EF2 tornado, Covington to New Minden, Illinois, February 28, 2011

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 mph

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

3. 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.

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

EF2

Date

February 28, 2011

Touchdown

12:08 AM CST (06:08 UTC)

Lifted

12:11 AM CST (06:11 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

2.3 miles (3.8 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Washington County

Touchdown point

38.444, -89.421

Lift-off point

38.443, -89.378

Record number

1102280008-01

A quasi-stationary frontal boundary was the main focusing mechanism for a round of significant severe weather over the forecast area. A strong shortwave moved along the boundary triggering widespread showers and thunderstorms. Numerous reports of large hail, damaging winds and 22 tornadoes occurred with this system.

The tornado touched down approximately 6 miles east of Okawville on Illinois Route 177 near the Kuhl Lumber and Pallet Company. Minor roof and siding damage occurred to an ongoing construction project at the saw mill. A few trees along a tree line to the east of the complex were topped. The tornado continued east where it struck a farmstead causing considerable damage. A 48 by 96 foot machine shed was completely destroyed with much of the debris scattered up to almost one mile to the east. Another building was lost at this location as well as a grain bin. Two other barns sustained damage with one being pushed off the foundation by several feet. The debris from the machine shed impacted the house, garage and workshop with several missiles not only in the ground but also into other structures. The home sustained several broken windows from flying debris. The roof of the home had at least five rafters damaged when an unknown heavy object hit the roof, but was blown away during the storm. The tornado continued to the east and dissipated approximately one mile west of New Minden. The path length was 2.3 miles with a maximum intensity of EF2 due to the damage at the farmstead. Maximum damage width was 100 yards.

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

25 minutes of warning. NWS LSX issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:43 UTC, 25 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:40 UTC and running to 07:46 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:58 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), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:05 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 2011 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

25 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.