Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2018
EF2 tornado, Stonington to Osbernville, Illinois, December 1, 2018
From Stonington to Osbernville, this EF2 tornado ran 8.4 miles across Christian County on December 1, 2018, touching down at 5:34 PM CST and reaching 400 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $3.3 million 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
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 mphthis tornado
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
- EF2
- Date
- December 1, 2018
- Touchdown
- 5:34 PM CST (23:34 UTC)
- Lifted
- 5:52 PM CST (23:52 UTC)
- On the ground
- 18 minutes
- Path length
- 8.4 miles (13.5 km)
- Path width
- 400 yards (366 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $3.3 million
- County
- Christian County
- Touchdown point
- 39.630, -89.201
- Lift-off point
- 39.746, -89.153
- Record number
- 1812011734-02
The damage survey
117 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ILX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 155 mph.
- tree line to the east of point has multiple trees snapped and one uprooted.
- outbuilding was right edge of the track. more tree damage to northwest.
- other tree damage to the north and northeast.
- Little less then 1/4 of the roof lost shingles, sheeting and is a big opening.
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
An historic tornado outbreak occurred across Illinois on December 1st, with a total of 29 tornadoes touching down across the central part of the state. This made it the largest December tornado outbreak in the state of Illinois since 1957, and the third largest tornado outbreak across Illinois in any month since 1950. Within the National Weather Service Lincoln County Warning Area (CWA), 20 tornadoes touched down...with the most significant being an EF-3 tornado that tore through the city of Taylorville in Christian County. Despite several communities being directly impacted and experiencing major damage, there were no fatalities reported. The severe weather was caused by a deep area of low pressure that tracked from eastern Kansas into north-central Illinois. Warm air surging northward ahead of the low allowed temperatures to soar into the upper 50s and lower 60s, resulting in a narrow corridor of Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) values of 500-1000J/kg ahead of an approaching occluded front. Thanks to ample low-level wind shear, numerous supercell thunderstorms developed within the instability axis by mid to late afternoon. Many of the storms produced tornadoes over the next several hours before the storms gradually weakened by mid-evening.
A tornado touched down along IL Route 48 on the southwest edge of Stonington at 5:34 PM CST. At this time, two circulations aloft merged near the west side of Stonington, causing the tornado to take a sharp turn toward the north. Much of the damage in the town was on the northwest side where house roofs were impacted and several garages and sheds were destroyed. The tornado continued tracking to the north and did significant damage to outbuildings at a farm 4 miles north of Stonington. The tornado then curved toward the northeast, damaging several more outbuildings and sheds before it dissipated near Mosquito Creek, about 5.9 miles east-southeast of Mt. Auburn at 5:52 PM CST.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
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 19:58 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.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Lincoln, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Dec 1, 5:26 PM CST, 8 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 1, 5:26 PM CST, 8 minutes before
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Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Lincoln IL 317 PM CST Sat Dec 1 2018 ILZ027-028-036-021200- Fulton-Knox-Stark- 317 PM CST Sat Dec 1 2018 ...DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central Illinois and west central Illinois. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... There is a slight risk of severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Damaging winds and large hail are the main concerns. A brief tornado touchdown cannot be ruled out, mainly south of I-74. Dense fog is expected to develop or continue across the area, northwest of the Illinois river, this evening through overnight. Frequent visibilities of around one quarter mile will be common. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... The combination of the weekend rain, and melting snow, will result in rises on area rivers. Minor flooding will occur early in the new week on the Spoon River. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be required this afternoon and evening. The most likely time frame is 3 pm to 9 pm. ILZ029-030-021200- Marshall-Peoria- 317 PM CST Sat Dec 1 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central Illinois. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... There is a slight risk of severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Damaging winds and large hail are the main concerns. A brief tornado touchdown cannot be ruled out, mainly south of I-74. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... The combination of the weekend rain, and melting snow, will result in rises on area rivers. Minor flooding will occur early in the new week on the Spoon River. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be required this afternoon and evening. The most likely time frame is 3 pm to 9 pm. ILZ031-037-038-040>057-061-021200- Cass-Champaign-Christian-Coles-De Witt-Douglas-Edgar-Logan-Macon- Mason-McLean-Menard-Morgan-Moultrie-Piatt-Sangamon-Schuyler-Scott- Shelby-Tazewell-Vermilion-Woodford- 317 PM CST Sat Dec 1 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central Illinois, east central Illinois and west central Illinois. