Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2009
EF2 tornado, Saint Clair County, Illinois, June 8, 2009
This EF2 tornado ran 11.8 miles across Saint Clair County on June 8, 2009, touching down at 5:30 PM CDT and reaching 176 yards wide. It killed nobody.
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 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
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
- EF2
- Date
- June 8, 2009
- Touchdown
- 5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)
- Lifted
- 6:00 PM CDT (23:00 UTC)
- On the ground
- 30 minutes
- Path length
- 11.8 miles (19.0 km)
- Path width
- 176 yards (161 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Saint Clair County
- Touchdown point
- 38.551, -89.921
- Lift-off point
- 38.425, -89.774
- Record number
- 0906081630-01
The warnings
10 minutes of warning. NWS LSX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:20 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:45 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 21:33 UTC and running to 01:55 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21:33 UTC | 01:55 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | LSX |
| 22:06 UTC | 22:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX |
| 22:20 UTC | 22:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | LSX |
| 22:35 UTC | 23:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | LSX |
| 22:46 UTC | 03:12 UTC | Flood Advisory | LSX |
| 22:58 UTC | 23:25 UTC | Tornado Warning | LSX |
| 23:36 UTC | 00:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX |
| 23:46 UTC | 05:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | LSX |
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. The outlook in force was issued at 21:46 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 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), 12:00Z
10.5 hours before the tornado, 214 km from the path. June 8, 2009.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 972 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -140 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 33 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 693 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 78 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 106 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 5.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.6 K/km
Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z
1.5 hours after it, 214 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
The surface observations
Belleville - Scott AFB (BLV), 6 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:55 UTC | 84.7 | 72 | 190° 10 kt | 1009.5 | ||
| 21:55 UTC | 83.7 | 72 | 180° 8 kt | 1008.8 | ||
| 22:26 UTC | 80.6 | 71.6 | 50° 10 kt | 1006.8 | TS | |
| 22:34 UTC | 80.6 | 73.4 | 20° 30 kt | 45 | 1007.5 | TS UP |
| 22:35 UTC | 80.6 | 73.4 | 20° 34 kt | 45 | 1007.5 | TSRA |
| 22:51 UTC | 69.8 | 64.4 | 100° 8 kt | 38 | 1009.8 | -TSRA HZ |
| 22:55 UTC | 70 | 64 | 100° 11 kt | 39 | 1009.8 | -TSRA HZ |
| 22:57 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 60° 10 kt | 1009.1 | TS | |
| 23:39 UTC | 71.6 | 64.4 | 90° 3 kt | 1009.8 | ||
| 23:55 UTC | 70 | 64 | 140° 13 kt | 1010.2 | VCTS |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:28 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:32 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Pontoon Beach | Madison, IL | |
| 21:41 UTC | HAIL 1 | Madison | Madison, IL | QUARTER SIZE HAIL AT INTERSECTION OF ROUTE 3 AND I270 |
| 21:42 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Edwardsville | Madison, IL | HAIL OBSERVED AT SIU CAMPUS |
| 21:42 UTC | HAIL 1 | 1 Nne Mitchell | Madison, IL | |
| 21:45 UTC | HAIL 0.5 | 1 Nnw Edwardsville | Madison, IL | DURATION 3 MINUTES |
| 21:45 UTC | HAIL 0.7 | Edwardsville | Madison, IL | |
