Meteorologists have more information about the deadly tornadoes that passed through Illinois last week. The national weather service confirmed there were nine tornadoes across Illinois on Thursday night.
The strongest was a long track one from Franklin Grove to north of Rochell through Fairdale and into Boone County. That has been given a rating of an EF-4 with maximum winds of 180-200 mph. The tornado caused two fatalities and 22 injuries.
Ed Fenelon is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Chicago. He says a tornado of that magnitude is rare.
"It's actually been 25 years since we've had an EF-4 in our area of responsibility, which is the 18 counties in northern Illinois and the five counties in northwest Indiana. This is the first EF-4 tornado that we've had in Illinois since the Washington, Illinois tornado back on November 17, 2013.”
He says meteorologists drew from a catalog of damage from past storms to determine the magnitude of this event.
