This morning a low pressure system moved through the QCA. A line of strong thunderstorms moved through Iowa & Illinois and produced heavy rainfall that added up to 2 inches + (and as little as 0.2 inches) for some of our viewing area. As the line of thunderstorms moved through Henry County a brief “spin-off” tornado touched down. This tornado did create some spin and high shear values were located over the area. As far as radar indication goes, the tornado touched down and lifted back up between just a few radar scans. After a NWS team did a preliminary damage survey, they reported that a small EF-1 tornado touched down 6.75 miles SSW of Atkinson, IL (Henry County – 41.3229/ -90.0515) at 9:59am. The tornado did not strengthen and picked up at 10:04am 3 miles S of Atkinson (Henry County 41.376/ -90.0206).
The tornado’s estimated peak wind speed was 100 mph. The patch of the storm stretched 4 miles in length and 50 yards in width. This tornado’s main damage was to trees and a farm outbuilding. As of this summary there were no fatalities or injuries reported to be caused by this tornado.
Note: The Enhanced Fujita scale classifies tornadoes into categories based on the damage they cause. This tornado was an EF-1 (Weak with wind speeds up to 86-110mph). The next step up would have been an EF-2 or strong tornado with winds at 111-135mph.
~Meteorologist Dorrell Wenninger
