Tornadoes · United States · Illinois · 2026
EF0 tornado, Champaign County, Illinois, April 17, 2026
This EF0 tornado ran 0.9 miles across Champaign County on April 17, 2026, touching down at 9:51 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.
Preliminary. This is NWS ILX's damage survey, filed in the Damage Assessment Toolkit as Bondville Tornado. The rating, the path and the casualties are the survey's and can change while it is revised. The Storm Prediction Center compiles the official record of 2026 from these surveys and publishes it in the spring of 2027; this page moves to that tornado's permanent address when it does.
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 survey
- Rating, as surveyed
- EF0, preliminary
- Date
- April 17, 2026
- Touchdown
- 9:51 PM CDT (02:51 UTC)
- Path length
- 0.9 miles (1.4 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Champaign County
- Touchdown point
- 40.111, -88.408
- Lift-off point
- 40.113, -88.392
- Highest wind the damage implies
- 85 mph
- Surveyed by
- NWS ILX
- The office's name for it
- Bondville Tornado
- Survey last edited
- April 23, 2026
- Record number
- None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.
What the survey found
The tornado touched down just south of Rte 10 and damaged a power pole and quickly moved east-northeast. It did minor tree damage before dissipating.
Written by NWS ILX in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.
The damage survey
8 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ILX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 100 mph.
- 90 ft concrete grain silo...empty.
- Wall panel pushed out. Doors on east side bowed out.
- Empty 90 ft concrete grain silo completely collapsed.
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
The warnings
9 minutes of warning. NWS ILX issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:42 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:30 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:31 UTC and running to 03:45 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23:00 UTC | 09:00 UTC | Flood Watch | ILX |
| 01:31 UTC | 03:45 UTC | Tornado Watch | ILX |
| 02:37 UTC | 03:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX |
| 02:42 UTC | 03:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | ILX |
| 02:46 UTC | 03:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX |
| 03:15 UTC | 03:34 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX |
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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:59 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), 00:00Z
2.9 hours before the tornado, 18 km from the path. April 18, 2026.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1309 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -103 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2371 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1221 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 51 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 212 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 264 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 8.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.0 K/km
Lincoln, IL (KILX), 12:00Z
9.1 hours after it, 18 km from the path. April 18, 2026.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -107253 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1118 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 71 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 13 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -20 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 66 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.0 K/km
The surface observations
Champaign - Willard (CMI), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:40 UTC | 170° 17 kt | 24 | 1006.1 | |||