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... There is a slight risk of severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Damaging winds and large hail are the main concerns. Brief tornado touchdowns cannot be ruled out. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be required this afternoon and evening. West of I-55, this is most likely between 3 pm and 7 pm. East of I-55, the most likely time frame is 6 pm to 9 pm ILZ062-063-066>068-071>073-021200- Clark-Clay-Crawford-Cumberland-Effingham-Jasper-Lawrence-Richland- 317 PM CST Sat Dec 1 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of east central Illinois and southeast Illinois. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... Strong to severe storms are possible late this afternoon into this evening. Damaging winds and large hail are the main concerns. An isolated tornado touchdown cannot be ruled out, although this would be more likely west of I-57. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... River levels will rise in response to the weekend rainfall. Minor flooding may occur along parts of the Wabash and Little Wabash Rivers early next week. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be required this evening. The most likely time frame is 5 pm to 9 pm. Auten
In the hours before
Local storm report, Dec 1, 5:10 PM CST, 24 minutes before
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</html>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
11.6 hours before the tornado, 71 km from the path. December 1, 2018.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 430 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 75 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 529 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 658 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 1.9 K/km
Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z
0.4 hours after it, 71 km from the path. December 2, 2018.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 653 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -11 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 519 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 628 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 392 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 444 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.5
- Supercell composite
- 6.5
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.3 K/km
The surface observations
Taylorville (TAZ), 21 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 53 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:32 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.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2018 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of December 1, 2018
39 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 1 | 12:15 AM CST | EF0 | Barry, MO | 0.1 | 50 | $90,000 | ||
| December 1 | 12:30 AM CST | EF1 | Lawrence, MO | 0.5 | 50 | 1 | $250,000 | |
| December 1 | 12:40 AM CST | EF0 | Christian, MO | 2.1 | 40 | $190,000 | ||
| December 1 | 12:41 AM CST | EF1 | Christian, MO | 1.2 | 75 | $150,000 | ||
| December 1 | 12:47 AM CST | EF1 | Greene, MO | 2.5 | 60 | $175,000 | ||
| December 1 | 1:22 AM CST | EF1 | Webster, MO | 4.2 | 75 | $90,000 | ||
| December 1 | 1:25 AM CST | EF1 | Hempstead, AR | 8.5 | 75 | $300,000 | ||
| December 1 | 1:37 AM CST | EF0 | Wright, MO | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| December 1 | 1:47 PM CST | EF0 | Bay, FL | 2.4 | 50 | |||
| December 1 | 1:54 PM CST | EF1 | Pike, IL | 1.6 | 25 | |||
| December 1 | 2:29 PM CST | EF0 | Pike, IL | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| December 1 | 2:34 PM CST | EF0 | Perry, AL | 0.3 | 75 | |||
| December 1 | 2:40 PM CST | EF1 | Pike, IL | 0.6 | 110 | |||
| December 1 | 3:00 PM CST | EF1 | Schuyler, IL | 1.4 | 100 | $12,000 | ||
| December 1 | 3:01 PM CST | EF0 | Morgan, IL | 1.7 | 50 | |||
| December 1 | 3:09 PM CST | EF0 | Cass, IL | 0.6 | 50 | $35,000 | ||
| December 1 | 3:18 PM CST | EF0 | McDonough, IL | 0.1 | 15 | |||
| December 1 | 3:25 PM CST | EF1 | Cass, IL | 4.2 | 200 | $200,000 | ||
| December 1 | 3:41 PM CST | EF0 | McDonough, IL | 0.1 | 15 | |||
| December 1 | 3:44 PM CST | EF0 | Mason, IL | 1.7 | 25 | |||
| December 1 | 3:49 PM CST | EF0 | Autauga, AL | 0.3 | 100 | |||
| December 1 | 3:51 PM CST | EF1 | Schuyler, IL | 15.6 | 450 | $610,000 | ||
| December 1 | 3:59 PM CST | EF1 | Macoupin, IL | 1.4 | 50 | |||
| December 1 | 4:09 PM CST | EF1 | Montgomery, IL | 8.0 | 75 | |||
| December 1 | 4:16 PM CST | EF2 | Montgomery, IL | 6.8 | 100 | |||
| December 1 | 4:32 PM CST | EF1 | Montgomery, IL | 2.0 | 50 | |||
| December 1 | 4:45 PM CST | EF0 | Fulton, IL | 5.5 | 25 | $20,000 | ||
| December 1 | 4:47 PM CST | EF0 | Montgomery, IL | 3.1 | 200 | $140,000 | ||
| December 1 | 4:53 PM CST | EF1 | Mason, IL | 11.7 | 250 | $65,000 | ||
| December 1 | 5:01 PM CST | EF3 | Christian, IL | 12.5 | 900 | 22 | $119 million | |
| December 1 | 5:34 PM CST | EF0 | Tazewell, IL | 0.1 | 50 | $80,000 | ||
| December 1 | 5:53 PM CST | EF1 | Macon, IL | 4.3 | 250 | $325,000 | ||
| December 1 | 6:03 PM CST | EF0 | Macon, IL | 0.4 | 50 | $25,000 | ||
| December 1 | 6:16 PM CST | EF1 | Sangamon, IL | 4.6 | 100 | $225,000 | ||
| December 1 | 6:31 PM CST | EF1 | Macon, IL | 1.1 | 320 | $150,000 | ||
| December 1 | 7:06 PM CST | EF1 | McLean, IL | 0.2 | 50 | $75,000 | ||
| December 1 | 7:18 PM CST | EF2 | McLean, IL | 2.4 | 100 | $75,000 | ||
| December 1 | 7:21 PM CST | EF0 | McLean, IL | 0.1 | 25 | $30,000 | ||
| December 1 | 7:42 PM CST | EF1 | McLean, IL | 0.5 | 75 | $110,000 |
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.