Tornadoes · United States · Illinois

2013 tornadoes in Illinois

52 tornadoes touched down in Illinois in 2013, 27 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 5 people and injured 156. 2 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2012 2014 The whole country in 2013

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 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.

Every tornado in Illinois in 2013

January 29 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 29	9:38 PM CST	EF0	Franklin	0.6	75
January 29	10:16 PM CST	EF2	Saline	1.0	125		2	$200,000

April 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 18	8:36 AM CDT	EF0	Ford	0.6	20			$15,000

May 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 9	5:41 PM CDT	EF0	Christian	0.6	20

May 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 19	8:02 PM CDT	EF0	Carroll	0.1	50

May 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 20	10:14 PM CDT	EF2	Macoupin	0.2	75		3

May 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 28	8:18 PM CDT	EF0	Grundy	1.9	20			$5,000

May 30 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 30	4:44 PM CDT	EF1	Rock Island to IA	4.0	150			$140,000
May 30	5:35 PM CDT	EF0	Whiteside	0.6	25

May 31 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 31	8:49 PM CDT	EF2	Macoupin	1.5	150
May 31	9:02 PM CDT	EF1	Montgomery	4.3	50
May 31	10:03 PM CDT	EF1	Macon	2.0	100	$500,000
May 31	11:24 PM CDT	EF1	Vermilion	0.5	70	$50,000

June 12 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 12	4:32 PM CDT	EF1	DeKalb	2.3	100		$20,000
June 12	6:50 PM CDT	EF0	Jo Daviess	0.5	20
June 12	6:53 PM CDT	EF2	Carroll	6.6	880	1
June 12	7:50 PM CDT	EF0	Kankakee	0.2	50		$35,000

June 24 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 24	4:00 PM CDT	EF1	Henry	6.2	50	$50,000
June 24	4:32 PM CDT	EF0	Lee	2.8	100	$10,000
June 24	4:33 PM CDT	EF0	Bureau	0.6	75	$10,000

June 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 29	2:05 PM CDT	EF0	Coles	0.1	20			$4,000

July 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 1	7:41 PM CDT	EF0	Wabash	0.8	50

July 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 2	6:55 PM CDT	EF0	Wayne	0.7	50

September 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 1	6:42 PM CDT	EF0	LaSalle	1.6	50

October 31 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
October 31	7:20 PM CDT	EF0	Alexander	1.2	200	$100,000
October 31	7:35 PM CDT	EF1	Alexander	6.5	50	$20,000
October 31	7:51 PM CDT	EF1	Williamson	9.9	175	$110,000
October 31	7:56 PM CDT	EF1	Johnson	0.7	50	$30,000

November 17 24 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 17	10:52 AM CST	EF2	Tazewell	2.3	100		10	$45 million
November 17	10:59 AM CST	EF4	Washington–Roanoke tornado	46.4	880	3	125	$935 million
November 17	11:30 AM CST	EF0	Macoupin	4.0	50
November 17	11:43 AM CST	EF0	Livingston	2.6	50
November 17	11:47 AM CST	EF1	Clinton	0.4	50
November 17	12:04 PM CST	EF4	New Minden tornado	10.6	200	2	2
November 17	12:13 PM CST	EF1	Washington	4.8	100
November 17	12:15 PM CST	EF1	Christian	2.5	100			$300,000
November 17	12:22 PM CST	EF2	Grundy	12.0	200		5	$13 million
November 17	12:22 PM CST	EF2	Fayette	11.4	200			$400,000
November 17	12:25 PM CST	EF1	Jasper	3.5	100			$250,000
November 17	12:30 PM CST	EF1	Moultrie	10.5	440			$1.7 million
November 17	12:42 PM CST	EF2	Will	5.2	200			$750,000
November 17	12:44 PM CST	EF3	Douglas	18.7	440			$2.0 million
November 17	12:45 PM CST	EF3	Champaign	29.8	880		6	$63 million
November 17	12:46 PM CST	EF1	Douglas	4.5	440			$220,000
November 17	1:00 PM CST	EF1	Kankakee	0.2	150			$100,000
November 17	1:03 PM CST	EF2	Vermilion	19.7	440		1	$9.5 million
November 17	1:05 PM CST	EF1	Jefferson	0.1	25			$3,000
November 17	1:08 PM CST	EF2	Wayne	9.5	150			$150,000
November 17	1:19 PM CST	EF0	Iroquois	4.5	75			$20,000
November 17	1:29 PM CST	EF2	Edwards	7.9	300			$210,000
November 17	1:33 PM CST	EF2	Edwards	4.1	100			$150,000
November 17	1:44 PM CST	EF2	Wabash	10.3	225		1	$250,000

Crossed into Illinois

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Illinois. They are counted under the state they began in.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 31	8:27 PM CDT	EF1	Nowata, OK to MO, IL	4.8	350		2	$75,000
May 31	8:27 PM CDT	EF3	Madison, MO to IL	10.6	150
November 17	2:05 PM CST	EF3	McCracken, KY to IL	42.5	500	3	34	$6.8 million

Nearby

Every tornado in Illinois since 1950 Warnings in force in Illinois The live radar over Illinois

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.