WunderBlog Archive » Weather Extremes
Category 6 has moved! See the latest from Dr. Jeff Masters and Bob Henson here.Illinois Deadliest November Tornado Outbreak On Record
Illinois Deadliest November Tornado Outbreak On Record
With six fatalities in Illinois attributed to the tornado outbreak on Sunday it would appear this was the deadliest tornado event on record for the state during the month of November. Here is a brief summary of other deadly tornado events to have taken place in Illinois during November and December.
A map of all the areas subjected to storm warnings of one sort or the other from Sunday morning to 3:30 a.m. ET Monday. Some additional warnings for high winds went up for the New York City area after that time. Source NWS.
According to tornado expert Thomas Grazulis, and outlined in his epic book ‘Significant Tornadoes: 1680-1991’ (updated to 1995) the previous deadly tornado events to take place in Illinois during November were as follows:
Nov. 9, 1864: 5 dead in Perry County (4 in Chester and 1 near Richview, same tornado). No rating of tornado strength.
Nov. 6, 1885: 1 dead in White County. F-3 tornado.
Nov. 17, 1892: 2 dead in Red Bud, Ill. (Randolph County). F-3 tornado.
Nov. 11, 1911: 2 dead in Mason County. F-3 tornado.
Nov. 12, 1912: 1 dead in Clark County. F-2 tornado.
Nov. 12, 1965: 2 dead in Channahon, Ill. (along Grundy/Will County line). F-3 tornado.
Although it is indeed late in the season for significant (EF-2 or stronger) and deadly tornadoes to form in Illinois, there have been several deadly tornado events in December as well:
Dec. 2, 1950: 3 dead from two tornadoes in Madison and Bond Counties. F-3 and F-2 tornadoes.
Dec. 18, 1957: 13 dead from three tornadoes in Jefferson, Perry, Jackson, Williamson, and Franklin counties. The Perry County tornado was rated F-5 (one death), and the Jackson County tornado F-4 where 11 died southeast of Murphysboro. Another F-4 killed one in Jefferson County. This, of course, was not only the deadliest but also most violent late-season tornado outbreak in Illinois history.
Map of the tornado outbreak that struck Illinois hard on December 18, 1957 killing 13 in the state in addition to 4 other fatalities in Missouri. Map from Tornado History Project.
Dec. 2, 1982: 2 dead in Clinton County. F-3 tornado.
It has yet to be determined just how many tornadoes touched down in Illinois on Sunday (there have been about 68 tornado reports in all so far (for the entire region), but many of these may be duplicate reports). It does appear, however, that at least one EF-4 tornado touched down near New Minden, Illinois east of St. Louis and it also appears likely that a 2nd EF-4 struck the town of Washington. Jeff Masters has more details about the event in his Monday blog.
Christopher C. Burt
Weather Historian
With six fatalities in Illinois attributed to the tornado outbreak on Sunday it would appear this was the deadliest tornado event on record for the state during the month of November. Here is a brief summary of other deadly tornado events to have taken place in Illinois during November and December.
A map of all the areas subjected to storm warnings of one sort or the other from Sunday morning to 3:30 a.m. ET Monday. Some additional warnings for high winds went up for the New York City area after that time. Source NWS.
According to tornado expert Thomas Grazulis, and outlined in his epic book ‘Significant Tornadoes: 1680-1991’ (updated to 1995) the previous deadly tornado events to take place in Illinois during November were as follows:
Nov. 9, 1864: 5 dead in Perry County (4 in Chester and 1 near Richview, same tornado). No rating of tornado strength.
Nov. 6, 1885: 1 dead in White County. F-3 tornado.
Nov. 17, 1892: 2 dead in Red Bud, Ill. (Randolph County). F-3 tornado.
Nov. 11, 1911: 2 dead in Mason County. F-3 tornado.
Nov. 12, 1912: 1 dead in Clark County. F-2 tornado.
Nov. 12, 1965: 2 dead in Channahon, Ill. (along Grundy/Will County line). F-3 tornado.
Although it is indeed late in the season for significant (EF-2 or stronger) and deadly tornadoes to form in Illinois, there have been several deadly tornado events in December as well:
Dec. 2, 1950: 3 dead from two tornadoes in Madison and Bond Counties. F-3 and F-2 tornadoes.
Dec. 18, 1957: 13 dead from three tornadoes in Jefferson, Perry, Jackson, Williamson, and Franklin counties. The Perry County tornado was rated F-5 (one death), and the Jackson County tornado F-4 where 11 died southeast of Murphysboro. Another F-4 killed one in Jefferson County. This, of course, was not only the deadliest but also most violent late-season tornado outbreak in Illinois history.
Map of the tornado outbreak that struck Illinois hard on December 18, 1957 killing 13 in the state in addition to 4 other fatalities in Missouri. Map from Tornado History Project.
Dec. 2, 1982: 2 dead in Clinton County. F-3 tornado.
It has yet to be determined just how many tornadoes touched down in Illinois on Sunday (there have been about 68 tornado reports in all so far (for the entire region), but many of these may be duplicate reports). It does appear, however, that at least one EF-4 tornado touched down near New Minden, Illinois east of St. Louis and it also appears likely that a 2nd EF-4 struck the town of Washington. Jeff Masters has more details about the event in his Monday blog.
Christopher C. Burt
Weather Historian
Extreme Weather Mini Blog Tornadoes
The views of the author are his/her own and do not necessarily represent the position of The Weather Company or its parent, IBM.