For more on the Utica portion of the deadly F3 tornado, please see the NWS Chicago Event Write-Up. For more on Iowa tornadoes that happened that day in the NWS Quad Cities County Warning Area, please see here.
Storm Track Maps
Putnam County & Adjacent Area Tornadoes
Granville-Utica F3 Tornado
Public Information Statement
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
435 PM CDT WED APR 21 2004
...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SURVEYS GRANVILLE ILLINOIS TORNADO...
ON TUESDAY APRIL 20TH BETWEEN 515 PM AND 6 PM...MULTIPLE TORNADOES
MOVED NORTHEAST THROUGH SOUTHERN BUREAU AND PUTNAM COUNTIES IN
ILLINOIS.
IN SOUTHERN BUREAU COUNTY...A TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND ABOUT 1.5
MILES AND WAS ABOUT 100 YARDS WIDE, DAMAGING A BARN...SEVERAL
OUTBUILDINGS AND THE ROOF OF A FARMHOUSE ON A FARM. A GROUND SURVEY
OF THE DAMAGE ESTIMATED THE WIND AT 70 MPH...WHICH WOULD CATEGORIZE
THE TORNADO AS AN F-0 ON THE FUJITA TORNADO DAMAGE SCALE.
IN PUTNAM COUNTY...A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN OVER RURAL AREAS ABOUT 2
MILES EAST OF HENNIPEN...AND TRAVELED NORTHEAST INTO GRANVILLE. THE
TORNADO CAUSED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO BUSINESSES...HOMES...AND CITY
BUILDINGS IN GRANVILLE. EYEWITNESSES REPORTED THAT THIS TORNADO HAD
MULTIPLE VORTICIES IN THE VICINITY OF GRANVILLE. THE TORNADO CAUSED
DAMAGE THAT RESULTED IN WIND ESTIMATES NEAR 150 MPH IN NORTHERN
GRANVILLE. THE TORNADO REMAINED ON THE GROUND ACROSS THE COUNTY LINE
INTO LASALLE COUNTY...3 MILES NORTHEAST OF STANDARD. IN RURAL
AREAS...EXTENSIVE DAMAGE WAS CAUSED TO SEVERAL FARMS. WIND
ESTIMATES SHOW THAT WINDS CAUSING THIS DAMAGE WERE NEAR 157 MPH...OR
A HIGH LEVEL F-2 TORNADO. THIS TORNADO LATER CAUSED DAMAGE TO
LASALLE COUNTY ILLINOIS.
THIS DAMAGE SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED BY MIKE MCCLURE...ANDY ERVIN...AND
SCOTT DOERING.
SPECIAL THANKS TO ILLINOIS LAW ENFORCEMENT...LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF
GRANVILLE...AND CITIZENS OF GRANVILLE.
Pictures
Boards stuck in ground. Projectiles from Granville Tornado.
High-end F-2 damage. Garage taken off foundation, car blown out of garage. From Granville.
Flattened garage.
Devastated farm northeast of Granville. High-end F-2 damage.