Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2026

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 202, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 16, 2026Crawford County, Lawrence County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 2026, 7:46 AM CDT for Crawford County, Lawrence County, Illinois. It was in force for 29 min. 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 16, 2026, 7:46 AM CDT (12:46 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 2026, 8:15 AM CDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Lincoln, IL
Area: Storm-based polygon
Hail: 1.0 in
Wind: 60.0 mph

Counties Crawford County, IL, Lawrence County, IL

The radar

The Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:46 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, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 161 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: 351 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -69 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1001 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -79 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.0
Supercell composite: -0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 16, 6:21 AM CDT, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 16, 6:21 AM CDT, 1 hour 25 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 16, 7:39 AM CDT, 7 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>

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 16, 4:40 AM CDT, 3 hours 6 minutes before

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Lincoln IL
440 AM CDT Sat May 16 2026

ILZ027-028-161000-
Knox-Stark-
440 AM CDT Sat May 16 2026

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT STARK AND NORTHEASTERN KNOX
COUNTIES THROUGH 500 AM CDT...

At 440 AM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over
La Fayette, or near Toulon, moving east at 55 mph.

HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph and nickel size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
         unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is
         possible.

Locations impacted include...
Wyoming, Toulon, Osceola, Bradford, Elmira, Victoria, La Fayette,
Castleton, and West Jersey.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm.
Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe
shelter inside a building or vehicle.

&&

LAT...LON 4098 8964 4102 9015 4115 9013 4115 8987
      4123 8986 4124 8964
TIME...MOT...LOC 0940Z 267DEG 50KT 4111 8998

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.88 IN
MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH

37

Local storm report, May 16, 6:30 AM CDT, 1 hour 16 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>

Local storm report, May 16, 6:35 AM CDT, 1 hour 11 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>

Local storm report, May 16, 6:39 AM CDT, 1 hour 7 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 4:40 AM CDT	Special Weather Statement	ILX	Stark	20 min
May 16, 4:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Knox, Stark	33 min
May 16, 4:58 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	ILX	Marshall	51 min
May 16, 3:15 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	ILX	Lawrence	30 min
May 16, 3:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Lawrence	28 min
May 16, 3:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Crawford, Lawrence	30 min
May 16, 4:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Clay, Effingham	47 min
May 16, 4:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Clay	45 min
May 16, 5:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Clay, Jasper, Richland	44 min
May 16, 5:55 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	ILX	Crawford, Lawrence	50 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 2026 Every severe thunderstorm 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.