EF1 tornado, Puder to Eagle Lake, Illinois, November 17, 2013

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

November 17, 2013

Touchdown

1:00 PM CST (19:00 UTC)

Lifted

1:02 PM CST (19:02 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

0.2 miles (0.3 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$100,000

Counties

Kankakee and Will counties

Touchdown point

41.297, -87.546

Lift-off point

41.307, -87.535

Record number

1311171300-01

4 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LOT, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 100 mph.

• End point. Tornado lifted in field.
• Partial roof loss to metal buildings adjacent to warehouse. A few softwood trees snapped. Debris tossed to the northeast.
• Starting point of tornado.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A major tornado outbreak impacted the Midwest and Ohio Valley on November 17th. A powerful low pressure system across the plains states steered warmth and moisture northward for nearly two days, with dew points rising into the mid 60's. This coupled with temperatures around 70�� resulted in unseasonably strong instability for thunderstorms to develop. High wind shear and a cold front sweeping eastward made up the remaining ingredients of an environment favorable for supercells capable of long-lived significant tornadoes. Within the WFO LOT county warning area, ten tornadoes were confirmed, including three EF-2 tornadoes. As the event evolved, the system became linear with numerous reports of straight line wind damage. Behind the thunderstorms, a wake low developed with wind gusts to around 60 mph.

The tornado formed along the Kankakee-Will County Line just west of N 17480 E Road. Large branches from hardwood trees were broken off while an older softwood tree was snapped at the base. A hardwood tree was also snapped in half. The tornado had estimated winds to around 100 mph. The tornado continued into Will County at 1:01 PM CST.

This is a continuation of a tornado that formed in Kankakee County at 1:00 PM CST. The tornado moved northeast into Will County just west of N 17480 E Road. A large barn sustained significant damage to its roof and outer walls. Two adjacent metal outbuildings also had partial roof loss. Several softwood trees were snapped at the base or half way up with debris lofted about a thousand feet. A 400 lb tractor blade was moved about 60 feet while a grain pipe that had been riveted to the silo was ripped away. Minor tree damage was noted along E Delite Inn Road as well as minor damage to small barns and outbuildings. The tornado had estimated winds to around 100 mph.

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

46 minutes of warning. NWS LOT issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:14 UTC, 46 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 14:40 UTC and running to 21:03 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 High Risk, with a 0.30 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 16:30 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 Chicago radar (KLOT), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:59 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 2013 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

75 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 76 of them

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.