Tornado confirmed in St. Clair County, though weather models warned worse
A National Weather Service damage assessment team on Tuesday confirmed an EF1 tornado with winds up to 110 mph hit St. Clair County northeast of Scott Air Force Base.
The team also was scheduled to check the Marine, Germantown, Trenton and Carlyle areas to determine where tornadoes can be confirmed. No injuries have been reported.
Despite reported damage across the St. Louis region, the storm did not match forecasters’ initial fears, which were raised last week. Forecast models placed the metro-east at the epicenter of a broad high-risk region that indicated a high probability of large hail, high winds and strong tornadoes.
Jayson Gosselin of the National Weather Service said Friday the forecast “looks like probably the best setup for severe weather in our area so far this spring.”
However, meteorologists Tuesday were surprised and grateful that the weather models overshot on the severity of the storms.
“We were maybe just a little surprised that it wasn’t worse yesterday,” National Weather Service meteorologist Jon Carney said Tuesday. “We’re all thankful of course that we didn’t get as many tornadoes as we thought we would.”
Carney said multiple rounds of thunderstorms Monday were caused by a low-pressure system moving through the Midwest and a strong cold front entering Missouri.
The weather service is analyzing data to determine why there were not as many tornadoes as expected, Carney said.
That doesn’t mean the storms didn’t pose legitimate risks or that the region escaped unscathed.
Trees fell onto two homes near the west side of Belleville, but residents were not hurt and were able to get out, according to Chester Borkowski Jr., chief of the Northwest Fire Protection District.
The damage occurred on Smalling Court and Windsor Drive near the intersection of Carson Drive and Illinois 161, Borkowski said. He said rain-saturated ground and high winds caused the trees to fall.
Belleville Fire Chief Curt Lougeay said trees knocked down some power lines in the city, but no home damage was reported.
The National Weather Service confirmed radar images of airborne debris near Trenton, just south of IL 50 at about 8 p.m. The debris field is a telltale sign of a likely tornado, a meteorologist said.
Damage was surveyed along the IL 50 corridor from Lebanon east to Carlyle.
Clinton County Acting Chief Deputy Dennis Perez said no injuries were reported, but trees fell on two houses and power lines were down near Trenton. The damage followed the same path as a storm that hit last year, he said.
Communications at the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department were knocked out by the storm and 911 calls had to be routed to “a backup location,” according to a statement from Sheriff Dan Travous.
Travous issued a statement late Monday to announce that the 911 dispatch system returned to function, though telephone connects were still down. “Earlier this evening, areas in Clinton County were struck by severe weather,” the statement said. “We are currently assessing areas we believed to have significant damage, Trenton, Germantown, Beckemeyer, Bartelso, Carlyle and Centralia. Currently, we do not have knowledge of any major injuries or fatalities.
“We will work through the night to assess damage and send emergency support to those in need.”
Germantown suffered significant damage, including “destroyed” mobile homes and “powerlines snapped all over town,” Travous said Tuesday.
More than 17,000 Ameren customers were without power Monday night. Most service had been restored as of Tuesday afternoon.
Joshua Carter, Todd Eschman , Lexi Cortes and Madison Lammert contributed to this article.
This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 1:07 PM.
