3 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 Apr 30, 1:55 PM CST, 5 hours 27 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 255 PM CDT WED APR 30 2003 PLENTY OF CONCERNS WITH FOCUS ON SEVERE STORMS...HEAVY RAINFALL AND TEMPERATURES IN NEAR TERM. LATEST 17Z SFC ANALYSIS PLACES SFC LOW PRESSURE ACROSS KANSAS WITH WARM FRONT ACROSS SOUTHERN IOWA EAST INTO NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS. SFC DEW POINTS MAINLY IN THE LOW TO MID 60S ACROSS CWA. LATEST 1815Z IR SATELLITE IMAGE PLACES PLENTY OF MID AND HIGH CLOUDS ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ILLINOIS. LATEST 1815Z W/V IMAGE PLACES SEVERAL S/WS ACROSS UPPER MIDWEST AND PLAINS STATES. LATEST 1848Z KILX RADAR PLACES STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS FROM JUST WEST OF GALESBURG SOUTHWEST TO NEAR QUINCY. MODELS HAVING SOME DIFFERENCES WILL LEAN MORE ON ETA. MODELS PLACE H50 TROUGH ACROSS NORTHERN GREAT LAKES BY 12Z THU...WITH ANOTHER H50 TROUGH ACROSS PLAINS AND UPPER MIDWEST BY 00Z FRI. MAINLY A H50 ZONAL FLOW ACROSS MIDWEST WITH H50 LOW ALONG WEST COAST BY 00Z SAT. SFC LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE NORTHEAST FROM PLAINS STATES AND ACROSS ILLINOIS BY 12Z THU. SEVERAL SFC WAVES MOVE ALONG THE FRONT AND COLD FRONT EXPECTED TO SPLIT CWA BY 00Z FRI. SFC LOW IS ACROSS NORTHEAST U.S WITH SFC COLD FRONT ACROSS OHIO VALLEY SOUTHWEST INTO RED RIVER VALLEY BY 12Z FRI. SFC HIGH PRESSURE IS ACROSS GREAT LAKES REGION BY 00Z SAT. T/H CROSS SECTIONS INDICATES HIGH RH AT LOW AND MID LEVELS THROUGH 00Z FRI. THEN DECENT LOW LEVEL RH THROUGH 12Z SAT. LATEST MODEL SOUNDING DATA INDICATES HIGH RH AT ALL LEVELS AND GOOD LAPSE RATES THROUGH 00Z FRI. MODEL SOUNDING DATA MAINTAINS FAIRLY HIGH LOW LEVEL RH THROUGH 00Z SAT. PW/S BETWEEN 1-1.5 INCHES. MODELS INDICATES A 40-45KT LLJ ACROSS CWA BY 06Z THU THEN SHIFTS EAST. ETA 305K ISENTROPIC SFC INDICATES DECENT LIFT AND COND PRES DEF ACROSS NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CWA BY 00Z THU. THEN BRINGS BACK GOOD COND PRES DEF BY 12Z THU-00Z FRI. ETA PLACES LOW COND PRES DEF AND SHIFTS LIFT AWAY FROM CWA BY 18Z FRI. MODEL PLACE 850MB TEMPS +14C TO +16C ACROSS CWA BY 06Z THU...+12C TO +14C BY 00Z FRI...THEN DECREASES 850MB TEMPS TO +8C TO +10C BY 00Z SAT. WILL MENTION HEAVY RAINFALL WEST AND NORTH OF I-55 AND SEVERE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. ANOTHER SYSTEM THIS WEEKEND MOVING OUT AT THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK. TEMPERATURES...SOME DIFFERENCES NOTED. WILL USE A BLEND. .ILX...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 600 PM FOR NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS. 13
ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-011100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1100 AM CDT WED APR 30 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WARM FRONT STRETCHED ACROSS CENTRAL ILLINOIS LATE THIS MORNING IS EXPECTED TO LIFT NORTH INTO NORTHERN ILLINOIS THIS AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP ACROSS CENTRAL ILLINOIS DURING THE COURSE OF THE AFTERNOON. SEVERE WEATHER WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT...WITH ISOLATED TORNADOES NOT OUT OF QUESTION. THE GREATEST RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM QUINCY TO BLOOMINGTON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE ON THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT OVER MUCH OF THE AREA AS A COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. && THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGIC AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/ILX (ALL IN LOWER CASE) PLAHMER
ILZ027>031-036>038-040>051-053-302330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 554 PM CDT WED APR 30 2003 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 187 HAS EXPIRED... ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 189 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM... THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ARE NO LONGER IN A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH...SCHUYLER...CASS...MENARD...MASON...LOGAN...DEWITT... SCOTT...MORGAN...SANGAMON...MACON...PIATT...CHAMPAIGN...AND VERMILION. DUE TO THE CONTINUED THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...A NEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 189 IS IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...KNOX...STARK... MARSHALL...PEORIA...WOODFORD...FULTON...TAZEWELL...AND MCLEAN. GOETSCH
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 63 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:20 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous trees, tree limbs, power poles and power lines. Also, a 150 foot long grain leg on a grain bin was destroyed near Altona, as well as part of the roof of a nearby barn.
A tornado briefly touched down in a field northeast of Victoria and was on the ground for about a mile. No damage or injuries were reported with this tornado.
Several power lines were blown down in Victoria.
Several trees were blown down.
Between 1 and 3 inches of rain fell in a short amount of time over the northern half of Knox county. Numerous secondary roads and field were flooded for an hour or so. No injuries were reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Illinois, 2003Warnings in Illinois, April 2003
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: 5350827, 5350924, 5350828, 5350920, 5350921, 5350922, 5350923.