1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 18, 1:45 PM CST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 245 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 2001 MAIN CONCERN THIS FORECAST PACKAGE IS THE CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY. LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS INDICATED A COLD FRONT STRETCHING FROM SOUTHERN INDIANA OVER TO ABOUT ST. LOUIS...THEN INTO OKLAHOMA. A WEAK WAVE OF LOW PRESSURE WAS POSITIONED ALONG THE FRONT IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI. ALL MODELS HAVE COME INTO GOOD GENERAL AGREEMENT ON THE TIMING OF BOTH SURFACE AND UPPER-LEVEL FEATURES. AS THE FRONT ENTERS THE REGION TONIGHT...UPPER DYNAMICS...DEEP MOISTURE...AND INSTABILITY ARE ALL IN PLACE FOR THE OCCURRENCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THIS EVENING...A 40 KNOT JET MAX IS FORECAST TO SWING JUST SOUTH OF THE AREA. UNIDIRECTIONAL SPEED SHEAR AND MODERATE INSTABILITY AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM COULD ENHANCE THE DAMAGING WIND POTENTIAL FROM SOME STORMS. HOWEVER...THE MAIN FEATURE WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...ESPECIALLY AS THE SYSTEM TRACKS ACROSS THE REGION OVERNIGHT. THE STORM SYSTEM WILL LINGER CLOUDS AND A CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN EASTERN COUNTIES SATURDAY MORNING. THEREAFTER...DRIER AIR WILL WORK IN AND AID IN GRADUAL CLEARING FROM WEST TO EAST. THE NEXT SYSTEM PUSHES A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE AREA FROM LATE SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY. A CUT-OFF LOW IS STILL FORECAST TO DEVELOP SOMEWHERE FROM THE GREAT LAKES INTO THE OHIO VALLEY EARLY NEXT WEEK. AS THE REGION IS THRUST INTO NORTHWEST FLOW...COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE ANTICIPATED FOR MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. GUIDANCE NUMBERS FROM BOTH THE AVN AND NGM LOOK GOOD AND WILL GENERALLY FOLLOW A BLEND THROUGH THE PERIOD. .PAH...NONE. PRESLEY
ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100- 107>112-114-182045- THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 250 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 2001 THE FOLLOWING OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHWEST INDIANA...VALID UNTIL 600 AM SATURDAY. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...A POTENT UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WAS MOVING EAST ACROSS SOUTHWEST MISSOURI AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. THE AIRMASS HAS BECOME UNSTABLE ACROSS SOUTHERN INTO SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE. THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER SOUTHERN MISSOURI AND NORTHERN ARKANSAS. AS THIS ACTIVITY MOVES EAST INTO A MORE UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...AN INCREASE IN INTENSITY IS EXPECTED...WITH SOME OF THE STORMS POSSIBLY BECOMING SEVERE. WIND SHEAR HAS ALSO INCREASED...WHICH MAY ENHANCE THE POTENTIAL FOR SUSTAINED INTENSITY...WITH A FEW OF THE STORMS PRODUCING STRONG WIND AND MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL. THE ACTIVITY WILL LIKELY CONTINUE EAST INTO SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHWEST INDIANA INTO THE EVENING HOURS. STORM MOTION IS EXPECTED TO BE EAST TO NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING. ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY AS THE EVENING WEARS ON.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH, KY
553 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 2001
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0548 PM GOREVILLE IL .75 INCH HAIL
05/18/01 JOHNSON REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT
DLLThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A few trees were blown down across southern and eastern parts of the county.
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, May 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: 5243264.