The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Champaign County at 11:54 p.m. on Friday. The warning expired at 1 a.m. Saturday.
A half hour later, at 12:23 a.m., NWS issued a second tornado warning. Tornado sirens blared for several minutes at a time, awakening Champaign-Urbana residents. The sirens, which are controlled by the Champaign County Emergency Management Agency, continued to blare on and off throughout the warning.
The weather alerts warned of a severe thunderstorm with “quarter size hail” capable of producing a tornado in the Village of Pesotum — about 14 miles south of C-U — traveling northeast at 60 miles per hour.
“Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter,” the alert stated. “Damage to roofs, windows and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.”
The warning instructed C-U residents to move to a basement or interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building and avoid windows.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
Alongside the tornado warnings, the University issued an Illini-Alert at 12:20 a.m., which cautioned students and staff to shelter indoors.
Unlike watches, which are issued when ingredients for hazardous weather phenomena are present, warnings communicate the need for immediate action.
Jeff Frame, professor in LAS and atmospheric scientist, discussed the tornado warnings in a post shared to X.
“The good news is that both tornado warned circulations are rather broad, but continue to take your tornado precautions,” Frame wrote at 12:31 a.m. “The worst of the storms hit in the next 15 minutes.”
By 12:43 a.m., the sirens had stopped completely.
The tornado and wind threats in the C-U area were part of a severe weather event that spread through the Midwest into the Mississippi Valley. Multiple tornadoes tore through the St. Louis area.
