EF0 tornado, Kaolin to Wayside, Illinois, April 3, 2014

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

April 3, 2014

Touchdown

9:00 PM CDT (02:00 UTC)

Lifted

9:06 PM CDT (02:06 UTC)

On the ground

6 minutes

Path length

3.2 miles (5.1 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$7,000

County

Union County

Touchdown point

37.543, -89.092

Lift-off point

37.572, -89.047

Record number

1404032000-02

14 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS PAH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 94 mph.

• Land owner witnessed the tornado as it removed metal roof panels and most metal panels from the side of 1 wall.
• Resident witnessed the tornado but very little damage was observed.
• witness said damage from the April 3 storm. roofing from barns torn off. Other trees in the area were uprooted.

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

Thunderstorms intensified within a zone of strong southerly low level winds that provided abundant warmth and moisture. These strong low level winds enhanced wind shear, which promoted the development of supercells with isolated tornadoes. The storms formed near a warm front that was draped across southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, and western Kentucky. The storms occurred within a moist and moderately unstable air mass along and behind the warm front. The strong moisture feed contributed to torrential downpours that produced flash flooding in a number of counties. There was some major flash flooding in a corridor from Union County to Saline and Gallatin Counties during the evening.

Two barns sustained partial loss of roof and wall metal panels. Two individuals witnessed the tornado. The tornado occurred along Route 146 near the intersection of Route 127. Peak winds were estimated near 75 mph.

A storm damage survey conducted by National Weather Service meteorologists indicated mainly tree damage along the tornado path. There was loss of roofing material from an outbuilding. A few hardwood trees were uprooted. Branches were broken off. The tornado occurred on Shawnee National Forest property. Peak winds were estimated near 80 mph.

A National Weather Service damage survey indicated only tree damage along the tornado path, which ran parallel to and just northwest of Interstate 57. The tornado occurred in wooded areas of national forest property. Branches were broken. Hardwood trees were uprooted near the end of the damage path. Peak winds were estimated near 80 mph.

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

26 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:34 UTC, 26 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:38 UTC and running to 05:47 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:57 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.

Marion Regional (MWA), 23 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:00 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 2014 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

12 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.