Hail and Lightning Strike in Illinois, June 25, 2002

Name: Hail and Lightning Strike in Illinois, June 25, 2002
Start: 2002-06-25T10:38
End: 2002-06-25T14:30
Location: Illinois

June 25, 2002 · NWS LOT · 5 events in 4 counties and zones

Pulse thunderstorms produced large hail, heavy rainfall, and minor flooding across parts of northern Illinois on June 25th. A postal carrier was struck by lightning in Joliet, in Will county.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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: 1
Property damage: None recorded
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 LOT wrote it up.

Pulse thunderstorms produced large hail, heavy rainfall, and minor flooding across parts of northern Illinois on June 25th. A postal carrier was struck by lightning in Joliet, in Will county. Fire officials believe the lightning bolt struck a utility pole one block away from where the postal carrier was and traveled underground where it was conducted by a metal mailbox. The postal carrier received only minor injuries.

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 Jun 25, 2:25 AM CST, 8 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 25, 2:25 AM CST, 8 hours 13 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
325 AM CDT TUE JUN 25 2002

TWO SEPARATE SYSTEMS TO INFLUENCE LOCAL WEATHER THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK.
UPPER LOW OVER THE GULF COAST WILL TRANSPORT MOISTURE AS FAR AS THE SOUTHERN
EDGE OF THE CWA...WITH ANOTHER CHANCE OF POPCORN THUNDERSTORMS OVER THIS AREA
AS OCCURRED YESTERDAY.

FURTHER NORTH...SHORTWAVE CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN PLAINS IS FORECAST
TO CARVE OUT AN UPPER TROF OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION. A SURFACE FRONT
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FEATURE WILL MOVE DOWN TOWARD OUR AREA...PROVIDING A FOCUS
FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING. WAS ON THE
FENCE ABOUT INCLUDING POPS ACROSS THE NORTHERN EDGE OF THE CWA TODAY...BUT SPC
DAY1 FCST DREW THE SLGT RISK LINE THROUGH NORTHERN ILLINOIS...MORE OR LESS
FORCING THE ISSUE. TO AVOID A NARROW DRY FCST ZONE...WILL OPT FOR BLANKET CHC
POPS ACRS CWA.

FRONT FINALLY PUSHES THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY...SETTING UP A VERY NICE DAY
THURSDAY BEFORE HGHTS/TEMPS REBOUND INTO THE WEEKEND. NO CHANGES TO EXTENDED.

.CHI...NONE

JHV

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 25, 4:51 AM CST, 5 hours 47 minutes before

ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019-
251700-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
600 AM CDT/EST TUE JUN 25 2002

FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA...

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

THE LARGE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE THAT HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE HOT...DRY
CONDITIONS THE PAST FEW DAYS IS WEAKENING...AND AN UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE NOW OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS WILL HASTEN THIS WEAKENING.
A COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS DISTURBANCE WILL SINK SOUTH TOWARD
THE AREA...PROVIDING A FOCUS FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. WHILE
THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE SEVERE WEATHER WILL REMAIN WELL NORTH OF
THE AREA...A FEW SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE BEGINNING LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING TONIGHT. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS
WOULD BE THE MAIN THREAT WITH ANY ACTIVITY THAT DEVELOPS.

JHV

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 17 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:40 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Kendall

When: June 25, 10:38 AM CST
Where: Kendall County, 5 mi SE of Oswego
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.633, -88.283

Hail, Kendall

When: June 25, 11:10 AM CST
Where: Kendall County, Plattville
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.533, -88.383

Hail, Cook

When: June 25, 11:20 AM CST
Where: Cook County, Blue Is
Measured: 2 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.650, -87.683

Hail, Lee

When: June 25, 1:54 PM CST
Where: Lee County, Dixon
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.833, -89.483

Lightning, Will

When: June 25, 2:30 PM CST
Where: Will County, Joliet
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.445, -87.979 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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, June 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: 5298843, 5298914, 5298915, 5298916, 5298917.