Meteorologist - Past week was 'fairly unusual'

Two early Sunday morning tornadoes that killed a young boy and an elderly woman were part of the third round of tornadoes to hit Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky in a week.

Billy Hoover, 12, of Marble Hill, Mo., and Janie L. Chamness, 69, of Dongola, Ill., were killed.

"To have three separate days of tornadic weather in a week's time is fairly unusual," said meteorologist Jim Packett with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky. "We've been locked in a weather pattern that's conducive for severe weather. It's just left us open to having severe weather."

The first round of storms to move into the area came during the afternoon on April 21.

Two people were killed and dozens more were injured when a tornado touched down around 4 p.m. in the Southern Illinois counties of Wayne and Jefferson. Tornadoes were reported in the rural towns of Fairfield and Sims.

The second round hit close to the Southeast Missouri towns of Marquand, Poplar Bluff and Van Buren Wednesday afternoon.

In Marquand, the tornado destroyed the fire department and took the roof of the city hall. In Van Buren, it knocked down utility poles.

The tornado that struck 10 miles north of Poplar Bluff destroyed homes and caused numerous injuries.

Aerial surveys

Packett said the weather service tracks the path of tornadoes by flying over the area to survey the damage.

"So far were haven't done a flyover of Dongola yet," he said. "But the path appears to be quite lengthy there."

The path of the Marble Hill tornado was four miles long.

"It could have been the same storm that generated both tornadoes, but we don't know yet," he said. "It was a very fast moving storm, traveling at about 55 miles per hour."

Packett said the same storm system that produced tornadoes in Marble Hill and Dongola might have also produced tornadoes in at least two other Illinois counties northeast of Dongola and one in Kentucky.

"It's possible we had another tornado cross Galatia in Saline County, and we had the potential for another one in Franklin County," he said.

Packett said the weather service is studying those areas to determine if the damage was caused by a tornado or just wind and storms.

In Kentucky, at least 29 people were injured when the storms passed from southwest Webster County into Hopkins County. Webster County is northeast of Paducah and a county south of the Indiana border.

Packett said the weather service is also surveying that area.he National Weather Service.

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128