Tornado Destroys Farms in Secor, Illinois on Memorial Day

Secor, Illinois (HDW) May 30, 2002 - Significant severe weather outbreaks occurred across the nation Memorial Day weekend. This had been expected for a number of days. The outbreak on May 29 was across the Plains, and across the Midwest on May 30.
In Illinois, there were two periods of severe weather on May 30. The first outbreak was during the morning, covering generally the northern half of the state. The second outbreak occurred during the afternoon, affecting much of the state.
On Memorial Day, the National Weather Service (NWS) and ESDA conducted a damage survey of eastern Woodford County.
A small tornado touched down around 5:05 pm, about 1.5 miles southeast of Eureka. The tornado was on the ground for 9 miles, lifting 2 miles northeast of Secor around 5:25 pm. The maximum width was about 75 yards.
At a farm 3 miles west-southwest of Secor, the tornado destroyed 2 farm buildings, one grain bin, and a corn crib. As it tracked east-northeast, it damaged trees, destroyed two old farm buildings, moved hay bales, and threw a medium size gas tank 1/2 mile.
This tornado was ranked F1 on the Fujita scale, with estimated wind speeds around 100 mph.