2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 Lincoln, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 31, 12:55 PM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 155 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2002 WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWING WEAK SHORTWAVE ACRS NRN WISCONSIN SHIFTING EWD EARLY THIS AFTN. VORT LOBE SHIFTING SEWD ACRS IA RESPONSIBLE FOR MID LVL CLD DECK AND SHOWERS SHOWING UP ON REGIONAL MOSAIC. CU FIELD STARTING TO DVLP ALONG WHAT LOOKS LIKE A PRE-FRONTAL TROF EXTDG FROM JUST SOUTH OF LAF AND HUF TO NEAR CMI. SHORT TERM MODELS DVLPG CONVECTION ALONG THIS PREFRONTAL TROF THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. ACTUAL COLD FRONT OR DEW POINT DICONTINUITY SOUTH OF PIA AND BMI. MODELS FAIRLY CLOSE IN THEIR OVERALL DEPICTION OF WHERE THE BNDRY WL LIE OUT LATER THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT AND RESULTANT POPS. ETA AND AVN/S PAST PERFORMANCE NOT REAL SPARKLING WITH THEIR SOLUTION OF PUSHING THE BNDRY INTO SE IL BY LATER THIS AFTN. OVERALL...MODELS NOT SHOWING ANY SIG DIFFERENCES IN THEIR DEPICTING OF THE BNDRY WHICH IS FCST TO SHIFT SEWD ACRS THE CWFA INTO THIS EVENING AND THEN BECOME STNRY OVRNGT. MODELS SHOWING DIFFERENCES THOUGH AFTR 36 HRS WITH BNDRY LOCATION WHICH WL MAKE SIG DIF IN WHERE TO PLACE BEST POPS. WHAT CONVECTION WE GET ALONG BNDRY THIS EVENING IS FCST TO WEAKEN BY MIDNIGHT WITH ATTENTION TURNING OUT TO OUR WEST WHERE MCS FCST TO DVLP DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. INCRG THETA-E ADV AND MOISTURE TRANSPORT AS WELL AS UPPER LVL DIVERGENCE POINTING TWDS CNTRL IL BY MRNG SO WL TRY TO BREAK POPS UP UNTIL MIDNIGHT AND AGAIN AFTR 09Z. IF MCS DOES DVLP...BNDRY LOCATION TO BECOME A REAL PROBLEM. WL TEND TO LEAN MORE TWDS THE ETA SOLUTION ON SATURDAY BASED ON EXPCTD CONVECTION LATE TNT INTO SATURDAY MORNING. CONVECTIVE TRENDS SHOULD BEGIN TO DIMINISH LATE MORNING ON SATURDAY WITH A RENEWED THREAT AGAIN LATE SAT AFTN INTO THE EVENING. THEN ETA TRIES TO LIFT SYNOPTIC BNDRY NWD SAT NIGHT INTO SUNDAY AS UPPER LVL RIDGE BUILDS ACRS THE SRN PLAINS. IF THIS DOES HAPPEN...POP CHANCES WL SHIFT NORTH AS WELL. NOT REAL CONFIDENT ABT THAT SOLUTION WITH THE FURTHER SOUTH SOLUTION DEPICTED ON THE AVN FOR LATE SAT NIGHT INTO SUN LOOKING MORE REASONABLE. AS A RESULT...CONTINUED CHANCES FOR TSRA THRU THE SECOND HALF OF WEEKEND. MODELS THEN TRY TO GRDLY SHIFT THE SYNOPTIC BNDRY SOUTHWARD EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH SVL WAVES RIDING ALONG FEATURE ENHANCING THE LOW LVL CONVERGENCE AND PRECIP CHANCES ACRS MIDWEST. NO REAL SIG CHANGES TO PATTERN UNTIL MIDWEEK WHEN MODELS GRDLY PROGRESS TROF EWD INTO THE MIDWEST WITH FLOW BECOMING MORE ZONAL BY END OF WEEK. PRECIP CHANCES STILL LOOKING GOOD THRU THUR WITH SOMEWHAT DRIER AIR FCST TO MIGRATE EWD INTO THE MIDWEST FRIDAY AND EARLY SATURDAY. ALTHOUGH NO REAL SIG DIF IN GUID NUMBERS THRU 24 HRS...WL LEAN MORE TWDS THE ETA 2 METER TEMPS AS THEY HAVE DONE VERY WELL WITH OVRNGT LOWS AND AFTN HIGHS THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS. ...PRELIMINARY CCF FOR COORDINATION PURPOSES... SPI BB 068/091 068/090 068 44343 PIA BB 066/090 066/089 066 44344 DEC BB 068/091 068/090 068 44343 CMI BB 065/090 068/090 067 44343 MTO BB 066/090 067/089 068 44433 LWV BB 068/090 068/090 068 44433 .ILX...NONE. SMITH
ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-311700- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL ILLINOIS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1100 AM CDT FRI MAY 31 2002 A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO SINK SOUTH INTO CENTRAL ILLINOIS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THIS FRONT WILL HELP TO TRIGGER SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER NORTH OF A WINCHESTER TO LAWRENCEVILLE LINE THROUGH TONIGHT. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN THREATS WITH SOME OF THESE STORMS. EH
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds blew over a semi truck near the intersection of Illinois Route 49 and Illinois Route 133. The driver was uninjured. Also, several trees were blown over.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, May 2002
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: 5302967, 5302969, 5302968.