Five tornadoes struck McLean County on Friday night, according to the National Weather Service, three of them in Bloomington and Normal.
All of the twisters that went through McLean County were relatively mild EF1 tornadoes, though two of them packed a punch of 110 mph winds. The others had peak winds of 90-100 mph, the NWS said in a news release.
Workers doing storm surveys concentrated on McLean County on Saturday.
See interactive map showing the five tornadoes in McLean County.
The tornadoes included:
- Normal to Towanda, EF1 strength with a peak wind speed of 110 mph. On the ground for 10.3 miles.
- Bloomington, from the Bloomington Country Club to the intersection of Fort Jesse Road and Towanda Barnes Road. EF1 strength with a peak wind speed of 110 mph. On the ground for 4.1 miles.
- Bloomington, roughly along South Veterans Parkway from near Hamilton Road to Highland Park Golf Course. EF1 strength with a peak wind speed of 100 mph. On the ground for 1.3 miles.
- Northeast of McLean to near the Ford County line (including Downs and Ellsworth), EF1 strength with a peak wind speed of 100 mph. On the ground for 33.8 miles.
- Northeast McLean County to far southwest Livingston County, EF1 strength with a peak wind speed of 90 mph. On the ground for 7.9 miles.
The weather service identified three other tornadoes Friday night and Saturday morning in Stephenson and Winnebago Counties in Northern Illinois. Additional tornadoes may be confirmed later.
“Additional survey teams are going out on Sunday. One will concentrate on Fulton, Tazewell and Mason counties. The other will concentrate on Piatt, Champaign and Vermilion counties. More surveys may be needed on Monday as well. Please give us time, as this is a fairly large expanse that needs to be covered,” said the NWS.
The service did identify a couple stronger EF2 strength tornadoes, one in Stephenson County.
Tornadoes are rated on an EF0 to EF5 scale. EF5 is the strongest.
