Hail, Jackson
- When
- May 12, 6:28 PM CST
- Where
- Jackson County, 2 mi S of Campbell Hill
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 37.883, -89.550
Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, May 12, 2002
A complex of thunderstorms produced some large hail and strong winds from Carbondale north and west. Dime to quarter size hail fell at Carbondale, near Campbell Hill, and in the extreme northwest corner of Williamson County.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $5,000
- 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 PAH wrote it up.
A complex of thunderstorms produced some large hail and strong winds from Carbondale north and west. Dime to quarter size hail fell at Carbondale, near Campbell Hill, and in the extreme northwest corner of Williamson County. Isolated downbursts blew down trees at Campbell Hill and DuQuoin. On the southwest side of DuQuoin, metal roofing was blown off a meat packing plant, and a nearby wooden fence was blown over.
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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 12, 1:44 PM CST, 4 hours 44 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 12, 1:44 PM CST, 4 hours 44 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
244 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002
PRIMARY FOCUS REMAINS THE THREAT FOR HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH
FLOODING TONIGHT. RADAR AND SATELLITE IMAGES CONTINUE TO INDICATE
THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE MIDWEST.
WILL RAISE POPS TO 100 PERCENT AREA-WIDE TONIGHT. AVN CONTINUES TO
HINT AT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SURFACE WAVE OF LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE
FRONT TONIGHT. THIS COMBINED WITH WARM MOIST AIR LIFTED OVER THE
BOUNDARY WILL KEEP THE THREAT FOR HEAVY RAIN IN PLACE. ONE TO AS
MUCH AS THREE INCHES OF RAIN IS ANTICIPATED BEFORE THE PRECIPITATION
COMES TO AN END EARLY MONDAY MORNING...SO WILL MAINTAIN THE FLOOD
WATCH FOR THE ENTIRE AREA TONIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING. SEVERE THREAT
LOOKS MARGINAL GIVEN THE LACK OF A FOCUSING MECHANISM AT THE ONSET
OF THE ACTIVITY...IN ADDITION TO MARGINAL SURFACE-BASED INSTABILITY
AND RELATIVELY WARM FREEZING LEVELS. IF ANYTHING DOES GO SEVERE...
BELIEVE MAIN THREAT WILL BE ISOLATED LARGE HAIL.
BY MONDAY MORNING...THE COLD FRONT IS PROGGED EAST OF THE AREA.
HOWEVER...WILL KEEP A MENTION OF SHOWERS IN THE MORNING OVER MAINLY
CENTRAL AND EASTERN COUNTIES. CLEARING WILL ENSUE THROUGH THE COURSE
OF THE DAY INTO MONDAY NIGHT AS HIGH PRESSURE AND DRIER AIR FILTERS
IN. TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY STILL LOOK DRY. LATEST 12Z AVN TRIES TO
BRUSH THE AREA WITH SHOWER ACTIVITY ON THURSDAY...BUT WILL HOLD OFF
FOR NOW GIVEN THE SLIGHTLY MORE NORTHWARD SURFACE LOW/FRONTAL
POSITION PROGGED BY THE LATEST MRF/CANADIAN/ECMWF MODELS. WILL
MAINTAIN CHANCE WORDING FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AS ANOTHER VIGOROUS
STORM SYSTEM INFLUENCES THE AREA.
OVERALL...CURRENT FORECAST IS ON TRACK AND WILL MAKE MINIMAL CHANGES
TO THE OFFICIAL GRIDDED DATABASE. GENERALLY FOLLOWED A BLEND OF
FWC/MAV NUMBERS FOR THE FIRST TWO PERIODS...AND CLOSELY FOLLOWED
MAV/MEX GUIDANCE THEREAFTER.
.PAH...FLOOD WATCH (FFA) FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN
ILLINOIS...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHWEST INDIANA FOR TONIGHT
AND EARLY MONDAY.
PRESLEYIn the hours before
Special weather statement, May 12, 5:30 PM CST, 58 minutes before
ILZ075>078-080>091-INZ081-085-086-MOZ076-086-087-100-130400- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 630 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 293 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM CDT FOR PARTS OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...AND SOUTHWEST INDIANA... THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI... PERRY...WAYNE...BOLLINGER...AND CAPE GIRARDEAU. IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS... JEFFERSON...WAYNE...EDWARDS...WABASH...PERRY...FRANKLIN...HAMILTON... WHITE...JACKSON...WILLIAMSON...SALINE...GALLATIN...UNION...JOHNSON... POPE...AND HARDIN. IN SOUTHWEST INDIANA... GIBSON...POSEY...AND VANDERBURGH. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION THIS EVENING. AHEAD OF THIS FRONT...A CLUSTER OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO PUSH ACROSS THE WATCH AREA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BOTH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. AN ISOLATED TORNADO IS ALSO POSSIBLE. REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE READY TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION IN THE EVENT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM APPROACHES OR A WARNING IS ISSUED. IF YOU OBSERVE SEVERE WEATHER...PLEASE ENSURE YOUR REPORTS ARE RELAYED TO YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OR CALLED DIRECTLY INTO THE SPOTTER HOTLINE.
The radar
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:29 UTC.
Event by event
3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Jackson
- When
- May 12, 6:30 PM CST
- Where
- Jackson County, Campbell Hill
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 37.917, -89.550
Hail, Williamson
- When
- May 12, 6:49 PM CST
- Where
- Williamson County, 1 mi W of Hurst
- Measured
- 0.88 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 37.833, -89.167
Hail, Jackson
- When
- May 12, 6:50 PM CST to 6:55 PM CST
- Where
- Jackson County, Carbondale
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 37.717, -89.217
Thunderstorm Wind, Perry
- When
- May 12, 7:00 PM CST
- Where
- Perry County, Du Quoin
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 38.017, -89.233
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- 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
- Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 12 to 13, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Missouri, May 12 to 13, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, May 12 to 13, 2002
- Flooding in Illinois, May 12 to 31, 2002
- Flash Flood and Hail in Arkansas, May 12, 2002
- Rip Current in Florida, May 12, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Indiana, May 12 to 13, 2002
- Flooding in Missouri, May 12 to 14, 2002
- Flash Flood and Hail in Ohio, May 12, 2002
- Flood in Alaska, May 12 to 14, 2002
- Flooding in Indiana, May 12 to 19, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Illinois, May 12 to 13, 2002
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, May 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: 5295494, 5295495, 5295497, 5295496, 5295498.