Alert archive / Illinois / Flood Watches in 2026

Flood Watch 3, NWS Lincoln, IL

April 17, 202627 counties in Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this flood watch at Apr 17, 2026, 1:04 PM CDT for 27 counties in Illinois. It took effect at Apr 17, 2026, 6:00 PM CDT. It was in force for 10 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 17, 2026, 1:04 PM CDT (18:04 UTC)
In effect from: Apr 17, 2026, 6:00 PM CDT
Expired: Apr 18, 2026, 4:00 AM CDT
In force: 10 hr
Issued by: NWS Lincoln, IL
Flood severity: None

All 27 counties

Cass County, IL, Champaign County, IL, Christian County, IL, Coles County, IL, DeWitt County, IL, Douglas County, IL, Edgar County, IL, Fulton County, IL, Knox County, IL, Logan County, IL, Macon County, IL, Marshall County, IL, Mason County, IL, McLean County, IL, Menard County, IL, Morgan County, IL, Moultrie County, IL, Peoria County, IL, Piatt County, IL, Sangamon County, IL, Schuyler County, IL, Scott County, IL, Shelby County, IL, Stark County, IL, Tazewell County, IL, Vermilion County, IL, Woodford County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 5 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:06 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, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 57 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 84 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -150 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1053 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 65 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 164 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flood watch 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 flood watch went out at Apr 17, 12:14 PM CDT, 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 17, 12:14 PM CDT, 50 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 17, 12:16 PM CDT, 48 minutes before

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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 17, 4:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Cass, Morgan, Scott	34 min
Apr 17, 4:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Cass, Mason, Morgan, Schuyler	45 min
Apr 17, 5:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	ILX	Fulton	42 min
Apr 17, 5:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Fulton, Knox, Peoria	45 min
Apr 17, 5:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	ILX	Knox, Peoria, Stark	47 min
Apr 17, 6:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	ILX	Knox	37 min
Apr 17, 6:47 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Knox	43 min
Apr 17, 6:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	ILX	Schuyler	52 min

Nearby

Flood Watches in Illinois, 2026 Every flood watch 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.