| 00:45 UTC | 170° 19 kt | 1006.1 | ||||
| 00:50 UTC | 170° 18 kt | 1006.1 | ||||
| 00:53 UTC | 75 | 63 | 170° 18 kt | 1006.1 | ||
| 00:55 UTC | 170° 19 kt | 1006.1 | ||||
| 01:00 UTC | 170° 18 kt | 1006.4 | ||||
| 01:05 UTC | 170° 17 kt | 1006.4 | ||||
| 01:10 UTC | 170° 16 kt | 1006.4 | ||||
| 01:15 UTC | 180° 15 kt | 1006.8 | ||||
| 01:20 UTC | 180° 15 kt | 1006.8 | ||||
| 01:25 UTC | 180° 15 kt | 1007.1 | ||||
| 01:30 UTC | 180° 16 kt | 21 | 1007.1 | |||
| 01:35 UTC | 180° 17 kt | 24 | 1007.1 | |||
| 01:40 UTC | 180° 16 kt | 23 | 1007.5 | |||
| 01:45 UTC | 180° 16 kt | 1007.5 | ||||
| 01:50 UTC | 180° 17 kt | 24 | 1007.5 | |||
| 01:53 UTC | 74 | 63 | 180° 18 kt | 1007.5 | ||
| 01:55 UTC | 23 | 1007.5 | ||||
| 02:00 UTC | 180° 19 kt | 1007.5 | ||||
| 02:05 UTC | 1007.5 | |||||
| 02:10 UTC | 180° 18 kt | 1007.5 | ||||
| 02:15 UTC | 170° 18 kt | 24 | 1007.5 | |||
| 02:20 UTC | 170° 18 kt | 1007.1 | ||||
| 02:25 UTC | 180° 18 kt | 1007.1 | ||||
| 02:30 UTC | 23 | 1007.5 | ||||
| 02:35 UTC | 1007.5 | |||||
| 02:40 UTC | 17 kt | 1007.5 | ||||
| 02:45 UTC | 18 kt | 1007.5 | ||||
| 02:50 UTC | 1007.1 | |||||
| 02:53 UTC | 73 | 63 | 180° 16 kt | 1007.1 | ||
| 02:55 UTC | 1007.1 | |||||
| 03:00 UTC | 49 | 1009.1 | ||||
| 03:04 UTC | 65 | 60 | 250° 35 kt | 51 | 1008.8 | +RA SQ |
| 03:05 UTC | 36 | 1008.8 | +RA BR SQ | |||
| 03:07 UTC | 61 | 60 | 280° 24 kt | 51 | 1008.8 | +RA BR SQ |
| 03:10 UTC | 36 | 1009.1 | +RA BR | |||
| 03:15 UTC | 24 | 1009.1 | +RA BR | |||
| 03:17 UTC | 61 | 60 | 270° 18 kt | 37 | 1009.1 | +RA BR |
| 03:20 UTC | 260° 17 kt | 1009.8 | +RA BR | |||
| 03:23 UTC | 61 | 60 | 260° 15 kt | 25 | 1009.8 | VCTS +RA BR |
| 03:25 UTC | 260° 13 kt | 1009.8 | +RA BR | |||
| 03:30 UTC | 260° 11 kt | 1009.5 | +RA BR | |||
| 03:32 UTC | 61 | 60 | 260° 12 kt | 1009.5 | VCTS +RA BR | |
| 03:35 UTC | 260° 11 kt | 1009.5 | RA BR | |||
| 03:40 UTC | 61 | 60 | 260° 12 kt | 1009.5 | RA BR | |
| 03:40 UTC | 250° 12 kt | 1009.5 | RA BR | |||
| 03:45 UTC | 250° 11 kt | 1009.5 | RA BR | |||
| 03:50 UTC | 250° 9 kt | 1009.1 | RA BR | |||
| 03:53 UTC | 61 | 60 | 270° 8 kt | 1008.8 | -RA BR | |
| 03:55 UTC | 280° 10 kt | 1008.8 | -RA BR | |||
| 04:00 UTC | 250° 9 kt | 1008.8 | -RA | |||
| 04:05 UTC | 240° 6 kt | 1008.8 | -RA | |||
| 04:10 UTC | 260° 8 kt | 1008.5 | -RA | |||
| 04:15 UTC | 240° 7 kt | 1008.5 | -RA | |||
| 04:20 UTC | 240° 5 kt | 1008.1 | -RA | |||
| 04:25 UTC | 240° 7 kt | 1008.5 | -RA | |||
| 04:30 UTC | 280° 6 kt | 1007.8 | -RA | |||
| 04:35 UTC | 250° 5 kt | 1007.8 | -RA |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:52 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02:04 UTC | TSTM WND GST 66 | Central Illinois Airpor | Mclean, IL | |
| 02:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Downs | Mclean, IL | Power poles were blown down. |
| 02:06 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 S Kenney | De Witt, IL | [Delayed Report] - Two power poles down on Kenney Road. Possible tornado, NWS damage survey will be necessary in this area. Time estimated by radar. |
| 02:06 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Downs | Mclean, IL | A home was heavily damaged. |
| 02:09 UTC | TORNADO | Rowell | De Witt, IL | EF1, max wind speed 100 mph, path length 7.0 mi. This tornado touched down near the intersection of 1500 North Rd and 550 East Rd, where it damaged two farm out buildings and damaged a tree. As it moved east, it damaged |
| 02:16 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ene Maroa | De Witt, IL | [Delayed Report] - Structural damage to a large outbuilding. |
| 02:18 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Nne Colfax | Mclean, IL | Two barns were destroyed. |
| 02:19 UTC | TORNADO | 4 E Pleasant Hill | Mclean, IL | EF1, path length 7.9 miles, peak wind speed 90 mph. The tornado began in rural northeast McLean County about 4 miles northwest of Colfax, damaging trees and power poles and power lines. The tornado crossed into Livingsto |
