Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2014

EF1 tornado, Etherton, Illinois, February 20, 2014

This EF1 tornado ran 0.4 miles across Jackson County on February 20, 2014, touching down at 4:40 PM CST and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 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 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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
February 20, 2014
Touchdown
4:40 PM CST (22:40 UTC)
Lifted
4:41 PM CST (22:41 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.4 miles (0.6 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Jackson County
Touchdown point
37.699, -89.371
Lift-off point
37.702, -89.365
Record number
1402201640-01

The damage survey

4 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 95 mph.

  • trunks of several trees snapped
  • siding off a section of a house.

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

What the Weather Service recorded

Thunderstorms organized into line segments and isolated supercells as a cold front moved east from Missouri. The storms strengthened within a corridor of weak to moderate instability just ahead of the eastward-moving cold front. The combination of instability, moisture, and wind shear resulted in a few funnel clouds and/or tornadoes. The isolated tornadoes occurred in the region of strongest wind shear north of a line from Anna to Vienna. Scattered to numerous reports of damaging winds over 60 mph accompanied the storms, mainly north of a line from Anna to Vienna. Isolated large hail accompanied the strongest storm cells.

Trees were snapped, and there was siding and soffit damage to a home. Tree tops were damaged along the path. Maximum winds were estimated near 95 mph. The damage area was in the Shawnee National Forest a few miles east of the Big Muddy River.

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

The warnings

10 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:30 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:34 UTC and running to 23:56 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
15:00 UTC02:00 UTCWind AdvisoryPAH
20:34 UTC23:56 UTCTornado WatchPAH
22:23 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAH
22:30 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WarningPAH
22:44 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAH
23:06 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAH
23:33 UTC00:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAH

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:37 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), 12:00Z

10.7 hours before the tornado, 280 km from the path. February 20, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2014-02-20Temperature 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 -96532, lifted condensation level 507 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2014-02-20The 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 582 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 49 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
-96532 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
507 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
582 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
576 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

1.3 hours after it, 280 km from the path. February 21, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2014-02-21Temperature 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 -83765, lifted condensation level 861 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2014-02-21The 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 -195 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 86 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
-83765 J/kg
Surface CAPE
32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
861 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
86 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-195 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-75 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Carbondale/Murph (MDH), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:52 UTC6659200° 26 kt38997.6-RA
21:11 UTC6860200° 22 kt41997
21:20 UTC6859200° 28 kt38997
21:52 UTC6859190° 30 kt46997
22:33 UTC6759200° 28 kt41997-TSRA
22:44 UTC6561200° 29 kt37997.3+TSRA BR
22:47 UTC64.460.8200° 26 kt37997.3TSRAGR
22:52 UTC6259200° 31 kt42996.3TSRAGR
22:57 UTC6257230° 25 kt44996.6-TSRA
23:13 UTC6559210° 21 kt31997.3-RA
23:16 UTC6559210° 22 kt31997.3-TSRA
23:33 UTC5849260° 23 kt52999.3+TSRA
23:38 UTC5748250° 22 kt38999.7-TSRA
23:41 UTC5748250° 20 kt381000-RA
23:52 UTC5848260° 13 kt251000.7-RA

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

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:40 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
22:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGCarbondaleJackson, IL2 SIX FOOT SECTIONS OF FENCE BLOWN DOWN. AWNING ON SECOND HOME DETACHED. LATE REPORT.
22:40 UTCTORNADO5 Ssw MurphysboroJackson, ILEF1 TORNADO. 50 YARDS WIDE WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 95 MPH. 4/10 OF A MILE LONG. TREES SNAPPED ALONG POPLAR RIDGE ROAD WITH SIDING/SOFFIT DAMAGE TO HOME ON WILEY ROAD. OTHERWISE TREE TOP DAMAGE ALONG THE REST OF THE PATH.
22:50 UTCHAIL 1CarbondaleJackson, IL
22:54 UTCTSTM WND GST 55CutlerPerry, ILHALF INCH HAIL REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.
22:59 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N ColpWilliamson, ILPOWER POLE SNAPPED NORTH OF COLP AND ALSO IN HERRIN
22:59 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N ColpWilliamson, ILPOWER POLE SNAPPED NORTH OF COLP
22:59 UTCTSTM WND GST 60CarbondaleJackson, IL
23:01 UTCTSTM WND GST 59East Cape GirardeauAlexander, IL
23:10 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 S CarbondaleJackson, ILLIMBS DOWN. SCATTERED LIMBS DOWN ACROSS COUNTY
23:10 UTCHAIL 1West FrankfortFranklin, ILQUARTER SIZE HAIL REPORTED.
23:13 UTCTORNADOHerrinWilliamson, IL...UNCONFIRMED...POSSIBLE TORNADO BETWEEN HERRIN AND JOHNSTON CITY REPORTED BY PUBLIC THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA.
23:16 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDJohnston CityWilliamson, ILREPROTED JUST NORTHEAST OF TOWN.
23:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGMurphysboroJackson, ILPOWER POLE SNAPPED WITH LINES LAYING ACROSS A HOME.
23:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGCartervilleWilliamson, ILLIMBS DOWN ALONG HWY 13. SCATTER LIMBS DOWN ACROSS COUNTY.
23:33 UTCTSTM WND GST 60CarbondaleJackson, IL

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2014 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of February 20, 2014

33 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 202:25 PM CSTEF2Pike, IL12.1801
February 202:48 PM CSTEF0Morgan, IL0.325
February 202:52 PM CSTEF0Morgan, IL8.250
February 203:43 PM CSTEF0Sangamon, IL0.275$30,000
February 203:57 PM CSTEF1Bond, IL12.350
February 203:57 PM CSTEF1Sangamon, IL8.3300$990,000
February 204:09 PM CSTEF2Montgomery, IL22.42001$600,000
February 204:36 PM CSTEF1Fayette, IL4.850
February 204:39 PM CSTEF1Pemiscot, MO0.2705$75,000
February 204:40 PM CSTEF0Shelby, IL0.350
February 204:41 PM CSTEF1Pemiscot, MO0.025$10,000
February 204:54 PM CSTEF1Effingham, IL1.5100$80,000
February 205:43 PM CSTEF0Edgar, IL3.075
February 207:40 PM ESTEF0Montgomery, IN7.540$75,000
February 206:42 PM CSTEF0Webster, KY6.2125$30,000
February 207:11 PM CSTEF0Walthall, MS0.540$5,000
February 207:12 PM CSTEF0Caldwell, KY1.6125$8,000
February 207:48 PM CSTEF0Marion, MS0.550$15,000
February 209:32 PM ESTEF0Rush, IN0.025$12,000
February 208:33 PM CSTEF1Evangeline Parish, LA2.675$50,000
February 208:45 PM CSTEF1Lawrence, AL10.7450
February 208:51 PM CSTEF1Lauderdale, AL1.8400
February 208:55 PM CSTEF1Lauderdale, AL2.75001
February 209:05 PM CSTEF1Limestone, AL2.7500
February 2010:14 PM ESTEF1Ripley, IN0.850$100,000
February 209:28 PM CSTEF1Jones, MS4.6100$400,000
February 209:50 PM CSTEF0Jones, MS0.650$10,000
February 209:53 PM CSTEF1Moore, TN1.6400
February 2010:53 PM ESTEF0Montgomery, OH2.080$150,000
February 2010:08 PM CSTEF1Franklin, TN1.1100
February 2010:23 PM CSTEF1Franklin, TN2.0400
February 2010:29 PM CSTEF1Coffee, TN1.2250$200,000
February 2012:54 AM ESTEF0Delaware, OH0.180$100,000

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.