Tornado touched down in Woodstock Friday

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WOODSTOCK – Friday night’s storms weren’t just thunder and lightening; officials have confirmed that an EF 1 tornado touched down in Woodstock.

With wind speeds reaching 100 mph, it first hit land about 7:10 p.m. on Route 14 and Davis Road, said Mark Rantzer, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Romeoville.

The tornado is to blame for damage to the strip mall that houses the Woodstock Rosati's as well as the damage to Stassen Insurance Agency at 1662 S. Eastwood Drive, according a news release from the weather service.

Part of the mall’s roof was lifted by wind, and the rear of the insurance building collapsed and destroyed a car parked behind it.

After moving northeast through Woodstock, the tornado lifted at Lake Road. Along the way, it lifted a garage and uprooted multiple trees.

It was the only tornado confirmed from Friday’s thunderstorms, Rantzer said. An EF 1 torndao is the second-to-least severe, with an EF 0 being the weakest on a scale that reaches EF 5. Friday's torndao's speed ranged between EF 0 and EF 1.

Officials did not witness the tornado first-hand and instead surveyed the community Saturday to determine that a tornado had touched down.

“We actually take a look at the damage and then make considerations for they type of construction or the size of trees, and then they can come up with an estimated speed,” he said.

Officials also were able to determine that the wind was rotational, which means it was a tornado.

Although the tornado’s winds were more concentrated, they weren’t much faster than some of the straight winds that blew through the area Friday night, Rantzer said.

There is a chance for thunderstorms again after midnight tonight, but Rantzer said they were expected to much less severe than Friday’s.