EF1 tornado, Barrow to Rohrer, Illinois, August 19, 2009

1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   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

EF1

Date

August 19, 2009

Touchdown

2:10 PM CDT (19:10 UTC)

Lifted

2:35 PM CDT (19:35 UTC)

On the ground

25 minutes

Path length

15.1 miles (24.3 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$395,000

Crop damage

$287,000

Counties

Scott, Greene and Morgan counties

Touchdown point

39.511, -90.417

Lift-off point

39.588, -90.154

Record number

0908191310-01

An upper level system moved northeast through the region, triggering showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms produced large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes.

A vigorous upper-level disturbance in conjunction with a warm front lifting northward through central Illinois triggered strong to severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening of August 19th. Embedded supercells within a long line of storms produced enhanced wind damage and tornadoes. Seven tornadoes touched down on August 19th, affecting parts of Scott, Morgan, Sangamon, Logan, DeWitt, McLean, and Vermilion counties. The strongest tornado was rated as an EF3 by an NWS Storm Survey as it tracked across southern Logan County. Total damages to crops and property from the 7 tornadoes were estimated to be more than $25 Million.

A tornado touched down just north of Barrow near Illinois Route 106 and travelled to the northeast crossing County Line Road east of the railroad tracks into Scott County (WFO Lincoln's CWA). Damage was confined to trees and rated EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

The tornado first touched down in the National Weather Service St. Louis County Warning Area (CWA) in Greene County about 3.5 miles southeast of Alsey at 110 PM CST. The tornado crossed into Scott County at 114 PM CST, then continued northeastward and crossed into Morgan County at 123 PM CST, eventually lifting in western Morgan County 3.5 miles southwest of Franklin at 135 PM CST. Severe damage occurred to a mobile home north of Manchester and widespread tree and crop damage occurred along the path of the tornado. The total length of the tornado from Greene County across Scott and Morgan counties was 18 miles.

The tornado crossed from Scott County into Morgan County, then lifted 3.5 miles southwest of Franklin at 135 PM CST. Widespread tree and crop damage occurred along its path. Numerous grain bins and sheds were also damaged. The tornado reached a maximum width of 250 yards as it moved across extreme western Morgan County.

The tornado touched down in extreme eastern Morgan County 2 miles northeast of Franklin at 146 PM CST, then crossed into Sangamon County at 151 PM CST. The tornado then continued northeastward across Sangamon County, impacting the southern edge of the town of Loami before lifting 1.5 miles nortwest of Chatham at 208 PM CST. Major tree and crop damage occurred along the path of the tornado in eastern Morgan County.

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

12 minutes of warning. NWS LSX issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:58 UTC, 12 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:15 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:32 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), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:08 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 2009 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

29 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.