The Weather in Illinois lately has had its bad days and its good days.

A couple days ago, as well as last week, there was bad weather, with a tornado watch on top of that. This has everyone always on their feet and alert at all times. In case something actually happens, everyone wants to be able to get to a safe location, like their basement.

The reason everyone pays attention to tornado watches is that two years ago there was a tornado that came through Robinson and Palestine. Although the tornado didn’t come into town, it went through a few houses, as well as through the airport right outside of town, and a neighborhood in Sullivan, Indiana.  There are still houses being rebuilt in 2025 from that 2023 tornado.

In 1949, the first tornado hit Palestine, Illinois, and a lot of Crawford County in general. This same one also hit parts of Sullivan County, Indiana. The damages from this tornado included three Palestine homes that were destroyed, and 20 more homes that were damaged. Four people were also killed when it leveled a restaurant. One of the bodies was actually recovered from the top of a tree.

We probably haven’t seen the last spring storm this year, so pay attention to your weather app. While the temperature keeps going up and down, we promise summer will be here soon!