Weather Event at Beecher City Was Not a Tornado

The weather event that visited Beecher City earlier this week did damage and resulted in injuries to those inside a mobile home. It was not a tornado, according to the National Weather Service.

Effingham County Emergency Management Agency Director Pamela Jacobs contacted Chris Miller of the Weather Service office in Lincoln about the event. Here is Chris' reply:

"There is no doubt in our mind that this event was NOT a tornado. Regarding the issue of why no other areas were impacted other than Beecher City, the answer is that a severe downburst causes damage, on average, anywhere from one-quarter mile wide up to two miles wide, for a length of a couple of miles up to five to six miles long or more. Tornadoes usually have a much more narrow path. If the tornado is wider, the wind is usually stronger, which means instead of having a lot of trees damaged and shingle damage to homes, you would have structural damage to well-built buildings (not garages or large sheds, which are not very sturdy compared to a house). These downbursts typically impact towns, or portions of larger cities, while not impacting anywhere else. It is NOT a straight line wind that sweeps across an area resulting in high winds across a whole county or several counties. Downbursts impact smaller areas with wind speeds of 60-80MPH and occasionally around 100MPH."

Miller added, "We need to educate the public about this so we can stop hearing 'it was just a storm or just wind can't do that'; yes it can!" He said, "We are 15 times more likely to have a downburst than a tornado in Illinois."