Alert archive / Illinois / Dust Storm Warnings in 2026

Dust Storm Warning 7, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 4, 20265 counties in Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this dust storm warning at May 4, 2026, 3:14 PM CDT for 5 counties in Illinois. It was in force for 2 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 4, 2026, 3:14 PM CDT (20:14 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 2026, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Storm-based polygon

Counties Champaign County, IL, DeWitt County, IL, Macon County, IL, McLean County, IL, Piatt County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:17 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 9 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2026-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2026-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 121 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1708 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
121 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
231 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this dust storm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Lincoln, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this dust storm warning went out at May 4, 2:50 PM CDT, 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 2:50 PM CDT, 24 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, May 4, 2:56 PM CDT, 18 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Lincoln IL
256 PM CDT Mon May 4 2026

ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061-051100-
Knox-Stark-Peoria-Marshall-Woodford-Fulton-Tazewell-McLean-Schuyler-
Mason-Logan-De Witt-Piatt-Champaign-Vermilion-Cass-Menard-Scott-
Morgan-Sangamon-Christian-Macon-Moultrie-Douglas-Coles-Edgar-Shelby-
256 PM CDT Mon May 4 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for central Illinois, east
central Illinois and west central Illinois.

.DAY ONE...Late This Afternoon and Tonight.

Gusty winds of 30 to 40 mph will combine with loose top soil to
create areas of blowing dust this afternoon. This is most likely
north of I-72 and Danville, where morning rainfall was minimal. The
blowing dust may reduce visibilities to less than 1/2 mile at times.
Conditions should improve around 7 pm when wind speeds are reduced.

Scattered thunderstorms are expected late afternoon into tonight, as
a cold front sweeps through the area. Some of these may be severe,
with hail being the primary concern. Most of the hail should be the
size of quarters, but west central Illinois may see some as large as
golf balls.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday.

A few thunderstorms may linger into Tuesday over east central
Illinois, though severe weather is not expected.

Minor flooding will continue along the Illinois River from Havana to
Beardstown into early next week, though river levels will slowly
fall during this period.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation may be needed after 7 pm.

Expected storm motion is toward the east at 45 mph.

ILZ062-063-066>068-071>073-051100-
Cumberland-Clark-Effingham-Jasper-Crawford-Clay-Richland-Lawrence-
256 PM CDT Mon May 4 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for southeast Illinois.

.DAY ONE...Late This Afternoon and Tonight.

Scattered thunderstorms will redevelop this afternoon, and continue
into tonight. A few of the storms may be strong or locally severe,
with damaging gusts up to 60 mph and hail up to 1 inch the primary
severe weather threat.

Lingering flooding on the lower Embarras River and Wabash River
should subside today.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday.

Thunderstorms are still possible Tuesday into Tuesday evening.
Severe weather is not expected with any of these storms at this
time.

Minor flooding on the Little Wabash River near Clay City will
continue for several more days.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation may be needed this evening.

Expected storm motion is toward the east at 45 mph.

Geelhart

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 4, 11:35 AM CDT, 3 hours 39 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lincoln, IL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 10:20 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementILXClay25 min
May 3, 10:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian, Shelby30 min
May 3, 11:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian, Shelby23 min
May 4, 2:37 AM CDTBlowing Dust AdvisoryILXCass, Champaign, Christian, Coles, DeWitt, Douglas and 14 more16 hr
May 4, 2:54 PM CDTDust Storm WarningILXDeWitt, Logan, McLean, Macon2 hr
May 4, 3:32 PM CDTDust Storm WarningILXMcLean88 min
May 4, 5:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXKnox44 min
May 4, 6:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXKnox, Peoria, Stark24 min

Nearby

Dust Storm Warnings in Illinois, 2026Every dust storm warning in 2026

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.