Heavy Rain, Adams
- When
- September 6, 8:00 PM CST to 8:15 PM CST
- Where
- Adams County, Quincy
- Coordinates
- 39.988, -91.188 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain in Illinois, September 6, 1996
More than 14,000 fish died in Curtis Creek after a thunderstorm dropped heavy rain and forced sewage into the waterway. The isolated thunderstorm drenched the western and southern portions of Quincy, but missed much of the Curtis Creek Drainage area to the east.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LSX wrote it up.
More than 14,000 fish died in Curtis Creek after a thunderstorm dropped heavy rain and forced sewage into the waterway. The isolated thunderstorm drenched the western and southern portions of Quincy, but missed much of the Curtis Creek Drainage area to the east. Storm sewers were pushed to their capacity and a discharge valve at Curtis Creek opened automatically to handle the overflow, which lasted no more than 15 minutes. Debris from streets and storm sewers mixed with the raw sewage which draws oxygen from aquatic life. Since there was no runoff water from upstream to dillute the discharge, the concentration of sewage was high enough to cause the fish kill.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood in Virginia, September 6, 1996
- Flash Flood in Virginia, September 6, 1996
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, September 6, 1996
- Flash Flood in Virginia, September 6, 1996
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, September 6, 1996
- Flooding in Virginia, September 6 to 10, 1996
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, September 6, 1996
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, September 6, 1996
- Flooding in West Virginia, September 6 to 8, 1996
- High Wind in Virginia, September 6, 1996
- Flooding in Maryland, September 6 to 10, 1996
- Flash Flood in Virginia, September 6, 1996
More
Every storm in Illinois in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, September 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5562995.