According to the National Weather Service report on the April 9, 2015, tornadoes, the tornado that tracked through Fairdale was rated EF-4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. This would be the first EF-4 tornado in April since 1981 for Illinois and only the 33rd in Illinois history, regardless of month, since reliable records began in […]
Tag: tornado
On this Date in 1953, First Documented Tornado Hook Echo Captured on Radar
Today is the 62nd anniversary of the first documented case of a tornado detected by radar. Illinois State Water Survey staff, at Willard Airport in Champaign, IL, captured the historic event on film on April 9, 1953. This discovery helped lead to the first national weather radar network in the United States. First recorded radar […]
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Historical Tornadoes in Illinois and the US
While tornadoes can happen any time of the year, the tornado season really starts to ramp up in March in Illinois (see plot below) and remains active through the spring and on into summer. April, May, and June are the three standout months historically. So far 2015 has been very quiet with no severe weather […]
Tornado Drought
Figure on the number of tornadoes reported across the US in 2012, red line at the bottom, as well for the most active year (2003) and the last widespread tornado-land drought (1988). Figure courtesy of NOAA.