Indiana, 2001

Hail in Indiana, August 18, 2001

August 18, 2001 · NWS LOT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$1,000
Crop damage
$20,000
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 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 Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 18, 3:34 AM EST, 10 hours 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 3:34 AM EST, 10 hours 51 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
300 AM CDT SAT AUG 18 2001

THE 500 MB TROUGH OVER MINNESOTA AND IOWA HAS COLD ADVECTION AT LOW
LEVELS AND A JET STREAK OVER THE DAKOTAS JUST TO THE WEST. THE
TROUGH SHOULD DEEPEN SOME MORE AS IT MOVES EAST. THE LAYER BETWEEN
800 AND 600 MB IS VERY DRY AS SEEN ON THE ILX SOUNDING. RADAR SHOWS
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO EASTERN IOWA AND WESTERN
WISCONSIN.

THERE WAS POSITIVE MOISTURE ADVECTION AT 700 MB AT 00 UTC. THIS
ADVECTION WAS OVER IOWA AND BEGINNING TO MOVE INTO NORTHWEST
ILLINOIS. SURFACE DEWPOINTS AND WIND ANALYSIS SHOWS MOISTURE
ADVECTION AT THE SURFACE. INCREASE IN MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
THE EARLY MORNING. WILL KEEP LIKELY POPS IN THE FORECAST. USING THE
ACARS SOUNDINGS AND ADJUSTING THEM FOR CHANGES. FIND THAT THE
ATMOSPHERE BECOMES UNSTABLE LATER TODAY.

WILL USE GUIDANCE AND WILL STAY CLOSE TO GUIDANCE FOR THE FORECAST
HIGHS AND LOWS.

.CHI...NONE.

WHW

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 18, 12:14 PM EST, 2 hours 11 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019-
191100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
1200 PM CDT/EST SAT AUG 18 2001

FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EARLY EVENING FOR NORTHWEST INDIANA AND EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. THE
THREAT AREA INCLUDES AREAS EAST AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM ABOUT
MICHIGAN CITY INDIANA TO KANKAKEE ILLINOIS TO PONTIAC ILLINOIS.

THERE IS SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EARLY THIS EVENING FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS
INCLUDING CHICAGO AND ROCKFORD.

A DEVELOPING LOW IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS IS EXPECTED TO STRENGTH
THIS AFTERNOON. THE LOW WILL MOVE ACROSS AN AREA OF INCREASINGLY
UNSTABLE AIR AND HELP PRODUCE STRONG TO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY IN THE MODERATE RISK AREA. THE THREATS
FROM THE STORMS WILL BE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND SOME
TORNADOES.

BE ALERT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON. STAY
TUNED TO WEATHER RADIO OR YOU FAVORITE TV OR RADIO STATION FOR
DEVELOPING WEATHER INFORMATION THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON

SOMREK
Local storm report, Aug 18, 1:46 PM EST, 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
146 PM CDT SAT AUG 18 2001

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

0120 PM    2 W GIBSON CITY           IL   1 INCH HAIL
08/18/01   FORD                           REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0140 PM    1 NW GIBSON CITY          IL   1.25 INCH HAIL
08/18/01   FORD                           REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 130 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:26 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Benton

When
August 18, 2:25 PM EST to 3:15 PM EST
Where
Benton County, Countywide
Measured
4 in hail
Property damage
$1,000
Crop damage
$20,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
40.600, -87.283

A slow moving thunderstorm moved from east central Illinois into Benton county during the afternoon of August 18th. This thunderstorm produced hail to the size of grapefruit 3 miles north of Otterbein, where several windows and a roof of a house were damaged. Hail to the size of tennis balls flattened about 15,000 acres of corn and soybeans north of Oxford.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Indiana in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Indiana, 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: 5264255.