Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2017

EF1 tornado, Coleta to Penrose, Illinois, February 28, 2017

From Coleta to Penrose, this EF1 tornado ran 2.6 miles across Whiteside County on February 28, 2017, touching down at 4:44 PM CST and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 28, 2017
Touchdown
4:44 PM CST (22:44 UTC)
Lifted
4:46 PM CST (22:46 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
2.6 miles (4.2 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Whiteside County
Touchdown point
41.888, -89.751
Lift-off point
41.897, -89.702
Record number
1702281644-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Following a week of record highs, a late winter severe weather outbreak brought widespread severe thunderstorms to Iowa, Illinois, and northeast Missouri. Supercell thunderstorms produced numerous reports of large hail and a few tornadoes. The tornadoes were the first ever recorded in the month of February, across eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois. Additionally, some damaging winds occurred after dark, when the storms formed into a line as they moved through Illinois. This outbreak of severe weather also included many locations in the southern half of Illinois, and Missouri.

National Weather Service storm survey showed damage consisting of snapped pine trees, damaged farm out buildings, and an un-roofed attached garage and home along the path. A second home also sustained damage to its roof. The estimated peak wind was 100 mph.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:01 UTC and running to 03:12 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:01 UTC03:12 UTCTornado WatchDVN
22:02 UTC22:24 UTCTornado WarningDVN
22:23 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVN
22:46 UTC23:01 UTCTornado WarningDVN

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 19:56 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.

Davenport, (KDVN), 12:00Z

10.7 hours before the tornado, 71 km from the path. February 28, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2017-02-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 30 joules per kilogram, CIN -241, lifted condensation level 771 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2017-02-28The 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 223 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 80 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
30 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-241 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
771 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
80 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
223 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
294 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Davenport, (KDVN), 00:00Z

1.3 hours after it, 71 km from the path. March 1, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2017-03-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 23 joules per kilogram, CIN -97, lifted condensation level 1185 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2017-03-01The 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 124 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 46 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
23 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-97 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1185 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
238 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4
0-3 km lapse rate
6.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:45 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
22:22 UTCHAIL 0.752 W UstickWhiteside, ILSOME DIME SIZED HAIL BUT MAINLY PEA SIZED OCCURRING RIGHT NOW.
22:44 UTCHAIL 11 W ColetaWhiteside, ILUP TO SIZE OF QUARTERS.
22:44 UTCTORNADO 12 Ese ColetaWhiteside, ILA DAMGE SURVEY FOUND DAMAGE LONG A 2.63 MILE LONG PATH THAT WAS 75 YARDS WIDE AND THE TORNADO HAD PEAK ESTIMATED WINDS OF 100 MPH OR RATED EF-1. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 2.7 MILES ESE OF COLETA AND SNAPPED TREES, DAMAGE
22:54 UTCHAIL 2SterlingWhiteside, ILFEW STONES UP TO HEN EGG.
22:58 UTCHAIL 1.753 Ene Rock FallsWhiteside, ILLARGEST SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN GOLF BALLS.
22:59 UTCHAIL 0.75SterlingWhiteside, ILDIME SIZED HAIL OCCURRING RIGHT NOW.
23:07 UTCTORNADO5 Sse OregonOgle, ILUPDATED FOR NWS STORM SURVEY INFORMATION. LOCATION AND TIME IS OF START OF TORNADO. THE MAXIMUM INTENSITY WAS EF-1 WITH ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS OF 90-95 MPH. THE PATH LENGTH WAS 1.5 MILES WITH A MAXIMUM WIDTH ESTIMATED TO B
23:09 UTCTSTM WND DMGOregonOgle, ILLIGHTHOUSE ROAD TO LOWDEN ROAD. BUILDINGS DESTROYED, LARGE TREES UPROOTED, SIDING TAKEN OFF HOUSES. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
23:13 UTCHAIL 1DixonLee, IL

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2017 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of February 28, 2017

29 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 283:53 PM CSTEF0Clinton, IA0.025
February 284:12 PM CSTEF1Stark, IL5.5100$100,000
February 284:27 PM CSTEF0LaSalle, IL1.850
February 284:41 PM CSTEF3LaSalle, IL11.5800214
February 284:58 PM CSTEF1LaSalle, IL2.8200
February 285:04 PM CSTEF0Grundy, IL1.2200
February 285:07 PM CSTEF1Ogle, IL1.550
February 285:10 PM CSTEF0Peoria, IL0.125
February 285:15 PM CSTEF0Peoria, IL0.9100$75,000
February 285:26 PM CSTEF3Marshall, IL17.8600$2.0 million
February 285:52 PM CSTEF2Livingston, IL5.675
February 286:40 PM CSTEF1Reynolds, MO4.480
February 287:03 PM CSTEF1White, AR1.41204$50,000
February 287:07 PM CSTEF2White, AR1.12501$70,000
February 287:16 PM CSTEF0Madison, MO4.450
February 287:51 PM CSTEF4Perryville tornado, Missouri and Illinois53.51,100112$15 million
February 288:54 PM ESTEF1Berrien, MI0.6100
February 288:58 PM ESTEF1Cass, MI5.0100
February 289:12 PM ESTEF1Cass, MI2.7150
February 289:38 PM ESTEF1Saint Joseph, MI2.050
February 289:33 PM CSTEF1Brown, IL0.7501
February 289:43 PM CSTEF1Bureau, IL2.350
February 289:55 PM CSTEF3White, IL to IN44.144012$5.7 million
February 2810:35 PM CSTEF0Calloway, KY8.830$70,000
February 2810:37 PM CSTEF0Crawford, KS0.175$50,000
February 2810:43 PM CSTEF0Crawford, KS0.175$10,000
February 2810:44 PM CSTEF1Williamson, IL7.425$6,000
February 2812:03 AM ESTEF2Dubois, IN5.8150$350,000
February 2811:28 PM CSTEF1Trigg, KY8.6400$300,000

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.