Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2010

EF0 tornado, DeWitt County, Illinois, June 5, 2010

This EF0 tornado ran 5.9 miles across DeWitt County on June 5, 2010, touching down at 11:06 PM CDT and reaching 300 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $90,000 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
June 5, 2010
Touchdown
11:06 PM CDT (04:06 UTC)
Lifted
11:15 PM CDT (04:15 UTC)
On the ground
9 minutes
Path length
5.9 miles (9.5 km)
Path width
300 yards (274 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$90,000
County
DeWitt County
Touchdown point
40.086, -89.145
Lift-off point
40.062, -89.038
Record number
1006052206-01

The warnings

19 minutes of warning. NWS ILX issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:47 UTC, 19 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:37 UTC and running to 07:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
00:37 UTC07:00 UTCTornado WatchILX
02:48 UTC03:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningILX
03:17 UTC03:36 UTCTornado WarningILX
03:21 UTC03:45 UTCTornado WarningILX
03:47 UTC04:15 UTCTornado WarningILX

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:06 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

4.1 hours before the tornado, 43 km from the path. June 6, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2010-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1457 joules per kilogram, CIN -146, lifted condensation level 1235 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2010-06-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 249 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 53 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1457 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-146 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2628 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1235 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
249 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
352 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
6.8
0-3 km lapse rate
6.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z

7.9 hours after it, 43 km from the path. June 6, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2010-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 616 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2010-06-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -92 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 62 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
616 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Lincoln (AAA), 23 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
02:23 UTC78.869.44210° 9 kt151002.7
02:43 UTC79.1669.62220° 8 kt181002.7
03:03 UTC79.769.8220° 13 kt221002.7VCTSRA
03:23 UTC79.769.44220° 9 kt211002.7-TSRA
03:42 UTC79.1669.8200° 8 kt1001.7-TSRA
04:03 UTC72.6869.8280° 7 kt151004.1-TSRA
04:23 UTC74.1271.6270° 6 kt291003.4+TSRA
04:43 UTC74.1271.78270° 8 kt181003.7-TSRA
05:03 UTC75.471.4260° 6 kt1003.7
05:23 UTC75.3871.24270° 5 kt1003.7
05:43 UTC75.271.24300° 6 kt161003.7
06:03 UTC74.6671.42290° 8 kt1004.1

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

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:06 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
03:15 UTCTORNADO1 Se HopedaleTazewell, ILTORNADO AT HOPEDALE ROAD AND OLYMPIA ROAD MOVING EAST.
03:38 UTCTSTM WND DMGHartsburgLogan, ILSTORM SURVEY BY LOGAN COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT...WIND DAMAGE IN HARTSBURG...60 MPH...POWER POLES BLOWN DOWN...ANTENNAS DOWN...ROOF DAMAGE ON 2 STREETS IN TOWN. TAZEWELL COUNTY EMERGNECY MANAGEMENT SURVEYED HOPEDALE AN
04:00 UTCTORNADO2 Sw BeasonLogan, ILTWO HOMES SUSTAINED MAJOR DAMAGE.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 5, 2010

42 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 51:46 PM EDTEF0Richland, OH0.520$35,000
June 52:30 PM EDTEF1Orleans, VT2.183$25,000
June 52:40 PM EDTEF1Holmes, OH12.8100$550,000
June 54:14 PM EDTEF0Coos, NH0.140
June 55:19 PM EDTEF1Oxford, ME4.2300
June 56:11 PM CDTEF0Warren, IA1.130
June 57:34 PM CDTEF0Knox, IL0.110
June 57:40 PM CDTEF1Jackson, IA2.21501$250,000
June 57:56 PM CDTEF2Knox, IL5.750$420,000
June 58:00 PM CDTEF0Clinton, IA0.4100
June 58:04 PM CDTEF2Peoria, IL2.150$85 million
June 58:10 PM CDTEF1Peoria, IL4.9100$85,000
June 58:10 PM CDTEF2Putnam, IL8.0880$1.0 million
June 58:18 PM CDTEF1Peoria, IL3.975$170,000
June 58:28 PM CDTEF0LaSalle, IL1.330$5,000
June 58:32 PM CDTEF0LaSalle, IL0.250
June 58:32 PM CDTEF0Peoria, IL2.0100$100,000
June 58:34 PM CDTEF2Marshall, IL17.680017$7.0 million
June 58:50 PM CDTEF0LaSalle, IL0.120
June 58:51 PM CDTEF2Tazewell, IL0.8250$560,000
June 58:53 PM CDTEF2Woodford, IL2.3250$70,000
June 58:58 PM CDTEF3Livingston, IL8.6440$750,000
June 59:12 PM CDTEF2Livingston, IL6.0300113$3.0 million
June 59:16 PM CDTEF0Livingston, IL2.420$100,000
June 59:31 PM CDTEF0Livingston, IL3.820$20,000
June 510:38 PM EDTEF2Fulton, OH7.2700$500,000
June 511:00 PM EDTEF1Lucas, OH3.4100$75,000
June 510:02 PM CDTEF1Kankakee, IL0.630$500,000
June 510:08 PM CDTEF0Livingston, IL0.450$2,000
June 510:18 PM CDTEF3Kankakee, IL7.81751$600,000
June 510:19 PM CDTEF1Kankakee, IL0.650$75,000
June 511:20 PM EDTEF4Millbury tornado, OH8.8400728$102 million
June 511:28 PM EDTEF2Berrien, MI3.4200$150,000
June 511:36 PM EDTEF1Berrien, MI1.4100$100,000
June 510:57 PM CDTEF0Logan, IL5.9300$80,000
June 511:59 PM EDTEF2Cass, MI2.7200$100,000
June 512:03 AM EDTEF1Calhoun, MI1.6300$2.0 million
June 512:32 AM EDTEF2Saint Joseph, MI10.7200$300,000
June 51:03 AM EDTEF1White, IN12.61502$600,000
June 51:25 AM EDTEF1Carroll, IN6.31501$185,000
June 51:41 AM EDTEF3Miami, IN7.52501$875,000
June 51:48 AM EDTEF1Lenawee, MI2.5250$500,000

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.