Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2022

EF0 tornado, DuPage County, Illinois, April 30, 2022

This EF0 tornado ran 1.9 miles across DuPage County on April 30, 2022, touching down at 4:44 PM CDT and reaching 60 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 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
April 30, 2022
Touchdown
4:44 PM CDT (21:44 UTC)
Lifted
4:47 PM CDT (21:47 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
1.9 miles (3.1 km)
Path width
60 yards (55 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
DuPage County
Touchdown point
41.822, -87.975
Lift-off point
41.837, -87.945
Record number
2204301544-01

The damage survey

1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LOT, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 75 mph.

  • Photo of free-standing light pole bent and tree snapped, courtesy of Tony Fraveletti

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

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 18:48 UTC and running to 01:53 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:48 UTC01:53 UTCTornado WatchLOT
21:09 UTC22:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOT
21:49 UTC21:59 UTCTornado WarningLOT
23:56 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOT

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 20:10 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

9.7 hours before the tornado, 194 km from the path. April 30, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2022-04-30Temperature 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 -86056, lifted condensation level 1090 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 2022-04-30The 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 402 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 47 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
-86056 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1090 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
402 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
383 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lincoln, IL (KILX), 00:00Z

2.3 hours after it, 194 km from the path. May 1, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2022-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 70 joules per kilogram, CIN -42, lifted condensation level 1382 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, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2022-05-01The 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 -46 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 56 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
70 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-42 J/kg
Surface CAPE
511 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1382 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.3
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 27 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:44 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
21:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nw PlainfieldWill, ILNWS EMPLOYEE REPORTS SIDING DAMAGE ON A HOUSE NEAR 135TH AND MEADOW LANE AND SEVERAL TREE LIMBS DOWN THAT ARE APPROXIMATELY 6 INCHES IN DIAMETER. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
21:23 UTCTSTM WND GST 652 Nw PlainfieldWill, ILCORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND GST REPORT FROM 2 NW PLAINFIELD. REPORT THAT A HOME WEATHER STATION RECORDED A 65 MPH WIND GUST. PICTURES ALSO RELAYED OF AN IRRIGATION SYSTEM BLOWN INTO A FENCE.
21:23 UTCTSTM WND GST 652 Nw PlainfieldWill, ILREPORT THAT A HOME WEATHER STATION RECORDED A 65 MPH WIND GUST. PICTURES ALSO RELAYED OF AN IRRIGATION SYSTEM BLOWN INTO A FENCE.
21:23 UTCTSTM WND GST 653 Nnw PlainfieldWill, ILRECORDED WITH HANDHELD ANEMOMETER.
21:44 UTCTORNADO2 Sw Oak BrookDupage, ILBASED ON A TORNADIC DEBRIS SIGNATURE SEEN FROM KLOT RADAR DATA, A COMPACT VELOCITY CIRCULATION DETECTED BY FAA TERMINAL DOPPLER RADARS TMDW AND TORD, SPOTTER REPORTS AND PICTURES, AND FIRE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS, A BRIEF E
22:02 UTCHAIL 0.7DarienDupage, ILDIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED AT THE INTERSECTION OF PLAINFIELD RD AND CASS AVE.
22:11 UTCTSTM WND GST 652 Nw PlainfieldWill, ILREPORT THAT A HOME WEATHER STATION RECORDED A 65 MPH WIND GUST. PICTURES ALSO RELAYED OF AN IRRIGATION SYSTEM BLOWN INTO A FENCE.
22:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGNorth RiversideCook, ILPHOTO RECEIVED OF A LARGE TREE UPROOTED.
22:17 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Sw Oak BrookDupage, ILREPORT OF A ROOF BLOWN OFF OF A FREE STANDING STRUCTURE AND CARRIED APPROXIMATELY 100 FEET AWAY, IN ADDITION TO A LARGE OAK TREE DOWN AND SEVERAL DOWNED TREE LIMBS NEAR THE HILTON CHICAGO/OAK BROOK HOTEL.
22:17 UTCTORNADO1 Sw Oak BrookDupage, ILCORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 1 SW OAK BROOK. REPORT OF A ROOF BLOWN OFF OF A FREE STANDING STRUCTURE AND CARRIED APPROXIMATELY 100 FEET AWAY, IN ADDITION TO A LARGE OAK TREE DOWN AND SEVERAL DOWNED TREE LIM
00:35 UTCHAIL 0.5Homer GlenWill, ILREPORT OF 0.5 INCH DIAMETER HAIL.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 30, 2022

6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 305:02 PM CDTEF0Perry, MO0.150$30,000
April 305:54 PM CDTEF0Boone, IL0.560
April 306:07 PM CDTUnratedBoone, IL0.130
April 306:14 PM CDTEF0Grant, AR0.350
April 306:46 PM CDTUnratedMcLean, IL0.330
April 306:52 PM CDTEF0Prairie, AR0.3100$50,000

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.