1 May 2002 Tornado

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Tornado Damage on May 1, 2002
PRELIMINARY DAMAGE SURVEY FOR BOND AND MARION COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ILLINOIS. National Weather Service personnel at St. Louis conducted a survey of the damage over parts of Bond and Marion counties in southwest and south-central Illinois. Preliminary results are...two swaths of damage were found. Most of the damage was due to weak tornadoes from a severe thunderstorm that moved rapidly southeast across the area. ...First Path of Damage (Central Bond County)... The first swath of damage was from six tornado touchdowns across parts of central Bond County Illinois. Three of the six initial tornado damage paths (Tornadoes 1, 2, and 3) began three to four miles west of Greenville Illinois along Highway 140. Seven barns and machine sheds sustained varying degrees of damage along and 1.5 miles south of Highway 140. Sheet metal from some of these structures were tossed over 100 yards away. A number of large trees were stripped mainly over the upper half of the tree. Large branches were tossed as much as 50 to 75 yards away. The tornadic damage paths were relatively narrow...less than 30 yards wide...and began between 1:35 and 1:40 PM CDT. Damage intensity varied from F0 to F1 on the Fujita Scale. Two other tornado touchdowns (Tornadoes 4 and 5) formed south of the first three, one half mile north of the intersection of county roads 900 north and 800 east and one mile east-northeast of this intersection respectively. Two barns sustained damage from the southern most tornado while numerous large trees and pines were severed along both paths. Similar to the first three tracks, these damage tracks were relatively narrow less than 30 yards wide while damage intensity were rated F0 and F1. These tornadoes initially formed between 1:35 and 1:40 PM CDT. Tornado #6 formed approximately one mile west of Greenville at approximately 1:40 PM CDT. Tornadoes 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 crossed Old National Road, one half to one and one-half miles southwest of Greenville around 1:40 PM CDT. Four homes along Old National Road sustained varying degrees of damage while numerous large trees and pines were severely damage or destroyed. One garage was completely destroyed. A few large pines were tossed over 100 yards into an open field. The width of the damage varied from 30 to 40 yards while damage intensity was rated F1. Along county road 975, just southwest of Greenville...Tornado #2 damaged two machine sheds and one home sustained damage. Between 1:35 and 1:40 PM CDT...several witnesses located south and southwest of Greenville observed four tornadoes simultaneously to their northwest. The tornadoes were not rotating around each other, rather they were aligned north-south and moved rapidly east-southeast. After 1:40 PM, Tornado #6 nearly destroyed another large machine shed spreading pieces of sheet metal one-half mile to the east. Tornado #1 crossed fourth street...then hit Hillview Nursing Home causing mainly roof damage. A nearby small shed was also destroyed. The tornado continued to move east damaging three storage sheds, another building and finally causing minor roof damage to two homes. Several trees along this part of the track were severed. Tornado #2 also crossed fourth street damaging a rural cooperative electric radio tower and the F&S Grain storage bins. Two large metal grain bins that were fifteen percent filled were damaged while two other bins sustained some damage. The elevators connecting the bins were also damaged. Pieces of the elevators were tossed over 70 yards away and driven into the ground at 45 to 60 degree angles. This tornado was rated F1 intensity. Tornado #3 just missed a car dealership...however it caused significant damage to a barn and machine shed and some damage to a farm home one-fifth of a mile south of the F&S storage bins. Damage width contined to be less than 50 yards while damage intensity was rated F1. Tornado #5 crossed U.S 40 just west of Dudleyville road and caused tree damage and minor damage to a home. This tornado was rated F0. Tornadoes #3 and #5 were also responsible for overturning five tractor trailers on Interstate 70 southwest of the intersection of Highway 127 and Interstate 70. There was one minor injury. The total length of damage paths for Tornadoes 1, 2, and 3 were 6.0, 6.5, and 7.5 miles respectively. The total length of damage paths for tornadoes 4, 5, and 6 were 2.5, 5.0 and 2.5 miles respectively. Over thirty-five structures were damaged by the series of tornadoes.

Map of tornadic damage tracks - May 1, 2002 over central Bond County Illinois.
...Second Path of Damage (North-central - northeast Marion county Illinois)... The second swath of damage was from three tornado touchdowns across parts of north-central and northeast Marion County Illinois. The first of three tornado damage paths began 6.5 miles west northwest of Kinmundy Illinois between 2:10 and 2:15 PM CDT. The damage path was quite fragmented compared to the nearly continuous damage paths across Bond County Illinois. Damage was confined to mainly trees. However, one two-story structure near the intersection of Highway 37 and Kinoka Road (1.5 miles southwest of Kinmundy) sustained considerable damage. The roof and two sides of this structure were tossed across Highway 37 and into a nearby woods. The tornadic damage track was again relatively narrow...approximately 30 to 40 yards wide. Damage along this track was rated F0 to F1 intensity. A second tornado track started at Kinoka Road...5.5 miles west of Kinmundy at approximately 2:15 PM CDT. Similar to the first track, the damage path was quite fragmented. However...two homes did sustain varying degrees of damage 2.5 miles southwest of Kinmundy. Over fifty percent of the roof of one home was tossed over 70 yards away. The damage track was again around 40 yards wide while the damage intensity was rated F1. A third but short tornadic damage path started 1.5 miles west of Kinmundy and traveled southeast across Highway 37. This tornado initially touched down after 2:15 PM CDT. Damage was confined to large trees. However one house trailer was significantly damaged by this tornado. The damage intensity was rated F1. The total length of damage paths of the first, second, and third tornadoes were 7.0, 6.5 and 2.5 miles respectively.

Map of tornadic damage tracks - May 1, 2002 over north-central and northeast Marion County Illinois.
The pattern of tornado damage tracks west and south of Greenville were somewhat similar to the tornadic damage paths of the May 18, 1995 tornadic storm over Monroe County Illinois where multiple damage paths from tornadoes were documented. The Greenville Illinois storm is referred to as a 'High-Precipitation Supercell' where large hail..high winds and weak tornadoes are often associated with these storms. The tornadoes across central Bond and north-central through northeast Marion Counties in Illinois occurred along the leading outflow of the storm's southern flank. R Przybylinski National Weather Service St. Louis
Public Information Statement from WFO St. Louis Local Storm Report
Photos (thumbnails) of the tornadic damage immediately south and southwest of Greenville Illinois (Bond county), May 1 2002.




A number of witnesses observed between three to four tornadoes at one time moving rapidly east-southeastward. Six tornado damage paths were uncovered. Much of the damage shown above is rated F1 intensity.

NOAA's National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office