Damaging Wind in Illinois, July 8, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in Illinois, July 8, 2002
Start: 2002-07-08T20:45
End: 2002-07-08T20:50
Location: Illinois

July 8, 2002 · NWS LOT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in Shabbona. A barn was blown down on Watson Street, just west of Route 23 near Waterman.

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: 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 happened

The episode as NWS LOT wrote it up.

Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in Shabbona. A barn was blown down on Watson Street, just west of Route 23 near Waterman. A fire engine under restoration in a shed was moved 200 feet into a field after the shed was destroyed.

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 Jul 8, 1:15 PM CST, 7 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 1:15 PM CST, 7 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
215 PM CDT MON JUL 8 2002

MODELS MAY BE A LITTLE FASTER ON MOVING SYSTEMS THAN LAST 6 HRS
LOOPING WOULD INDICATE. CONVECTIVE TEMP TDA ARND 91 WHICH IS ABT
WHERE TEMPS ARE NOW...BUT 18Z DVN SOUNDING INDICATING SOME SMALL
CAPS AT 900 AND 770 MB AND SMALL LAPSE RATE ABOVE THE TOP
INVERSION. SO THINGS NOT FIRING YET ACROSS IA OR IL.

MCS OVER NRN WI THIS AM NOW WEAKENED AND DRIFTING ESE INTO
CENTRAL LWR MICH. MAIN COLD FRONT OUT IN NWRN IA YET. LINEAR
ADVECTION WUD SUGGEST IT APPROACHING DBQ AT 06Z WHICH WUD APPROX
ETA BETTER THAN AVN.

BELIEVE TSTMS LIKELY TO BLOW UP LT TNGT ALG FNT. STILL WILL
PLACE FROPA THRU RFD SHRTLY AFT SUNUP...THEN THRU CHI LT
MRNG...THRU REST OF CWA BY 2 OR 3 PM. STRENGTH OF PUSH WUD
SUGGEST GOOD CAA HIGHLIGHTING THE LOW POST-FNTL SC IN SRN MN.
WILL BE LT MRNG TO ERY AFTN CLRG OF THIS SC AT RFD BUT LT AFTN
OR ERY EVE FOR SRN CWA.

COOL NE WNDS OFF LK MICH SHUD BRING REFRESHING TEMPS IN MID 70S
TO MOST OF NERN IL/NWRN IN WED-FRI. TAKING OUT PCPN FOR FRI AS
PER LATEST MRF. GOING DRY WITH SOME TEMP RECOVERY TO MID 80S SAT
THRU MON.

.CHI...NONE

BRUMER

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 8, 8:10 PM CST, 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO, IL
910 PM CDT MON JUL 8 2002

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

0840 PM    0 POLO                    IL   WIND DAMAGE
07/08/02   OGLE                           LOTS OF TREES DOWN IN POLO
                                          AND BETWEEN POLO AND
                                          OREGONREPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:47 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, De Kalb

When: July 8, 8:45 PM CST to 8:50 PM CST
Where: De Kalb County, Shabbona
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.767, -88.867

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, July 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: 5303350.