2025 Marion, Illinois tornado

On the afternoon of May 16, 2025, a destructive EF4 tornado struck the southern portion of Williamson County, Illinois, just south of Marion, amid a tornado outbreak across the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. The tornado, commonly referred to as the Marion, Illinois tornado, quickly tracked 16.28 miles (26.20 km) across the area, inflicting high-end damage and resulting in seven injuries. It was the first violent tornado to strike Illinois since the 2015 Rochelle–Fairdale tornado just over a decade earlier.

The tornado initially touched down in rural southwestern Williamson County, causing low-end damage to trees, outbuildings, and mobile homes. As it approached the USP Marion, a federal prison, it intensified to high-end EF3 intensity. Prison staff housing areas were significantly damaged and nearby trees were debarked. It maintained high-end EF3 intensity as it affected the northern parts of Hudgens, where several homes and trees were affected. It briefly weakened to EF2 strength before entering southern portions of Marion, where it rapidly re-intensified to high-end EF4 strength as it swept a well-constructed two-story home to its foundation and reduced hundreds of trees to stubs. Several other homes were also affected at EF3 intensity in areas surrounding this home. The tornado then continued across rural, forested areas at EF2 intensity, briefly re-intensifying to EF3 intensity as it struck a pocket of homes, before again significantly weakening and dissipating shortly thereafter.

This was the first violent tornado in years to affect this area, since an EF4 tornado struck over in Saline and Gallatin counties over to the east, during the dawn of February 29, 2012. Despite its great intensity and the high-end damage it inflicted to the prison complex and numerous homes, it remarkably caused only minor injuries and no fatalities.