EF1 tornado, Maple Park to Geneva, Illinois, February 27, 2024

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.

Rating

EF1

Date

February 27, 2024

Touchdown

7:06 PM CST (01:06 UTC)

Lifted

7:16 PM CST (01:16 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

8.1 miles (13.1 km)

Path width

125 yards (114 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Kane County

Touchdown point

41.795, -88.469

Lift-off point

41.854, -88.332

Record number

2402271906-01

129 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LOT, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 95 mph.

• Street sign bent/folded toward north at Wade Ln and Hapner Way. Another street sign missing in the area.
• Landscaping conveyor belt flipped at NW side of Deerpath and Main St.
• Crates from firewood distributor thrown into retention pond.
• Tree trunk next to playground snapped near base. Off of South Barton Trail.

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

Following summer-like, record warmth, severe thunderstorms developed in the late afternoon of February 27th over northwest Illinois and spread east through the evening across the Chicago metro area. A total of 11 tornadoes touched down in Illinois. There were 11 tornadoes in total across the NWS Chicago area of responsibility, which is the most in a February event since official NWS tornado records began in 1950. In addition to the tornadoes, the storms produced numerous instances of severe hail and damaging straight-line wind.

This tornado touched down along Keslinger Road just west of Watson Road between Maple Park and Elburn. The tornado then may have lifted intermittently as it approached, crossed, and then eventually paralleled Route 38 before sustaining itself on the ground as it tracked northeast into the southwest side of Campton Hills. The path of the tornado was characterized by damage to trees, a grain elevator, a windmill, and roofing. The tornadic damage was consistent with an EF-0 rating with 80 mph winds.

Storm chasers documented a tornado touching down in a field south of Hinckley near Somonauk Road and Bastian Road. High resolution satellite imagery showed that this tornado first moved to the northeast mostly in open fields, but likely caused tree damage to properties just north of Bastian Road as it crossed into Kane County. The tornado then turned to the east and caused damage to multiple farm outbuildings, peeled shingles off of roofs, and caused tree damage before lifting as it tracked into Big Rock.

This tornado touched down near Hartner Road southwest of Waubonsee Community College and trekked northeastward eventually lifting near McKee Street and Western Avenue in Batavia. Some of the more noteworthy damage along the storm's over 8 mile path include a large wooden barn that had been displaced from its foundation and collapsed near Lake Run as well as damage to some industrial equipment. Several trees, roofs, and business signs also sustained damage along the path. The storm also moved across the Waubonsee Community College campus shortly after touching down where it damaged trees and signs and toppled one parking lot light pole.

This tornado touched down along Keslinger Road west of Randall Road in Geneva. The first instance of damage was noted to a metal garage/storage building, which had portions of roofing and walls damaged or removed and was shifted off its foundation. The structure did not appear to be properly anchored to its foundation. Trees and a traffic light were then damaged as the tornado crossed the intersection, with shingle, soffit, and siding damage noted at a commercial building before the tornado moved into a residential area. A concentrated corridor of damage consistent with EF-1 wind speeds near 95 mph occurred along Cambridge Drive and Essex Court, where damage to several roofs and windows was observed. In addition, nearby trees were significantly damaged with almost all large branches snapped. The tornado weakened and narrowed as it moved east just north of Kaneville Road, with tree damage noted until the tornado dissipated near Kaneville Road and Burgess Road. The tornado was on the ground for fewer than two minutes.

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

21 minutes of warning. NWS LOT issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:45 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:12 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:54 UTC and running to 02:57 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:55 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 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.

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 36 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:04 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2024 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.