| 02:24 UTC | TORNADO | 1 W Saybrook | Mclean, IL | EF0, peak wind speed 85 mph, path length 3.2 miles. Tracked ENE across western and northern portions of Saybrook. A narrow, one block damage path consisted of several downed trees and multiple broken large tree limbs. Th |
| 02:26 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Saybrook | Mclean, IL | [Delayed Report] - Multiple trees down in Saybrook, including one completely uprooted resulting in damage to vehicle. Another tree was snapped in half onto a garage. Possible tornado, NWS damage survey will be necessary |
| 02:28 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Cropsey | Mclean, IL | Power line down. |
| 02:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Gibson City | Ford, IL | Structure damage was reported around parts of Gibson City, including one business which had large portions of metal siding ripped off. Tree damage was also reported in town. Time estimated using radar. |
| 02:32 UTC | TORNADO | 1 W Gibson City | Ford, IL | An NWS storm survey confirmed an EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 90 mph, path length of 4.9 miles, and maximum width of around 100 yards impacted Gibson City. The tornado caused roofing damage to several buildings and do |
| 02:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Sw Lodge | Piatt, IL | [Delayed Report] - Farm outbuilding destroyed. Possible tornado. |
| 02:38 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Sse De Land | Piatt, IL | EF1, peak wind speed 100 mph, path length 2.36 mi. The tornado set down west of a farmstead and collapsed an empty, 90 ft concrete grain silo. It also blew out the east side doors of a machine building and two north wall |
| 02:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Sw Lodge | Piatt, IL | |
| 02:42 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Sw White Heath | Piatt, IL | Power pole down. |
| 02:42 UTC | TSTM WND GST 58 | Decatur Airport | Macon, IL | |
| 02:46 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Wnw Loda | Ford, IL | An NWS storm survey confirmed an EF-1 tornado with peak winds near 95 mph, path length of 9.3 miles, and maximum width of around 150 yards moved from eastern Ford County into southwestern Iroquois County. The tornado dam |
| 02:49 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Nnw Paxton | Ford, IL | Report of an eight inch diameter tree branch broken off of a tree near the intersection of Oak St and American St in Paxton. Time estimated by radar. |
| 02:49 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Loda | Iroquois, IL | Grain bins were destroyed in Loda. Exact location unknown. Time estimated using radar. |
| 02:51 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Ene Seymour | Champaign, IL | EF0, max wind speed 85 mph, path length 0.88 mi. The tornado touched down just south of Rt 10 and damaged a power pole and quickly moved east-northeast. It did minor tree damage before dissipating. |
| 02:51 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Wsw Buckley | Iroquois, IL | Report of semi trucks blown over on I-57 near mile marker 270 southwest of Buckley. Time estimated using radar. |
| 02:52 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Ene Seymour | Champaign, IL | A power pole was leaning over near Route 47 just east of Seymour. |
| 03:03 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Urbana | Champaign, IL | A large tree was snapped on Broadway Avenue. |
| 03:04 UTC | TSTM WND GST 59 | Willard Airport | Champaign, IL |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 17, 2026
88 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 17 | 1:46 PM CDT | EF0 | Mower, MN | 2.8 | 110 | |||
| April 17 | 1:55 PM CDT | EF0 | Dodge, MN | 5.3 | 150 | |||
