Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2009
EF1 tornado, Sunfield to Mulkeytown, Illinois, June 8, 2009
From Sunfield to Mulkeytown, this EF1 tornado ran 4.8 miles across Perry and Franklin counties on June 8, 2009, touching down at 8:00 PM CDT and reaching 300 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $26,000 of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- EF1
- Date
- June 8, 2009
- Touchdown
- 8:00 PM CDT (01:00 UTC)
- Lifted
- 8:12 PM CDT (01:12 UTC)
- On the ground
- 12 minutes
- Path length
- 4.8 miles (7.8 km)
- Path width
- 300 yards (274 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $26,000
- Counties
- Perry and Franklin counties
- Touchdown point
- 38.020, -89.175
- Lift-off point
- 37.957, -89.138
- Record number
- 0906081900-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Thunderstorms rapidly developed along a surface frontal boundary from central Illinois into southern Missouri. Extreme instability and favorable wind shear ahead of the activity promoted organized and isolated supercell storms.
A small shed was overturned. Several trees and limbs were downed. Peak winds were estimated near 70 mph in this small tornado.
This tornado downed hundreds of trees over rural Perry County. The tornado was embedded within an area of widespread straight-line wind damage. Peak winds were estimated near 95 mph close to the Franklin County border along Route 14. The average path width was about 200 yards. The tornado continued into western Franklin County.
The tornado continued into Franklin County from Perry County. Many trees were blown down. The tornado was embedded within a much broader area of straight-line wind damage to trees. Peak winds were estimated near 85 mph in this portion of the track.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
29 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:31 UTC, 29 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:15 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 21:38 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21:38 UTC | 03:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | PAH |
| 00:16 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PAH |
| 00:31 UTC | 01:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | PAH |
| 01:01 UTC | 04:00 UTC | Flood Advisory | 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:01 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 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.
Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z
1.0 hours before the tornado, 245 km from the path. June 9, 2009.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1379 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -20 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2084 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1240 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 80 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 133 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 3.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.2 K/km
Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z
11.0 hours after it, 245 km from the path. June 9, 2009.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -79005 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 711 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 49 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 45 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.3 K/km
The surface observations
Carbondale/Murph (MDH), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23:52 UTC | 82 | 70 | 0° 0 kt | 1010.5 | ||
| 00:52 UTC | 80 | 69 | 180° 8 kt | 1010.2 | ||
| 01:01 UTC | 80.6 | 69.8 | 180° 9 kt | 1010.2 | TS | |
| 01:20 UTC | 77 | 64.4 | 340° 21 kt | 29 | 1012.2 | TS |
| 01:34 UTC | 66.2 | 60.8 | 10° 19 kt | 30 | 1011.5 | -TSRA |
| 01:50 UTC | 66.2 | 60.8 | 20° 18 kt | 32 | 1011.2 | +TSRA |
| 01:52 UTC | 67 | 62 | 20° 18 kt | 29 | 1011.5 | +TSRA |
