Preliminary Ground Survey Indicates Thursday’s Main Tornado Was An EF-4 Tornado

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National Weather Service meteorologists have conducted a ground survey covering the most heavily damaged locations of north central Illinois. Based on early findings the tornado that tracked from near Rochelle to near Belvidere…and impacted the community of Fairdale…appears to have been a single long track tornado. Preliminary survey assessment indicates this tornado was an EF-4. An aerial survey will be conducted tomorrow — weather permitting — to confirm a final rating.

At least one satellite tornado associated with this larger tornado was found thus far and there may have been others.  An aerial survey will help us ascertain whether there were any additional tornadoes on this day.

...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 04/09/15 TORNADO EVENT...
...NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS TORNADO PRELIMINARY RATED AN EF-4..

RATING:                 EF-4 (PRELIMINARY)
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND:    180-200 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/:  TBD
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/:   0.5 MILE (PRELIMINARY)
FATALITIES:             2
INJURIES:               22

START DATE:APRIL 09 2015
START TIME:TBD
START LOCATION:TBD

END DATE:APRIL 09 2015
END TIME:TBD
END LOCATION:TBD


.TORNADO...

RATING:                 EF-1
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND:    105-110 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/:  2.03 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/:   50 YARDS
FATALITIES:             0
INJURIES:               0

START DATE:             APRIL 09 2015
START TIME:             TBD
START LOCATION:         3.6 MILES S BELVIDERE
START LAT/LON:          42.2052/-88.8442

END DATE:               APRIL 09 2015
END TIME:               TBD
END LOCATION:           3.6 MILES SE BELVIDERE
END_LAT/LON:            42.2101/-88.8053

THIS TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR FLORA ROAD AND HIT A ZOO WHERE
TWO ANIMALS WERE KILLED AND OUTBUILDINGS SUSTAINED HEAVY
STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. THE TORNADO CONTINUED EAST ACROSS GENOA ROAD
WHERE THREE POWER POLES WERE SNAPPED AND BLOWN OVER.

.TORNADO...

RATING:                 EF-0
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND:    65 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/:  2.83 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/:   25 YARDS
FATALITIES:             0
INJURIES:               0

START DATE:             APRIL 09 2015
START TIME:TBD
START LOCATION:         2.9 MILES S CHERRY VALLEY
START LAT/LON:          42.1926/-88.9548

END DATE:               APRIL 09 2015
END TIME:TBD
END LOCATION:           2.5 MILES SE CHERRY VALLEY
END_LAT/LON:            42.2174/-88.9106

AN EMERGENCY MANAGER AND TRAINED SPOTTERS PHOTOGRAPHED A
TORNADO THAT TOUCHED DOWN SOUTH OF CHERRY VALLEY. THE
TORNADO DID NOT PRODUCE ANY DAMAGE.

EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES
TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES.

EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH
EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH
EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH
EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH
EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH
EF5...VIOLENT...>200 MPH

NOTE:
THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT AND PUBLICATION IN
NWS STORM DATA.


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