2 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 5, 2:15 AM CST, 5 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 315 AM CDT TUE JUN 5 2001 MAIN CONCERNS STILL REVOLVE AROUND POTENTIAL EXCESSIVE RAINFALL EVENT OVER SOUTHERN THIRD OF THE CWA. MCS CLUSTER GENERALLY SOUTH OF CWA...BUT BORDER COUNTIES SO CLOSE TO BANKFULL THAT ONE OR TWO GOOD STORMS COULD PRODUCE ENOUGH RAIN TO CAUSE PROBLEMS. WILL CONTINUE FFA OVER THE SAME AREAS AS OVERNIGHT. WILL REMOVE/REDUCE POPS FURTHER NORTH AS FOCUS UNLIKELY TO SHIFT BACK THAT FAR NORTH...BUT WILL CONTINUE TO MENTION SCATTERED DRIZZLE ASSOCIATED WITH LOW STRATUS/FOG ACROSS NORTHERN COUNTIES. VERY SLOW CLEARING THROUGH THE REST OF THE SHORT TERM PERIOD AS UPPER RIDGE EDGES ITS WAY TOWARD US. WEEKEND STILL LOOKS DECENT AS TEMPS SLOWLY RETURN TO SEASONAL NORMS. .CHI...FFA TDY S OF MENDOTA-WHEATFIELD LN JHV
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019- 051700- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 600 AM CDT/EST TUE JUN 5 2001 FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND LOCALIZED FLOODING GENERALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF ILLINOIS ROUTE 17...SOUTH OF A LINE FROM KANKAKEE TO STREATOR. A WARM FRONT PUSHING THROUGH NORTHERN ILLINOIS WILL TRIGGER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOST OF THE DAY. RAINFALL ON TOP OF ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN THAT HAVE ALREADY FALLEN THIS MORNING OVER THE RISK AREA MAY CONTRIBUTE TO LOCALIZED FLOODING AND PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS. IN ADDITION...A FEW STORMS MAY BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL FOR BRIEF AMOUNTS OF TIME. ELSEWHERE...NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED...BUT NONE ARE FORECAST TO REACH SEVERE LIMITS. JHV
The Chicago radar (KLOT), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:59 UTC.
2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a power line near Route 38 and Annie Glidden Road. 1,800 residents lost power.
A bolt of lightning struck the Mendota city water tower. The lightning hit the aviation lights then came down through the electrical panel into the tower and blew out switches and phone lines. Two chemical feed bumps were burned.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, June 2001
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: 5255884, 5255883.