Damaging Winds in Illinois, August 24, 2001

Name: Damaging Winds in Illinois, August 24, 2001
Start: 2001-08-24T17:53
End: 2001-08-24T18:00
Location: Illinois

August 24, 2001 · NWS LSX · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Thunderstorm wind gusts downed trees and some power lines. Highway 127 was blocked by downed trees.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

Thunderstorm wind gusts downed trees and some power lines. Highway 127 was blocked by downed trees.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 24, 1:30 PM CST, 4 hours 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 24, 1:30 PM CST, 4 hours 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
230 PM CDT FRI AUG 24 2001

MAIN CONCERN DEALS WITH HOW PCPN WILL EVOLVE NEXT 24 HOURS.  WILL
ISSUE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR PARTS OF AREA.

OVERALL MODELS ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH TRENDS NEXT COUPLE
OF DAYS.  AVN SEEMS TO BE SUFFERING FROM SOME CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK
PROBLEMS SO WILL LEAN TOWARD ETA THIS ROUND.  SFC ANAYLSIS AT 18Z
HAD SFC FRONT EXTENDING FROM NW INTO E CNTRL MO WITH SEVERAL
BOUNDARIES ACROSS MO/IL.  AREA OF WAA SHRA HAS PERSISTED OVER
SW/CNTRL MO INTO THE AFTN AND LATEST RADAR TREND SHOWING ADDITIONAL
SCT SHRA/TSRA DEVELOPING IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE CWFA.  THINK THIS
TREND WILL CONTINUE WITH SOME STRONG TSRA IN THE INCREASING
INSTABILITY.  SVR COVERAGE SHUD BE ISOLATED DUE TO LIMITED SHEAR.
LLJ IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE FROM 20 TO 40 KNOTS TONIGHT WITH AXIS
OVR CWFA.  THIS SHOULD ACT TO INCREASE WAA AND ASSOCIATED FORCING
ALONG AND NORTH OF FNTRL BNDRY.  PRIMARY CONCERN WILL BE OVR CNTRL
AND NERN MO/W CNTRL IL NEAR NOSE OF UPR JET AND EDGE OF UPR SUPPORT
FROM LOW CURRENTLY OVER NEB/KS.  THIS IS THE SAME AREA THAT HAS HAD
2-6 INCHES OF RAIN IN THE PAST 48 HOURS.  THEREFORE FEEL RISK OF
FLASH FLOODING IS HIGH ENOUGH TO WARRANT A WATCH.  OVER E CNTRL
MO/SW IL...RAIN CHANCES SHOULD INCREASE ALONG FRONT AND AS LLJ VEERS
LATER TONIGHT.  EXPECT JUST SCT TSRA OVR ERN OZARKS.

WILL KEEP HI POPS GOING MOST AREAS AGAIN ON SATURDAY BECAUSE OF A
COMBINATION OF LEFTOVER MORNING CONVECTION AND REDEVELOPMENT OF SCT
TSRA ALONG COLD FRONT.  FRONT SHOULD MOVE THROUGH NRN AND WRN
COUNTIES BY LATE AFTN AND THE REST OF THE CWFA BY 06Z SUNDAY.
ATMOSPHERE SHOULD RECOVER FOR TSRA TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF FRONT WITH
CAPES AOA 2000 J/KG.  LIMITED SHEAR AND LACK OF STRONG MID LEVEL
PUNCH OF DRY AIR SHOULD LIMIT AREAL EXTENT OF SVR THREAT.

WILL DROP MENTION OF SHRA IN IL COUNTIES ON SUNDAY AS FRONT CLEARS
THE CWFA.  WILL GO PARTLY SUNNY AS LOW LEVELS REMAIN MOIST IN
CYCLONIC FLOW.

FWC/MEX NUMBERS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT AND WILL FOLLOW.

IN THE EXTENDED...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS HAVE SOME NOTICEABLE
DISAGREEMENT IN HANDLING OF UPR TROFFING DEVELOPING OVER THE ERN
HALF OF NOAM BY NEXT WEEK.  MRF AND NOW THE CANADIAN ENSEMBLES/ECMWF
ARE SHOWING MORE TROFFING THAN THEIR OPNL RUNS.  THIS WOULD SUPPORT
SOME PCPN BY THU/FRI WHILE MEX POPS REMAIN BELOW CLIMO DESPITE THE
ONPL MRF SHOWING A FRONT ACROSS THE REGION THU/FRI.  WILL KEEP
MON-WED DRY BUT INTRODUCE SHRA ON THU/FRI.  FMR/MEX TEMPS LOOK
REASONBLE GIVEN 850MB TEMPS.

.STL...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT CNTRL AND NE MO/W CNTRL IL

BRITT

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 24, 5:04 PM CST, 49 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
604 PM CDT FRI AUG 24 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0515 PM    3NW MASCOUTAH             IL   70 MPH WIND GUST
08/24/01   ST. CLAIR                      REPORTED BY SCOTT AFB

0545 PM    TRENTON                   IL   WIND DAMAGE
08/24/01   CLINTON                        LARGE TREE LIMBS AND
                                          POWER LINES DOWNED.

0550 PM    3N AVISTON                IL   WIND DAMAGE
08/24/01   CLINTON                        CORN FIELD FLATTENED
                                          REPORTED BY TRAINED
                                          SPOTTER

0653 PM    NEW MINDEN                IL   WIND DAMAGE
08/24/01   WASHINGTON                     TREES DOWNED BLOCKING
                                          HIGHWAY 127 REPORTED BY
                                          COUNTY SHERIFF.

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:53 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Washington

When: August 24, 5:53 PM CST
Where: Washington County, New Minden
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.433, -89.367

Thunderstorm Wind, Washington

When: August 24, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Washington County, Hoyleton
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.450, -89.267

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Illinois in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, August 2001

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: 5262901, 5262902.