Confirmed Tornado Touchdown in Effingham County

The National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado touchdown in Effingham County during Thursday night's storms.  The local storm was one of seven twisters confirmed by the Weather Service from Thursday's event.

The Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in an open field about four miles west-southwest of Shumway at 4:54pm.  The tornado tracked to the northeast, and crossed Illinois Route 33 between Shumway and Beecher City.  The tornado snapped several power poles as it crossed the highway.  The tornado dissipated in an open field about three miles west-northwest of Shumway.

An EF-1 tornado is classified by the Weather Service as a "weak" tornado and averages between 86 and 110MPH.

An EF-2 tornado was confirmed near Pana.  The twister developed two miles 2.8 miles south of Pana at 4:20pm.  The tornado damaged several properties to the south and east of Pana before it crossed the Christian/Shelby county line about three miles east of Pana at 4:24pm.  The tornado increased in intensity after it crossed into western Shelby County, doing significant damage to the roof of a house and causing one minor injury about three miles north-northwest of Tower Hill.  The tornado continued to the northeast, dissipating roughly three miles west-southwest of Westervelt at 4:32pm.  The tornado was estimated to have peak wind gusts of 115MPH.

As far as the other confirmed tornadoes Thursday, they were spotted east of Divernon in Sangamon County, south of Mechanicsburg in Sangamon County, from Concord to Arenzville in Morgan and Cass counties, west-southwest of Chrisman in Edgar County, and west-southwest of Findlay.