EF0 tornado, Jonesboro, Illinois, March 1, 2007

1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

6. EF5over 200 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

EF0

Date

March 1, 2007

Touchdown

10:45 AM CST (16:45 UTC)

Lifted

10:47 AM CST (16:47 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

1.8 miles (2.9 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$100,000

County

Union County

Touchdown point

37.439, -89.304

Lift-off point

37.460, -89.283

Record number

0703011045-01

A strong dry line or cold front moved rapidly east across the Mid-Mississippi and Lower Ohio Valleys during the midday hours. This feature trailed from a strong low pressure system that tracked from Kansas to Iowa. In advance of the front, numerous showers and thunderstorms developed. A particularly strong storm crossed the Mississippi River just north of Cairo and produced a brief tornado in Union County.

The tornado damage path began along a country road, then continued northeast over mostly open land for about one-half to three-quarters of a mile. The path then tracked along or nearly parallel to the same road until reaching the intersection of Highway 146. Several witnesses in the area observed a dark funnel bouncing up and down from the storm to the ground. Many trees were either uprooted or topped. One tree that landed on a house caused heavy damage and trapped a resident inside. The resident was freed from the home uninjured. About 15 to 20 homes received light to moderate roof damage. Several articles of debris were lodged from 20 to 50 feet up in the trees. There was some evidence of convergent damage based on how trees were blown down. Given the rapid storm speed of 50 to 60 MPH, all of the damage occurred in about two minutes. Peak winds were estimated near 75 MPH, resulting in a rating of EF (Enhanced Fujita) 0.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 12:00 UTC and running to 18:00 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:46 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.

Cape Girardeau (CGI), 35 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 63 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 16:46 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 2007 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

42 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.