Snow Twisters? Watch Video of Rare January Illinois Tornadoes
It was an unexpectedly stormy day in Illinois today. There were a half dozen reports of tornadoes that touched down in the Land of Lincoln including a couple videos showing the twisters as they were touching down.
My wife (aka the meteorologist/aka "the smart one") directed me to the Illinois Storm Community Facebook page. Grace Edwards shared this video of one of the twisters that was spotted near Maroa, Illinois.
Bradley Rohman shared video from the same general area in Illinois from a completely different perspective.
This same series of tornadoes dropped a grain bin into the middle of a highway as shared by 217 Problems on Facebook.
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center listed a total (as of this writing) of 6 tornado reports in Illinois today, January 3, 2023. No strength of tornado has been determined as of today as meteorologists will have to investigate the area to examine damage. It appears as of now that none of the reported tornadoes were of significant strength.
The Illinois State Climatologist created a graph for the University of Illinois that shows January is the month with the least reported tornadoes over a 50 year span.
Tornadoes in January are not unheard of in Illinois, but not common either. Leave it to Illinois weather to come up with a surprising way to introduce the area into a brand new year. If Illinois has tornadoes in January, it makes you wonder what Spring will bring.