Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2017
EF0 tornado, Ladd, Illinois, March 7, 2017
This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Bureau County on March 7, 2017, touching down at 12:14 AM CST and reaching 25 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.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
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.
The record
- Rating
- EF0
- Date
- March 7, 2017
- Touchdown
- 12:14 AM CST (06:14 UTC)
- Lifted
- 12:15 AM CST (06:15 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.3 miles (0.5 km)
- Path width
- 25 yards (23 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Bureau County
- Touchdown point
- 41.382, -89.205
- Lift-off point
- 41.381, -89.207
- Record number
- 1703070014-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A line of severe storms tracked east over eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois, and northeast Missouri during the evening of March 6th. Widespread winds over 70 mph, small hail, and several tornadoes were reported. Damage from these storms included: downed trees, power poles, destroyed outbuildings, and roof damage to several homes.
A tornado briefly touched down in a field.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
6 minutes of warning. NWS DVN issued a tornado warning for this county at 06:08 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:25 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:55 UTC and running to 06:31 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02:55 UTC | 06:31 UTC | Tornado Watch | DVN |
| 04:26 UTC | 05:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN |
| 05:13 UTC | 06:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN |
| 06:08 UTC | 06:25 UTC | Tornado Warning | DVN |
| 17:00 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Red Flag Warning | DVN |
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 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), 00:00Z
6.2 hours before the tornado, 111 km from the path. March 7, 2017.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 39 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -343 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 56 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1016 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 407 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 489 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.5 K/km
Davenport, (KDVN), 12:00Z
5.8 hours after it, 111 km from the path. March 7, 2017.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -99659 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1321 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 108 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 23 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -164 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -86 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.8 K/km
The surface observations
Peru (VYS), 6 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04:15 UTC | 64.6 | 56.7 | 210° 26 kt | 36 | 1001.4 | |
| 04:35 UTC | 64.8 | 56.8 | 200° 27 kt | 35 | 1001 | |
| 04:55 UTC | 64.8 | 57 | 200° 26 kt | 31 | 1000.7 | |
| 05:15 UTC | 64.8 | 57.2 | 200° 24 kt | 35 | 1000.3 | |
| 05:35 UTC | 64.8 | 57.2 | 200° 28 kt | 38 | 1000 | |
| 05:55 UTC | 64.4 | 57.2 | 190° 24 kt | 38 | 999.7 | |
| 06:15 UTC | 64.4 | 57.2 | 200° 24 kt | 36 | 999.7 | |
| 06:35 UTC | 54 | 51.3 | 230° 20 kt | 36 | 1002.4 | TSRA |
| 06:55 UTC | 54.3 | 51.3 | 210° 18 kt | 21 | 1001.7 | TSRA |
| 07:15 UTC | 53.8 | 51 | 210° 17 kt | 25 | 1002.4 | TSRA |
| 07:35 UTC | 53.8 | 50.4 | 230° 23 kt | 30 | 1002.4 | -TSRA |
| 07:55 UTC | 53.6 | 49.8 | 240° 18 kt | 25 | 1002.7 | VCTS |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05:20 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Whiteside County Airpor | Whiteside, IL | DELAYED REPORT. FROM AWOS. |
| 06:01 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Wsw Chillicothe | Peoria, IL | SEVERAL POWER POLES DOWN ALONG KRAUSE ROAD BETWEEN CLOVERDALE AND SPILLMAN ROADS. REPORTED BY PEORIA JOURNAL-STAR |
| 06:01 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 W Henry | Marshall, IL | 2 STORY BARN DESTROYED, COB SHED WALL BLOWN DOWN, POWER LINES AND POWER POLES DOWN, 4 FOOT DIAMETER TREE SNAPPED. |
| 06:05 UTC | TSTM WND GST 50 | Henry | Marshall, IL | SMALL LIMBS DOWN |
| 06:07 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 W Hennepin | Putnam, IL | DELAYED REPORT FROM CO-OP OBSERVER. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. TOP OF A LARGE CEDAR TREE AND SEVERAL 2 INCH DIAMETER BRANCHES FROM A LOCUST TREE DOWN IN YARD. |
| 06:07 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Hennepin | Putnam, IL | TIME ESTIMATED - TOP OF A LARGE CEDAR TREE AND SEVERAL 2 INCH BRANCHES FROM A LARGE LOCUST TREE BLEW DOWN IN THE HIGH WIND |
| 06:07 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Hennepin | Putnam, IL | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ON STATE ROUTE 26 ACROSS THE COUNTY. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 06:08 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Wnw Washburn | Marshall, IL | TWO CARS FROM A 108-CAR TRAIN WERE BLOWN OFF THE TRACKS BETWEEN CHILLICOTHE AND WILBERN. REPORTED BY PEORIA JOURNAL-STAR |
| 06:14 UTC | TORNADO | N Ladd | Bureau, IL | |
| 06:16 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Nnw Mc Nabb | Putnam, IL | MULTIPLE POWER POLES BROKEN ABOUT HALF WAY UP AT 1300E AND 600N. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR |
| 06:16 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | W Mc Nabb | Putnam, IL | POWER LINE DOWN JUST WEST OF MC NABB ON THE MC NABB BLACKTOP. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 06:17 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Mc Nabb | Putnam, IL | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ON STATE ROUTE 89 ACROSS THE COUNTY. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 06:23 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Wenona | Marshall, IL | TREE BRANCHES BROKEN. REPORTED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA |
| 06:25 UTC | TSTM WND GST 53 | Peru | La Salle, IL | GUST TO 53 MPH AT PERU AWOS. |
| 06:36 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 S Ottawa | La Salle, IL | POLES AND LINES DOWN/BENT. RELAYED THROUGH LAW ENFORCEMENT. |
| 06:36 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ne Ottawa | La Salle, IL | LARGE TREE DOWNED ONTO ILLINOIS HIGHWAY 71. RELAYED THROUGH LAW ENFORCEMENT. |
| 06:40 UTC | TSTM WND GST 62 | Somonauk | De Kalb, IL | |
| 06:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Sandwich | De Kalb, IL | POWER POLES DOWNED BY THE HIGH SCHOOL. HOME WEATHER STATION OBSERVED A GUST OF 73 MPH. |
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 March 7, 2017
7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 7 | 12:00 AM CST | EF1 | Tazewell, IL | 7.4 | 150 | $175,000 | ||
| March 7 | 12:09 AM CST | EF2 | Tazewell, IL | 2.8 | 200 | $120,000 | ||
| March 7 | 12:29 AM CST | EF0 | Jefferson, MO | 2.6 | 80 | |||
| March 7 | 12:39 AM CST | EF0 | Jefferson, MO | 1.1 | 75 | |||
| March 7 | 12:50 AM CST | EF1 | Macoupin, IL | 12.9 | 100 | |||
| March 7 | 1:14 AM CST | EF1 | Montgomery, IL | 7.2 | 100 | |||
| March 7 | 2:37 AM CST | EF0 | Lawrence, AR | 0.3 | 100 | $60,000 |
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.