| April 17 | 2:19 PM CDT | EF2 | Olmsted, MN | 9.7 | 250 | 2 | ||
| April 17 | 2:32 PM CDT | Unrated | Butler, IA | 1.6 | 10 | |||
| April 17 | 2:33 PM CDT | EF1 | Olmsted, MN | 12.4 | 200 | |||
| April 17 | 2:47 PM CDT | EF1 | Jo Daviess, IL | 3.7 | 100 | |||
| April 17 | 2:47 PM CDT | EF2 | Olmsted, MN | 7.7 | 200 | |||
| April 17 | 2:47 PM CDT | EF0 | Howard, IA | 4.2 | 60 | 1 | ||
| April 17 | 3:08 PM CDT | Unrated | Atchison, KS | 0.0 | 0 | |||
| April 17 | 3:26 PM CDT | EF3 | Buffalo, WI | 10.3 | 300 | |||
| April 17 | 3:36 PM CDT | EF2 | Stephenson, IL | 12.5 | 1,250 | |||
| April 17 | 4:07 PM CDT | EF1 | Osage, KS | 1.1 | 75 | |||
| April 17 | 4:09 PM CDT | EF1 | Trempealeau, WI | 5.6 | 90 | |||
| April 17 | 4:17 PM CDT | Unrated | Clayton, IA | 0.6 | 20 | |||
| April 17 | 4:20 PM CDT | EF1 | Trempealeau, WI | 4.6 | 130 | |||
| April 17 | 4:35 PM CDT | Unrated | Winnebago, IL | 0.7 | 50 | |||
| April 17 | 4:44 PM CDT | EF1 | Marathon, WI | 4.3 | 100 | |||
| April 17 | 4:46 PM CDT | EF3 | Marathon, WI | 13.5 | 600 | $8,000 | ||
| April 17 | 4:52 PM CDT | EF1 | Jackson, WI | 2.3 | 150 | |||
| April 17 | 4:57 PM CDT | EF1 | Winnebago, IL | 5.0 | 400 | |||
| April 17 | 5:02 PM CDT | EF1 | Washington, IA | 5.3 | 100 | |||
| April 17 | 5:19 PM CDT | EF1 | Cass, MO | 4.8 | 0 | |||
| April 17 | 6:02 PM CDT | EF1 | Rock, WI | 1.9 | 75 | |||
| April 17 | 6:05 PM CDT | EF1 | Rock, WI | 2.1 | 100 | |||
| April 17 | 6:15 PM CDT | EF1 | Rock, WI | 4.4 | 75 | |||
| April 17 | 6:39 PM CDT | EF1 | Walworth, WI | 3.0 | 75 | |||
| April 17 | 6:40 PM CDT | EF0 | Mercer, IL | 0.9 | 50 | |||
| April 17 | 6:43 PM CDT | EF1 | Walworth, WI | 3.1 | 75 | |||
| April 17 | 6:55 PM CDT | EF1 | Hancock, IL | 5.7 | 150 | |||
| April 17 | 6:55 PM CDT | EF0 | Kay, OK | 5.1 | 100 | |||
| April 17 | 7:03 PM CDT | EF1 | Winnebago, IL | 11.6 | 350 | |||
| April 17 | 7:03 PM CDT | EF1 | Kay, OK | 14.4 | 1,200 | |||
| April 17 | 7:04 PM CDT | EF1 | Henry, IL | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| April 17 | 7:11 PM CDT | EF1 | Kay, OK | 0.9 | 75 | |||
| April 17 | 7:12 PM CDT | EF1 | Kay, OK | 0.3 | 75 | |||
| April 17 | 7:13 PM CDT | EF1 | Hancock, IL | 6.0 | 75 | |||
| April 17 | 7:15 PM CDT | EF1 | Knox, IL | 10.3 | 800 | |||
| April 17 | 7:19 PM CDT | EF1 | Benton, MO | 5.9 | 0 | |||
| April 17 | 7:22 PM CDT | EF0 | Walworth, WI | 1.9 | 50 | |||
| April 17 | 7:23 PM CDT | EF0 | Benton, MO | 0.4 | 200 | |||
| April 17 | 7:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Benton, MO | 1.6 | 150 | |||
| April 17 | 7:29 PM CDT | EF2 | McDonough, IL | 12.8 | 200 | $90 | ||
| April 17 | 7:32 PM CDT | EF0 | Racine, WI | 1.4 | 50 | |||
| April 17 | 7:40 PM CDT | EF2 | Fulton, IL | 18.1 | 500 | $500 | ||
| April 17 | 7:44 PM CDT | EF0 | Morgan, MO | 1.2 | 0 | |||
| April 17 | 7:46 PM CDT | EF1 | Morgan, MO | 7.2 | 300 | |||
| April 17 | 7:50 PM CDT | EF1 | Schuyler, IL | 36.7 | 1,200 | |||
| April 17 | 7:52 PM CDT | EF0 | Waukesha, WI | 0.6 | 70 | |||
| April 17 | 7:55 PM CDT | EF0 | Racine, WI | 3.7 | 50 | |||
| April 17 | 7:56 PM CDT | EF1 | Racine, WI | 5.2 | 75 | |||
| April 17 | 7:59 PM CDT | EF0 | Morgan, MO | 1.3 | 150 | |||
| April 17 | 8:08 PM CDT | EF0 | Cole, MO | 3.5 | 50 | |||
| April 17 | 8:11 PM CDT | EF1 | Mason, IL | 15.4 | 200 | |||
| April 17 | 8:14 PM CDT | EF1 | Bureau, IL | 17.6 | 300 | |||
| April 17 | 8:22 PM CDT | EF1 | Tazewell, IL | 6.3 | 100 | |||
| April 17 | 8:26 PM CDT | EF1 | Menard, IL | 5.9 | 300 | |||
| April 17 | 8:27 PM CDT | EF1 | Tazewell, IL | 2.3 | 500 | |||
| April 17 | 8:27 PM CDT | EF1 | Tazewell, IL | 2.3 | 70 | $50 | ||
| April 17 | 8:29 PM CDT | EF1 | Tazewell, IL | 4.6 | 1,100 | |||
| April 17 | 8:31 PM CDT | EF0 | Callaway, MO | 2.3 | 50 |
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.
Sources
NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.