 Home I worked in the area covered
by the National Weather Service's Peoria, Il office during After the National Severe Storms Forecast Center issued a Public Severe Weather Outlook covering the possibility of a major outbreak of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes for a large portion of the midwest east of the Mississippi River, I issued a Special Weather Statement around 10:30 AM from the Peoria NWS office highlighting the same information for central Illinois. This was before the advent of NOAA Weather Radio, so the only mass distribution was via the NOAA Weather Wire and, subsequently, the Associated Press and the United Press. At high noon, based upon returns from the Marseilles, Il WSR-57 radar and a report of damage just north of Lincoln, Il, I issued a tornado warning for Logan and Mc Lean Counties. The tornado was north of Lincoln on the east side of Interstate 55, moving rapidly north northeast at 50 mph. The tornado was a threat to
the Bloomington-Normal area, but it curved more to the northeast
missing the larger metropolitan area. Instead, it hit two smaller
communities, Anchor and Colfax east of Bloomington-Normal. The
tornado was later classified by Dr. Ted Fujita as an F3 which
destroyed several buildings and much farm machinery. There were
no injuries or deaths. |