What the record says
On 15 May 1968, a tornado touched down near Freeburg, Illinois. The Storm Prediction Center records its path as 2 miles long and up to 200 yards wide, rated F3 on the Fujita (F) scale. It killed 4 people and injured 60.
- F3Fujita rating
- 4deaths
- 60injuries
- 2 mipath length
- 200 ydmaximum width
It has its own page because it killed three or more people and it was rated 3 and killed at least one person.
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 38.40, -89.90. The record has no end point for this tornado, so it is drawn as a dot.
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 1968
- Jonesboro, Arkansas tornado15 May 1968, F4, 35 deaths, 364 injuries, 20.9 miles long
- Greenwood, Arkansas tornado19 April 1968, F4, 14 deaths, 270 injuries, 2 miles long
- Hansell, Iowa tornado15 May 1968, F5, 13 deaths, 462 injuries, 62.1 miles long
- Garvin, Minnesota tornado13 June 1968, F5, 9 deaths, 150 injuries, 9.1 miles long
- New Boston, Ohio tornado23 April 1968, F5, 7 deaths, 93 injuries, 34 miles long
All tornadoes of 1968 · Illinois tornado history · All notable tornadoes