Rare January Tornado in Northern Illinois Monday Afternoon Rated EF3

Rare January Tornado in Northern Illinois Monday Afternoon Rated EF3

NWS REPORT
Updated: January 9, 2008

A weather pattern more typical of early May than early January across northern Illinois brought severe weather to the area Monday afternoon. Originally two tornadoes were reported with these storms in Boone County and McHenry County along the Wisconsin border. On Tuesday, damage surveys conducted by National Weather Service personnel revealed one long continuous path from a single tornado. The tornado started at 3:30 PM about 1.2 miles north of Poplar Grove in Boone County and ended at 3:48 PM about 3.2 miles north-northeast of Harvard in McHenry County.

Tornado Rating --- EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale

Maximum winds --- 136 to 165 MPH

Path Length --- 13.2 miles

Maximum width --- Around 100 yards

There were four injuries reported in Boone County and one in McHenry County.

Please refer to the full Public Information Statement for additional details.

This weather event was unusually intense and climatologically very rare. The National Weather Service has tornado records dating back to 1950. In this 58 year period of record, only one other tornado has ever been documented anywhere in north central or northeast Illinois in the month of January. That tornado occurred on January 25, 1950 at Momence in Kankakee County. It was rated F2 on the Fujita scale. It was a day similar to Monday with temperatures in the middle 60s. In fact, Chicago set the all time record high for the month of January, with a temperature of 67 degrees, on that date.

Damage Photos from Ground and Aerial Surveys

Conducted by NWS Personnel and Illinois Group 22 of the Civil Air Patrol

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EF2 damage at Edwards Apple Orchard northeast of Poplar Grove near the intersection of Beaverton Road and Centerville Road.

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House destroyed by EF3 tornado, also near intersection of Beaverton Road and Centerville Road.

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Ground-level view of house northeast of Poplar Grove destroyed by EF3 tornado.



House damaged by EF2 tornado at Edwards Apple Orchard.


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Tracks showing where large hay bales were rolled through a field by the storm, near Boone School Road.



Garages and machine shed destroyed by EF1 tornado on Leroy Center Road.


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Hay barn collapsed on Capron Road.



Homes damaged and train derailed at Lawrence.



The climatologically unusual nature of this event is illustrated by a large pile of leftover snow covered by tornado debris and surrounded by topped trees and twisted metal siding.

TWISTER IN MISSISSIPPI!

Storms, Possible Tornadoes Hit Mississippi

At Least 2 Injured By Powerful Storms Thursday

POSTED: 4:05 pm EST January 10, 2008

JACKSON, Miss. -- At least two people were injured Thursday as powerful thunderstorms packing heavy rain and possible tornadoes pushed across Mississippi.There were numerous reports of scattered property damage around the state, including at a school in Caledonia, Miss."Schools and buses are damaged and one of the old gyms there could be destroyed so we've got an area coordinator on the way there to check it out," said Lea Stokes, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.Choctaw County Medical Center in Ackerman, Miss., said it had received reports of two storm injuries but that they did not appear to be serious.Steve Montgomery, an emergency management spokesman in Choctaw County, Miss., said one woman was injured and a large dairy barn was heavily damaged during the peak of the storms Thursday afternoon.Montgomery said he had no additional information on the woman or the extent of her injuries.A dispatcher at the Ackerman Police Department said the dairy was located near Weir, Miss., and, from police radio reports, it appeared several barns at the farm had blown down.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

ALABAMA TWISTERS!

WSBTV.com

Tornadoes Close Alabama Schools

POSTED: 5:56 am EST January 11, 2008

VERNON, Ala. -- Two apparent tornadoes toppled trees and caused scattered damage today as strong storms moved into Alabama where thousands of students were sent home early as a precaution. Jim Westland is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Birmingham. He said this evening that suspected twisters touched down in the Lamar County town of Sulligent and in the Wiley community in northern Tuscaloosa County. Westland said storm survey teams would be sent to those areas tomorrow to determine whether tornadoes actually touched down. Downed trees and power lines, structural damage and power outages were reported in various parts of the state. Severe weather warnings are continuing into the evening for some areas. The University of Alabama suspended classes and the University of North Alabama shut down in Florence. A number of public and private schools from the state line to Birmingham dismissed classes early because of the threat of severe weather. At least two people were killed in traffic accidents and more than a dozen injured in Mississippi, where more than 100 homes were also damaged or destroyed and power outages were widespread. The storms were ahead of a cold front that is expected to drop high temperatures into the low 50s across much of the state tomorrow.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

MARITIME NOTES

Maritime Security: Federal Efforts Needed to Address Challenges in Preventing and Responding to Terrorist Attacks on Energy Commodity Tankers, GAO-08-141, December 10, 2007

Have a great weekend!
RS