| 01:57 UTC | 66.2 | 64.4 | 30° 10 kt | 25 | 1011.5 | +TSRA BR |
| 02:00 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 40° 27 kt | 37 | 1011.5 | +TSRA BR |
| 02:06 UTC | 68 | 62.6 | 90° 15 kt | 37 | 1012.2 | TSRA |
| 02:13 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 160° 7 kt | 21 | 1013.9 | +TSRA BR |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:57 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22:58 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Venedy | Washington, IL | TREE DOWN NORTH OF VENEDY ON HIGHWAY 12 |
| 23:04 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 4 W Okawville | Washington, IL | SPOTTER REPORTS A RAIN WRAPPED FUNNEL CLOUD |
| 23:51 UTC | FLOOD | 1 W Okawville | Washington, IL | 12 INCHES OF WATER OVER HIGHWAY 177 ONE MILE WEST OF OKAWVILLE |
| 00:11 UTC | FLOOD | Addieville | Washington, IL | STREET FLOODING IN ADDIEVILLE |
| 00:35 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Addieville | Washington, IL | WATER OVER THE ROAD AT SR 153 AND HIGHWAY 10. ROAD IS UNSAFE FOR TRAFFIC. DEPUTIES ARE ON SITE. |
| 00:40 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | 5 Nw Sparta | Randolph, IL | PEA SIZED HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. |
| 00:42 UTC | TORNADO | 6 N Du Quoin | Perry, IL | EF0 TORNADO APPROXIMATELY 1 TO 1.5 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF HWY 51 AND HWY 154. PEAK WIND - 70 MPH. PATH WIDTH - 100 YARDS. PATH LENGTH - 1/2 MILE. NO INJURIES. SEVERAL TREES DOWNED AND A SMALL SHED W |
| 00:46 UTC | DOWNBURST | 4 Nw Du Quoin | Perry, IL | MICROBURST WITH PEAK WINDS OF 75 MILES PER HOUR EXTENDING FROM 4 MILES NORTHWEST OF DU QUOIN SOUTH SOUTHEASTWARD THROUGH ST. JOHNS AND THE EAST SIDE OF DU QUOIN AND OLD DUQOIN. 3/4 MILE PATH WIDTH. 6 MILE PATH LENGTH. 2 |
| 00:46 UTC | TSTM WND GST 65 | 4 N Du Quoin | Perry, IL | REPORTED AT THE INTERSECTION OF U.S. ROUTE 51 AND STATE ROUTE 154. |
| 01:00 UTC | TORNADO | 3 E Du Quoin | Perry, IL | EF1 TORNADO TRACKED FROM APPROXIMATELY 3.5 MILES EAST OF DU QUOIN SOUTH SOUTHEASTWARD TO 2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MULKEYTOWN IN SOUTHWEST FRANKLIN COUNTY. PEAK WIND 95 MILES PER HOUR. AVERAGE PATH WIDTH 200 YARDS. 4.5 MILE P |
| 01:05 UTC | HAIL 1 | 5 Se Sesser | Franklin, IL | QUARTER SIZE HAIL REPORTED WITH WIND GUST ESTIMATED BETWEEN 60 AND 70 MPH. |
| 01:08 UTC | TORNADO | 4 W Sesser | Perry, IL | E-SPOTTER REPORT OF A POSSIBLE RAIN-WRAPPED TORNADO. NO DAMAGE REPORTED...BUT WINDS ESTIMATED AT 70 MPH. TIME ESTIMATED. |
| 01:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 10 W Benton | Franklin, IL | LATE REPORT...TIME ESTIMATED. ONE HOME REPORTED SIDING DAMAGE. NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE WESTERN HALF OF THE COUNTY. SOME RURAL ROADWAYS WERE FLOODED. |
| 01:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Carbondale | Jackson, IL | LATE REPORT...TIME ESTIMATED. REPORTS OF POWER OUTAGES IN PORTIONS OF COMMUNITY. |
| 01:30 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Royalton | Franklin, IL | PENNY SIZE HAIL REPORTED. |
| 01:52 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Herrin | Williamson, IL | PENNY TO NICKLE SIZE HAIL REPORTED THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY OVER THE PAST 15 MINUTES. |
| 01:56 UTC | HAIL 1 | 5 E Carterville | Williamson, IL | QUARTER SIZE HAIL REPORTED. |
| 02:31 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Addieville | Washington, IL | COUNTY HIGHWAY 1 CLOSED FROM HIGHWAY 27 TO ADDIEVILLE...2 FEET OF WATER REPORTED OVER THE ROADWAY |
| 02:50 UTC | FLOOD | Marissa | St. Clair, IL | WATER ON ROUTE 4 AT SCHOOL VIEW DRIVE AND ON LICKENBROCK SCHOOL ROAD 1 MILE NORTH OF DARMSTADT ROAD |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2009 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 8, 2009
3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
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.