Tornado History Map

Joliet, Illinois tornado path, 28 August 1990

Rated F5 on the Fujita (F) scale. The recorded path is shown on the map and selected for you.

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Years1950 to 2025
Rating (F or EF scale)

Shows tornadoes that started in, or crossed, the chosen state. To see how many have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • F0 / EF0 Light damage
  • F1 / EF1 Moderate damage
  • F2 / EF2 Considerable damage
  • F3 / EF3 Severe damage
  • F4 / EF4 Devastating damage
  • F5 / EF5 Incredible damage
  • Unknown Not rated (2007 onwards)

How to read the lines. Each line is one tornado, drawn from where it started to where it ended, coloured and sized by its rating. A dot means the record has no end point. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see how many tornadoes have passed nearby. Weaker tornadoes appear as you zoom in. Ratings use the Fujita (F) scale before 1 February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale from then on.

What the record says

On 28 August 1990, a tornado touched down near Joliet, Illinois. The Storm Prediction Center records its path as 16.4 miles long and up to 600 yards wide, rated F5 on the Fujita (F) scale. It killed 29 people and injured 350.

  • F5Fujita rating
  • 29deaths
  • 350injuries
  • 16.4 mipath length
  • 600 ydmaximum width

It has its own page because it was rated 4 or 5 and it killed three or more people.

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 41.68, -88.35 and the end point at 41.52, -88.10 (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

Other notable tornadoes of 1990

All tornadoes of 1990 · Illinois tornado history · All notable tornadoes

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