The National Weather Service has released a preliminary field study on tornadoes that hit northern Jefferson County and three smaller tornadoes in extreme northern Marion County.
The 14-mile-long EF3 tornado that claimed two lives and resulted in five injuries in the Texico area started near Route 37 two and a half miles south of Dix and continued into Western Wayne County.
The National Weather Service at Paducah estimated peak winds at 140 mph with a track approximately 14 miles long. It had a maximum width of 400 yards. The storm began at 5:02 and ended at 5:27 on Sunday afternoon.
The weather service says the tornado quickly intensified and led to complete destruction of several mobile homes, leading to 2 fatalities along July Road and Ranch Lane in rural Texico. A few power poles were snapped, and a couple of sheds were damaged or destroyed. The weather service says the extent of tree damage along the path was impressive, with dozens snapped or uprooted. The tornado crossed into Wayne County, Illinois, and remained on the ground for just over 1 mile before lifting 6 miles northwest of Wayne City.
The weather service in Paducah reported that 13 tornadoes touched down in their three-state region, which includes Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, and Southern Indiana. The Jefferson County tornado was the strongest and had the longest path.
The initial survey results are also back on the tornado east of Kinmundy in the Meachum Road area. The National Weather Service at St. Louis rated it an E-F1 tornado with multi-vortex and a top wind speed of 107 miles per hour. The path was 2.1 miles long with a maximum width of 190 yards. The tornado damaged trees and severely damaged a farm outbuilding. The path first started at 4:31, and the tornado lifted by 4:36.
The National Weather Service in St. Louis has also released results on two other EF-0-rated tornadoes that had short paths in the Vernon area. The first touched down at 3:48 pm and had a maximum wind speed of 74 miles per hour and a length of seven-tenths of a mile. It was located between Vernon and Shobonier and west of US 51. The second touched down a short distance to the southeast at 5:24 pm and crossed US 51 north of Vernon near the Marion-Fayette County Line. It also had a maximum wind speed of 74 miles per hour and was 9/10 of a mile long.
