Confirmed tornado near Oregon, IL Tuesday

A team of meteorologists with the National Weather Service were out all day Tuesday surveying storm damage around northern Illinois.  Much of the survey was focused on the hardest hit areas from Naplate to Ottawa, but a team did survey damage that occurred southeast of the town of Oregon in Ogle County.

Shortly after 5pm Tuesday, a strong line of thunderstorms moved through south-central Ogle and north-central Lee counties.  It was near the roads of Daysville and Lighthouse where most of the damage occurred to a barn, numerous trees and homes.  The survey team determined that an EF-1 tornado occurred in that area with maximum wind speeds of 90-95 mph.  The tornado was on the ground for a mile and a half and was reported to be 50 yards wide.  It was only on the ground for two minutes and was likely a quick spin up tornado along the leading edge of the strong thunderstorm.

It was also determined that straight line wind damage occurred up to a mile and a half east of the tornado damage with winds estimated to be near 80 mph.  This lines up well with the several reports we received of downed trees near Chana, IL.