Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, June 4, 2002

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, June 4, 2002
Start: 2002-06-04T12:08
End: 2002-06-04T15:20
Location: Illinois

June 4, 2002 · NWS LOT · 10 events in 7 counties and zones

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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 10

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.

Severe thunderstorms developed over northern Illinois during the early afternoon hours of June 4th and moved southeast. Numerous trees, large limbs, and power lines were blown down, in addition to a few reports of large hail. One thunderstorm moved east across northern Livingstion county and produced a tornado near Ancona. The same thunderstorm produced a second tornado near Manville. Both tornadoes were weak (F0) and touched down in fields, with no damage or injuries reported from either tornado. Outflow from these thunderstorms destroyed four farm buildings near Ashkum in Iroquois county.

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 4, 12:47 AM CST, 11 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 4, 12:47 AM CST, 11 hours 21 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
147 AM CDT TUE JUN 4 2002

PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION

AT 05Z ACTIVE CLUSTER TS OVER XTRM NE IA-NW IL JUST W OF OUR AREA.
STORMS MOVG ENE TO E. MORE TS DVLPG OVER C IA AND BACK INTO NE-KS. ALL
THIS N OF FRONT AS AREAS TO S CAPPED.

GENERAL PATTERN IS FOR WESTERN TROF TO MOVE E AND UPPER HEIGHTS TO
SLOWLY FALL. ETA/AVN HAVE SOME 500/700 VORTICITY TO MOVE OVER N AND W
PARTS AREA DURING AFTERNOON ALONG WITH STRONG UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE
AND ALL OF AREA TONIGHT AT 700 LEVEL WITH SHARPENING 850 TROF. MAIN
UPPER TROF 500 VORT LOBE DRAGS OVER AREA WED AFTERNOON/WED NIGHT. BY
FRIDAY UPPER RIDGE OVER US WITH HIGHER HEIGHTS AND POSSIBLE SYSTEM
COMING FROM NW PER AVN.

ALL MODELS SHOW VERY SLIGHT SEEP SE TO HIGH RH FROM XTRM NW IL-N IL
NORTH IN WI BY 00Z BUT THEN MAJOR PUSH TO SE OVERNIGHT WHICH CONTINUES
WED ALONG WITH COOLING TEMPERATURES ALOFT. THIS PUSH ACCOMPAINED BY
GOOD OMEGA SPREADING W TO E LATE AFTERNOON/NIGHT.

THE WAY NIGHT STORMS ARE TRACKING THEY SHOULD HOLD THE FRONT IN PLACE
AND PRODUCE NICE BOUNDARY FOR AFTERNOON TS GENESIS. DO NOT BELIEVE
FRONT WILL BE ABLE TO MOVE FARTHER N THEN S TIP OF LAKE SO TEMPS AGAIN
TO SHOW STRONG DIFFERENCES OVER THE FORECAST AREA.

AT THIS POINT THURSDAY THRU FRIDAY LOOKS GREAT.

LAST MINUTE DECISIONS WILL BE BASED ON LATEST RADAR DATA.

.CHI...NONE

AF

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 4, 10:59 AM CST, 1 hour 9 minutes before

ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019
-051100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
1200 PM CDT/EST TUE JUN 4 2002

FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT.

A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND FAR NORTHEAST
ILLINOIS THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON.

A STATIONARY FRONT LIES ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND NORTHERN
INDIANA FROM NEAR THE QUAD CITIES TO NEAR PONTIAC TO NORTH OF
LAFAYETTE INDIANA.  CLUSTERS OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ALONG AND NORTH OF THE FRONT.

SOME OF THE STORMS NORTH OF THE FRONT MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL
WHILE THE SEVERE THREAT CLOSER TO THE WARM TROPICAL AIR OVER
CENTRAL ILLINOIS MAY INCLUDE DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AS SOME
THUNDERSTORM CLUSTERS THIS AFTERNOON EVOLVE INTO BOWING LINES.

OVER NORTHERN ILLINOIS...GENERALLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE
88...HEAVY RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH MID
AFTERNOON WITH RAINFALL TOTALS NEAR 6 INCHES IN SOME AREAS.

MERZLOCK

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:08 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, La Salle

When: June 4, 12:08 PM CST
Where: La Salle County, Mendota
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.550, -89.117

Thunderstorm Wind, Kendall

When: June 4, 12:17 PM CST
Where: Kendall County, Yorkville
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.633, -88.450

Thunderstorm Wind, Kane

When: June 4, 12:17 PM CST
Where: Kane County, Sugar Grove
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.750, -88.450

Thunderstorm Wind, La Salle

When: June 4, 1:00 PM CST
Where: La Salle County, Streator
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.117, -88.833

Thunderstorm Wind, Cook

When: June 4, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Cook County, Chicago
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 41.833, -87.650

Hail, Du Page

When: June 4, 1:10 PM CST
Where: Du Page County, Darien
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.750, -87.950

Tornado, Livingston

When: June 4, 1:54 PM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where: Livingston County, 1 mi W of Ancona
Rating: F0
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 41.033, -88.883

Thunderstorm Wind, Iroquois

When: June 4, 2:00 PM CST
Where: Iroquois County, Ashkum
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 40.883, -87.950

Tornado, Livingston

When: June 4, 2:16 PM CST to 2:19 PM CST
Where: Livingston County, Manville
Rating: F0
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 41.050, -88.767

Thunderstorm Wind, Livingston

When: June 4, 3:20 PM CST
Where: Livingston County, Ancona
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 41.033, -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.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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 The tornado archive for Illinois, 2002 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: 5298822, 5298823, 5298824, 5298826, 5298829, 5298825, 5298827, 5298830, 5298828, 5298831.