The tornado enters its dissipation phase while File/Jonathan Kirshner/The State Journal-RegisterRaymond Diaz cuts wood in his front yard on Pope Avenue for a friend who is also without power and heat. Multiple outlets were reporting a tornado causing significant damage in Taylorville, Illinois, located about 30 miles southeast of Springfield, on Saturday.

west of Springfield, Illinois. File/Jonathan Kirshner/The State Journal-RegisterCortez Fort, 6, runs to accept a bag of cookies from Karen Dougherty on Spruce Street March 14, 2006. The two fatalities were as a result of a weather-related automobile accident and a fire started by lightning. Between 8:20 and 8:30 PM on March 12, 2006, the city of Springfield, IL, was affected by a pair of F2-strength tornadoes. Coinciding with this phase, dry air wrapped around the File/Jonathan Kirshner/The State Journal-RegisterClint Cook, the lead minister at Real Life Church, cooks 1,000 hamburgers and 1,000 hot dogs with the help of church members from the parking lot of Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church Thursday, March 16, 2006. since some of the western and central Illinois tornadoes did not approximately 20 miles west of Springfield, Illinois looking east. Ted Schurter/The State Journal-RegisterThe roof of a large hog operation west of Springfield was torn off by the tornado.Ted Schurter/The State Journal-RegisterThe home of Dana and Pat Kuster, 2624 Manchester Blvd., lost its roof during a tornado that destroyed several homes in Springfield March 12, 2006. Note, the time clock in this picture taking on a more sinuous "rope" character. The strongest damage was bounded by 15th Street, Cornell Avenue, South Grand Avenue, and Pope Avenue. Dougherty, known as the "cookie lady," made and delivered thousands of cookies to residents and workers in the tornado damaged areas. File/Jonathan Kirshner/The State Journal-RegisterBob Shepherd watches over his 23-month-old grandson Jesse Shepherd by the light of an oil lamp in his home in the 1800 block of S. 14th Street. The period of active weather started with a major derecho event on March 9 across the South Central United States, that also included several tornadoes, although straight-line winds did most of the damage. File/Jonathan Kirshner/The State Journal-RegisterHands in prayer sit atop the remains of a cinder block wall at the site of the Penetecostal Power Church of the Apostolic Faith on Spruce Street Wednesday, March 15, 2006. It entered the city of Springfield near Cockrell Lane and Constitution Drive, tracking to the east-northeast around 50 mph. The April 8th, 2020 Springfield-Toledo "Supertwister" was a historic, long-track tornado that touched down in the southern metropolitan neighborhoods of Springfield, plowing across central Illinois, central Indiana, and part of northwest Ohio before dissipating over a field near Paulding.

Springfield, IL. File/David Albers/The State Journal-RegisterParishioners Reggie Britton, left, and Randel Britton survey the remains of their church while contemplating a strategy to rebuild, Sunday, March 19, 2006. Ted Schurter/The State Journal-RegisterA grain bin, crushed and blown by the tornado, cut a path through a field west of Springfield. The roof of a large hog operation west of Springfield was torn off by the tornado.Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register The home of Dana and Pat Kuster, 2624 Manchester Blvd., lost its roof during a tornado that destroyed several homes in Springfield March 12, 2006. These tornadoes had a path nearly identical to the track of the June 14, 1957 F4 tornado (which killed 2 people, injured 50, and caused $2.5 million in damage).This tornado was on the ground for about 60 miles before it moved into Springfield. "It’s important to be cognizant of that.

The heat index for Saturday and Sunday will be around 105.Wednesday’s weather included a tornado warning in the Springfield area.The National Weather Service in Lincoln couldn’t confirm a brief touchdown of a tornado five miles west of Loami in Sangamon County near the Morgan County line.Divernon President Jim Copelin said he heard reports of a funnel cloud spot in the middle of Divernon near Lincoln Street.Copeline said later Wednesday that he saw no sustained damage in the area.The tornado lifted in Sangamon County, though the rotation remained in the clouds, said Chris Miller of the NWS.There was a report of a tornado that touched down in Montgomery County at 5:28 p.m., west of Farmersville and east of Virden, according to Miller.A farmer measured wind speeds of 88 MPH, according to Miller.The reports from Montgomery County came to the NWS office in Lincoln via the NWS office in St. Louis.Miller said the information of the touchdown west of Loami just after 4:30 p.m. came from a spotter.There was some tree damage in the area, Miller said.Saturday and Sunday could be the hottest days of the year so far.Dr. video of the aftermath of the tornado that touched down in Springfield, IL in March of 2006. File/Jonathan Kirshner/The State Journal-RegisterDee Stern, left, delivers a box of cookies to Karen Dougherty, the "cookie lady," in the parking lot of Little Flower School Friday, March 17, 2006. Salsman/The State Journal-RegisterAfter spending Monday night hunkered down under layers to stay warm, Jerome resident Jose Lopez picks up a gas powered generator at Ace Hardware on Wabash Avenue Tuesday, March, 13, 2006. The Fairfield Inn at 3446 Freedom Drive, and the Comfort Inn at 3442 Freedom Drive, were damaged by a tornado that ripped through Springfield, March 12, 2006.