Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2023

EF0 tornado, Woodhull, Illinois, April 5, 2023

This EF0 tornado ran 3.1 miles across Henry County on April 5, 2023, touching down at 4:48 AM CDT and reaching 50 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 5, 2023
Touchdown
4:48 AM CDT (09:48 UTC)
Lifted
4:53 AM CDT (09:53 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
3.1 miles (5.0 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Henry County
Touchdown point
41.210, -90.320
Lift-off point
41.230, -90.260
Record number
2304050348-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms occurred during the early morning hours of April 5th, as a strong cold front moved across the area and produced a line of strong to severe storms. Storms became severe as they reached the Mississippi River, producing wind gusts to 60 MPH and large hail. Ping pong ball sized hail was observed near Nora IL.

A brief tornado began just east of I-74 north of Woodhull, damaging trees, a few outbuildings, and a home in its path. A home lost some shingles and partial roof on one side of the residence. Large tree branches snapped on farmstead property. The tornado was on the ground for around 3 miles and was 50 yards wide. The tornado was rated EF0 with maximum winds around 85 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 severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 09:00 UTC and running to 11:48 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:48 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WatchDVN
09:00 UTC11:48 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchDVN
09:00 UTC19:24 UTCFlood WarningDVN
09:50 UTC10:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVN
09:51 UTC10:15 UTCTornado WarningDVN
10:15 UTC10:21 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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:52 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), 00:00Z

9.8 hours before the tornado, 48 km from the path. April 5, 2023.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2023-04-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1391 joules per kilogram, CIN -149, lifted condensation level 935 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 2023-04-05The 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 677 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 89 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
1391 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-149 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
935 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
89 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
677 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
837 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
30.3
0-3 km lapse rate
3.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Davenport, (KDVN), 12:00Z

2.2 hours after it, 48 km from the path. April 5, 2023.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2023-04-05Temperature 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 -97046, lifted condensation level 1365 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2023-04-05The 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 160 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 63 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-97046 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1365 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
282 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 09:47 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
09:42 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sw Green RockHenry, ILTREE DOWN BLOCKING THE ROAD.
09:48 UTCTORNADO2 N WoodhullHenry, ILA BRIEF TORNADO BEGAN JUST EAST OF I-74 NORTH OF WOODHULL DAMAGING TREES, A FEW OUTBUILDINGS, AND A HOME ALONG ITS PATH. A HOME LOST SOME SHINGLES AND A PARTIAL ROOF ON ONE SIDE OF THE RESIDENCE. LARGE TREES WERE SNAPPED
09:48 UTCTORNADO2 N WoodhullHenry, ILCORRECTS PREVIOUS TORNADO REPORT FROM 2 N WOODHULL. A BRIEF TORNADO BEGAN JUST EAST OF I-74 NORTH OF WOODHULL DAMAGING TREES, A FEW OUTBUILDINGS, AND A HOME ALONG ITS PATH. A HOME LOST SOME SHINGLES AND A PARTIAL ROOF ON
10:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Ese GeneseoHenry, ILWQAD METEOROLOGIST ANDREW STUTZKE PROVIDED PICTURES AND DRONE VIDEO OF UPROOTED PINE TREES AT THIS LOCATION. DAMAGE WAS ALL STRAIGHT AND LINED UP PERFECTLY WITH GUST FRONT. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2023 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 5, 2023

17 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 52:48 AM CDTEF1Carter, MO6.4300$210,000
April 53:30 AM CDTEF2Bollinger, MO20.715054$2.0 million
April 55:50 AM CDTEF0Madison, AR2.8300
April 56:03 AM CDTUnratedCarroll, AR1.9250
April 56:38 AM CDTEF0Walworth, WI0.575$6,000
April 58:44 AM CDTEF0Cass, TX0.250
April 511:58 AM EDTEF0Montgomery, IN0.320$50,000
April 51:26 PM CDTEF1Ballard, KY0.625$25,000
April 52:02 PM CDTEF0Calloway, KY5.450$100,000
April 52:42 PM CDTEF0Spencer, IN3.025$25,000
April 53:14 PM CDTEF1Perry, IN0.870
April 54:41 PM EDTEF1Meade, KY0.350
April 54:58 PM EDTEF1Jefferson, KY0.8100
April 55:05 PM EDTEF1Jefferson, KY0.475
April 55:05 PM EDTEF1Jefferson, KY0.9100
April 55:33 PM EDTEF0Fairfield, OH4.7100$250,000
April 55:39 PM EDTEF0Fairfield, OH1.0100$250,000

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.