What the record says
On 29 June 1979, a tornado touched down near Joliet, Illinois. The Storm Prediction Center records its path as 5.4 miles long and up to 100 yards wide, rated F4 on the Fujita (F) scale. It injured 1 person.
- F4Fujita rating
- 0deaths
- 1injury
- 5.4 mipath length
- 100 ydmaximum width
It has its own page because it was rated 4 or 5.
This page gives the official record's figures. Numbers of deaths and injuries are sometimes revised after a survey, and they cannot convey what the day was like for the people who lived through it.
Counties it crossed
The start point was at 41.52, -88.23 and the end point at 41.60, -88.20 (latitude, longitude).
How to read this path
The Storm Prediction Center records most tornadoes as a straight line from the point where they touched down to the point where they lifted. The real path usually curved and was not the same width all the way along. The width given is the widest part. Older records are less precise, and the record starts in 1950.
Source: the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database, public domain.
Other notable tornadoes in Illinois
- Orland Park, Illinois tornado21 April 1967, F4, 33 deaths, 500 injuries, 15 miles long
- Joliet, Illinois tornado28 August 1990, F5, 29 deaths, 350 injuries, 16.4 miles long
- Woodstock, Illinois tornado21 April 1967, F4, 24 deaths, 450 injuries, 25.5 miles long
- St. Louis, Missouri tornado10 February 1959, F4, 21 deaths, 345 injuries, 23.9 miles long
- Carbondale, Illinois tornado18 December 1957, F4, 11 deaths, 200 injuries, 28.3 miles long
- Marion, Illinois tornado29 May 1982, F4, 10 deaths, 181 injuries, 17 miles long
Other notable tornadoes of 1979
- Wichita Falls, Texas tornado10 April 1979, F4, 42 deaths, 1,740 injuries, 46.9 miles long
- Vernon, Texas tornado10 April 1979, F4, 11 deaths, 68 injuries, 39.7 miles long
- Palmer, Iowa tornado28 June 1979, F4, 3 deaths, 26 injuries, 14.9 miles long
- Thompsonville, Connecticut tornado3 October 1979, F4, 3 deaths, 500 injuries, 11.3 miles long
- Lone Grove, Oklahoma tornado30 October 1979, F3, 3 deaths, 2 injuries, 8.4 miles long
All tornadoes of 1979 · Illinois tornado history · All notable tornadoes