH EACH ROUND
OF STORMS IN A GIVEN AREA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY AFTERNOON
AND TUESDAY EVENING OVER WESTERN KENTUCKY...WITH LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS BEING THE MAIN HAZARD.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY...TONIGHT...AND AGAIN ON
TUESDAY.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 18, 6:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 31 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
612 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

KYZ001-182330-
FULTON KY-
612 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

...TORNADO WARNING FOR FULTON COUNTY KENTUCKY HAS BEEN CANCELLED...

THE TORNADO WARNING THAT WAS ISSUED FOR FULTON COUNTY KENTUCKY UNTIL
700 PM CDT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. THE WARNING WAS SENT OUT IN ERROR. WE
REGRET ANY INCONVENIENCE OR CONFUSION.

JAP

Local storm report, Oct 18, 7:03 PM CDT, 40 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
703 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0655 PM     HAIL             4 SW CAPE GIRARDEAU     37.27N 89.60W
10/18/2004  1.75 INCH        CAPE GIRARDEAU     MO   EMERGENCY MNGR

&&

DLL

Local storm report, Oct 18, 7:04 PM CDT, 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
704 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0656 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     POWE                    36.66N 90.10W
10/18/2004                   STODDARD           MO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

DLL

Local storm report, Oct 18, 7:08 PM CDT, 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
708 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0706 PM     HAIL             MARION                  37.73N 88.94W
10/18/2004  0.50 INCH        WILLIAMSON         IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

DLL

Local storm report, Oct 18, 7:13 PM CDT, 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
713 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0707 PM     TSTM WND DMG     7 S CARBONDALE          37.62N 89.22W
10/18/2004                   JACKSON            IL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            NUMEROUS TREES DOWN.

0707 PM     FLASH FLOOD      CARBONDALE              37.72N 89.22W
10/18/2004                   JACKSON            IL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            MAJOR STREET FLOODING.

&&

DLL

Local storm report, Oct 18, 7:21 PM CDT, 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
721 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0707 PM     HAIL             MARION                  37.73N 88.94W
10/18/2004  1.75 INCH        WILLIAMSON         IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

DLL

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.

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 00:00Z

0.7 hours before the tornado, 245 km from the path. October 19, 2004.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 501 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -126 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 780 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 627 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 558 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 651 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.9
Supercell composite: 16.3
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 12:00Z

11.3 hours after it, 245 km from the path. October 19, 2004.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -68737 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1265 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 159 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Harrisburg (HSB), 32 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Pressure (mb)	Weather
22:44 UTC	68	62.6	0° 0 kt	1003.4	VCTS
23:04 UTC	68	62.6	70° 3 kt	1003.7
23:24 UTC	68	62.6	80° 4 kt	1003.7
23:44 UTC	68	62.6	70° 3 kt	1003.7
00:04 UTC	68	62.6	110° 4 kt	1003
00:24 UTC	68	62.6	160° 8 kt	1003	+VCTSRA
00:45 UTC	68	64.4	190° 9 kt	1004.4	+TSRA
01:04 UTC	69.8	64.4	260° 5 kt	1004.4	-VCTSRA
01:24 UTC	68	64.4	0° 0 kt	1004.4
01:44 UTC	68	60.8	190° 4 kt	1004.1
02:04 UTC	64.4	60.8	130° 4 kt	1003
02:24 UTC	62.6	60.8	110° 5 kt	1004.1	VCTS

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

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 54 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:45 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
00:06 UTC	HAIL 0.5	Marion	Williamson, IL
00:07 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	7 S Carbondale	Jackson, IL	NUMEROUS TREES DOWN.
00:07 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	Carbondale	Jackson, IL	MAJOR STREET FLOODING.
00:07 UTC	HAIL 1.75	Marion	Williamson, IL
00:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Ne Goreville	Johnson, IL	POSSIBLE TORNADO. 2 TO 3 HOMES DESTROYED AND NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN THE LAKE OF EGYPT VICINITY.
01:10 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Delwood	Pope, IL	TRAILER OVERTURNED.
02:45 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	1 S Sesser	Franklin, IL	CAR SUBMERGED IN WATER ON ROUTE 148.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2004 tornado in Illinois Every tornado in Illinois since 1950 Warnings in force in Illinois now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of October 18, 2004

35 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 18	8:59 AM CDT	F1	Saline, AR	2.0	300
October 18	9:20 AM CDT	F2	Saline, AR	24.0	800		11
October 18	10:07 AM CDT	F0	Lonoke, AR	3.3	50
October 18	10:42 AM CDT	F2	Lonoke, AR	19.0	600			$12 million
October 18	4:08 PM CDT	F1	Washington, MO	0.2	80		7
October 18	4:10 PM CDT	F0	Washington, MO	0.8	50
October 18	4:11 PM CDT	F0	Washington, MO	0.8	40
October 18	4:12 PM CDT	F0	Washington, MO	0.8	40
October 18	4:13 PM CDT	F0	Washington, MO	0.8	40
October 18	4:26 PM CDT	F1	Iron, MO	2.0	400
October 18	4:35 PM CDT	F0	Iron, MO	0.5	100
October 18	4:37 PM CDT	F0	Reynolds, MO	0.5	40			$100,000
October 18	4:45 PM CDT	F1	Colbert, AL	2.0	200			$2,000
October 18	4:48 PM CDT	F1	Lauderdale, AL	5.0	200			$20,000
October 18	4:50 PM CDT	F0	Randolph, AR	2.0	25			$10,000
October 18	4:59 PM CDT	F0	Madison, MO	1.5	250
October 18	5:05 PM CDT	F1	Randolph, AR	13.0	75			$70,000
October 18	5:10 PM CDT	F1	Madison, MO	5.5	100
October 18	5:10 PM CDT	F0	Greene, AR	8.0	25			$1,000
October 18	5:10 PM CDT	F1	Lauderdale, AL	2.0	50			$10,000
October 18	5:16 PM CDT	F0	Randolph, AR	0.5	25			$1,000
October 18	5:25 PM CDT	F0	Clay, AR	0.5	25			$1,000
October 18	5:51 PM CDT	F0	Bollinger, MO	0.2	50
October 18	6:00 PM CDT	F0	Clay, AR	4.0	25			$1,000
October 18	6:15 PM CDT	F1	Lawrence, TN	0.7	200			$10,000
October 18	6:27 PM CDT	F0	Limestone, AL	2.0	35
October 18	6:35 PM CDT	F0	Lawrence, AR	23.0	100			$150,000
October 18	7:10 PM CDT	F0	Greene, AR	0.3	25			$1,000
October 18	7:16 PM CDT	F2	Johnson, IL	8.8	250		3	$540,000
October 18	7:34 PM CDT	F0	Dallas, AR	0.2	25
October 18	7:40 PM CDT	F0	Clay, MS	1.0	75			$1,000
October 18	7:55 PM CDT	F2	Pemiscot, MO	0.5	125	3	7	$300,000
October 18	8:14 PM CDT	F0	Calloway, KY	0.2	50			$10,000
October 18	8:50 PM CDT	F1	Dyer, TN	0.5	100		1	$1.0 million
October 18	9:12 PM CDT	F1	Henry, TN	8.3	300		1	$800,000

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.