| 21:45 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Granite City | Madison, IL | |
| 21:56 UTC | HAIL 1 | Edwardsville | Madison, IL | |
| 22:00 UTC | HAIL 1 | Edwardsville | Madison, IL | |
| 22:00 UTC | HAIL 1 | Glen Carbon | Madison, IL | |
| 22:02 UTC | HAIL 1 | Collinsville | Madison, IL | |
| 22:04 UTC | HAIL 1 | Edwardsville | Madison, IL | HAIL FOR 10 MINUTES |
| 22:07 UTC | HAIL 1 | Madison | Madison, IL | 0.25 MILE EAST OF INTERSECTION OF I55(I70) AND ROUTE 159. HAIL RANGES FROM DIME TO QUARTER SIZE. |
| 22:08 UTC | HAIL 1 | Collinsville | Madison, IL | |
| 22:08 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | Glen Carbon | Madison, IL | SPOTTER ALSO MEASURED 1 INCH OF RAIN IN 30 MINUTES |
| 22:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | O'Fallon | St. Clair, IL | 2 FOOT DIAMETER TREE DOWN ON A CAR AT INTERSECTION OF 3RD STREET AND GREENMOUNT NEAR HIGHWAY 50. |
| 22:20 UTC | TORNADO | O'Fallon | St. Clair, IL | SPOTTER OBSERVED STRONG ROTATION AND A DEBRIS CLOUD AROUND I 64 AND GREEN MOUNTAIN |
| 22:20 UTC | TORNADO | Shiloh | St. Clair, IL | ROOF DAMAGE...FENCES DOWN...AND SMALL SHEDS DESTROYED IN THE EAGLES LANDING SUBDIVISION |
| 22:22 UTC | HAIL 1 | O'Fallon | St. Clair, IL | |
| 22:23 UTC | TORNADO | Shiloh | St. Clair, IL | DEBRIS VISIBLE WITH CIRCULATION FROM SOUTH OF LEBANON AVENUE AND EAST OF GREEN MOUNT ROAD. EVENT HAD ENDED BEFORE CALL WAS MADE. |
| 22:25 UTC | HAIL 1 | Shiloh | St. Clair, IL | |
| 22:30 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | O'Fallon | St. Clair, IL | PEA SIZED HAIL ALSO OBSERVED |
| 22:30 UTC | WALL CLOUD | 5 E Belleville | St. Clair, IL | SPOTTER OBSERVED A RAPIDLY ROTATING WALL CLOUD ABOUT A MILE SOUTH OF SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE |
| 22:31 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Scott Afb | St. Clair, IL | |
| 22:35 UTC | TORNADO | 2 W Mascoutah | St. Clair, IL | STORAGE BUILDING DESTROYED AND TREES UPROOTED. |
| 22:35 UTC | TORNADO | 3 E Belleville | St. Clair, IL | BARNS DAMAGED. SHEET METAL IN TREES. TREES AND TREE LIMBS DOWN NEAR I77 AND I58. |
| 22:35 UTC | TORNADO | 5 E Belleville | St. Clair, IL | TORNADO LOCATED 0.25 MILE SOUTHWEST OF SCOTT AFB. TORNADO IS SOUTH OF 161 BETWEEN BELLEVILLE AND SCOTT AFB. |
| 22:36 UTC | TORNADO | 1 S Scott Afb | St. Clair, IL | DEBRIS VISIBLE WITH A RAIN WRAPPED TORNADO. DISTANCE ESTIMATED. CIRCULATION BECOMING MORE VISIBLE. |
| 22:37 UTC | WALL CLOUD | 1 W Mascoutah | St. Clair, IL | WALL CLOUD WITH BROAD ROTATION OBSERVED |
| 22:40 UTC | WALL CLOUD | Mascoutah | St. Clair, IL | SPOTTER OBSERVED A ROTATING WALL CLOUD NEAR MASCOUTAH |
| 22:45 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Mascoutah | St. Clair, IL | |
| 22:45 UTC | HAIL 2 | Mascoutah | St. Clair, IL | HAIL FELL FOR ROUGHLY 5 MINUTES |
| 22:46 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Mascoutah | St. Clair, IL | |
| 22:48 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 2 N Madison | Madison, IL | GOLFBALL HAIL AT INTERSECTION OF ROUTE 4 AND I64 REPORTED BY STATE TROOPER |
| 22:48 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Mascoutah | St. Clair, IL | QUARTER TO GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL. |
| 22:51 UTC | HAIL 0.7 | Ruma | Randolph, IL | HAIL JUST BEGAN TO FALL |
| 22:57 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 1 Nw Venedy | Washington, IL | |
| 22:58 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Venedy | Washington, IL | TREE DOWN NORTH OF VENEDY ON HIGHWAY 12 |
| 23:01 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 4 Sw Mascoutah | St. Clair, IL | |
| 23:04 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 4 W Okawville | Washington, IL | SPOTTER REPORTS A RAIN WRAPPED FUNNEL CLOUD |
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.