The deadly tornado that devastated parts of Illinois Friday was categorized as an EF-4 as it generated winds up to 200 miles per hour and spanned at times a massive half-mile wide, the National Weather Service announced.
In a press conference Friday, a National Weather Service spokesperson said the twister's longest continuous path on the ground was up to 20 miles long, with the most significant damage seen just west of Rochelle until it moved northeast and destructed the town of Fairdale.
As the tornado passed Fairdale and moved towards Boone and McHenry Counties the path became more intermittent it appeared – thrashing between lifting up off the ground at times and touching back down, the spokesperson said.
The NWS announced radar data and accounts from spotters indicated there were at times two dangerous tornadoes that were on the ground at the same time as a satellite tornado was created from the same parent storm and began circulating around the larger one.
“It’s certainly unusual [for a tornado to be on the ground that long], very unusual and it’s not something we commonly see in Illinois,” a NWS spokesperson said. “It’s not unprecedented, but it’s certainly looking like it’s going to be one of the longer track tornadoes that’s going to be recorded in Illinois.”
The NWS says they are working to survey aerial footage from an aircraft, that will help to better establish the tornado’s path length overall and exactly how many tornadoes touched down.
