Name: Hail in Illinois, April 24, 2002
Start: 2002-04-24T13:39
End: 2002-04-24T13:42
Location: Illinois

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: $2.0 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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.

Amateur radio spotters reported hail up to 2 inches in diameter in the Gillespie and Bunker Hill areas. Initial reports from local insurance companies indicate at least $2 million in damages to automobiles and roofs.

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 Apr 24, 2:00 AM CST, 11 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 24, 2:00 AM CST, 11 hours 39 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
300 AM CDT WED APR 24 2002

STRNG COLD FNT WAS PUSHG ACRS SE NEB ATTM AND JUST CLRD GRI. MODELS
ARE FAIRLY CLOSE WITH POSITION OF FNT AS IT CLRS THE CWA BY EVE WITH
FNT FCST TO LIE ACRS THE BOOTHEEL BY 00Z.  POTENT S/WV WILL ROLL
ACRS THE UPR MIDWEST TODAY WITH ETA AND AVN BOTH FCSTG H5 220 M HFC
OVR WRN WI THIS EVE.  FLOW FLATTENS OUT ACRS THE MIDWEST ON THU FOR
A QUIET WX DAY.  AVN BRINGS MSTR BACK INTO THE RGN WITH A VENGENANCE
FRI NGT INTO SAT WITH STRNG S/WV FCST TO MOVE ACRS THE ST DURG THE
DAY SAT.

NGM, ETA AND AVN ALL FCST IMPRESSIVE VERT MTN TO DROP INTO NW MO BY
12Z AND INTO THE CWA BY NOON.  ETAS TIME CROSS SECTS LOOK MORE
WINTER LIKE THAN SPRNG LIKE WITH VERT MTN FIELD.  ETAS SFC TEMPS ON
06Z UPDATE LOOK RNSBL AND WILL FOLLOW FAIRLY CLOSE.

.STL...NONE

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:38 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Macoupin

When: April 24, 1:39 PM CST
Where: Macoupin County, Gillespie
Measured: 2 in hail
Property damage: $2.0 million
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 39.133, -89.833

Hail, Macoupin

When: April 24, 1:40 PM CST
Where: Macoupin County, Gillespie
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 39.133, -89.833

Hail, Macoupin

When: April 24, 1:40 PM CST
Where: Macoupin County, 1 mi N of Bunker Hill
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 39.050, -89.950

Hail, Macoupin

When: April 24, 1:40 PM CST
Where: Macoupin County, 2 mi NW of Gillespie
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 39.150, -89.867

Hail, Macoupin

When: April 24, 1:42 PM CST
Where: Macoupin County, Gillespie
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 39.133, -89.833

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 Illinois in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, April 2002

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: 5289587, 5289588, 5289589, 5289590, 5289591.