7 years ago today I chased the strongest tornado I’ve ever chased through my home county of Champaign County, Illinois. I picked up this rotating storm near Philo Illinois in southern Champaign County. It already had a tornado warning on it, but hadn’t yet produced it’s first tornado when I got a view of the rotating storm base on a familiar country road i’ve driven hundreds of times before. The tornado started off as a slender cone but quickly grew and began lofting debris high into the air and the tone quickly shifted from excitement to concern as it approached the communities of Sidney and Homer. Luckily the tornado missed larger populated areas, but did damage and destroy several farmhouses along it’s 6 and a half mile path. The tornado was on the ground for about 20 minutes before it roped out in rural southeastern Champaign County. After the tornado lifted, I arrived at a farmhouse that had been destroyed. Luckily, the residents were not home at the time.
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National Weather Service Survey:
Summary: The tornado touched down in a field 3.6 miles south of Sidney at 6:31 pm. The tornado damaged corn and bean fields as it tracked to the east-northeast. The tornado continued through fields for about 2 miles before damaging the roof of a house and destroying a garage and large shed. A car and a large RV were also damaged. A barn was destroyed less than one mile away, before the tornado moved into a cemetery. Several headstones and two trees were damaged. The tornado slightly turned more toward the east knocking over trees along 800 North road. The tornado then did the greatest damage to a farmstead where it destroyed three outbuildings and pushed a house off of its foundation, which caused it to collapse. The tornado dissipated about 2.5 miles south of Homer in a field.
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I remember this was a scary day.
Was this the same day that Gifford and Washington got hit? It seems like that was 7 years ago.