1 thunderstorm wind, 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 Aug 26, 1:30 PM CST, 5 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 230 PM CDT TUE AUG 26 2003 SEVERAL FORECAST PROBLEMS TO DEAL WITH DURING THE NEXT WEEK. MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM NEXT 24 HOURS IS WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAT IS SAGGING SOUTH OVER SOUTHERN WISCONSIN AS OF 19Z. ALSO...PREFRONTAL TROF EXTENDS FROM CHICAGO AREA SOUTHWESTWARD INTO SERN IA. ACTIVITY THAT FIRED ALONG THIS BOUNDARY IN THE CHICAGO AREA HAS MOVED INTO INDIANA THIS AFTERNOON. REST OF IL REMAINS DRY AND HOT WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY OF CLOUDS. MODELS ARE HANDLING THIS SYSTEM PRETTY WELL AND WENT WITH A BLEND OF ETA/GFS. FRONT TO CONTINUE MOVING SOUTH AND WILL MOVE INTO CWA AFTER 00Z. WEAK S/W OVER KS AND NWRN MO TO MOVE ALONG BONDARY INTO IL THIS EVENING...BUT WITH WAVE WEAKENING...LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING AND MOISTURE RATHER LIMITED...LOWERED LIKELY POPS BACK INTO CHANCE CATAGORY ALONG AND N OF I-70. PCPN TO SPREAD SOUTH OF I-70 AFTER MIDNIGHT. BOUNDARY STALLS OVER SRN IL ON WEDNESDAY AND UNCERTAINTY OF WHERE IT WILL STALL AT...KEPT CHANCE POPS OVER ALL OF CWA ALL DAY...BEFORE TAPERING OFF WEDNESDAY EVENING. A BREAK IN THE PRECIPITATION ON THURSDAY STILL A GOOD BET...EVEN WITH BOUNDARY MOVING BACK NORTH OVER CWA AS A WARM FRONT. FEEL THAT MORE SIGNIFICANT DYNAMICS WILL BE WITH NEXT FRONTAL SYSTEM THAT WILL DEVELOP OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND APPROACH IL THURSDAY EVENING. RWS/TRWS TO CONTINUE OVER CWA THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY UNTIL FRONT MOVES INTO SRN IL LATE FRIDAY NIGHT. BUT CHANGES ARE IN STORE FOR THE FORECAST FOR SATURDAY AND EARLY SUNDAY. GFS...MRF AND CANADIAN CONTINUE TO SHOW MAIN UPPER LEVEL TROF SWINGING THRU MIDWEST SATURDAY...CAUSING BOUNDARY TO MOVE BACK INTO CWA WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF PCPN DURING THE DAY SATURDAY...CONTINUING SATURDAY NIGHT...BEFORE EXITING SUNDAY MORNING. ADDED CHANCE POPS TO ALL OF CWA FOR THIS TIME PERIOD. THEN CWA FINALLY DRIES OUT AND COOLS OFF FOR THE REST OF THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. AS FOR TEMPS...MADE MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO GOING TEMPS. HOTEST DAY WAS TODAY...BUT WILL STILL SEE WARM TEMPS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...BEFORE DROPPING INTO THE 70S AND LOWER 80S FOR THE WEEKEND. ISC GRIDS SENT EARLIER. .ILX...NONE. BYRD
ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-271100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1121 AM CDT TUE AUG 26 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF I-70. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. THIS IS A RESULT OF A FRONTAL BOUNDARY MOVING SOUTH INTO CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND COLLIDING WITH A VERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS. IN ADDITION TO THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THREAT LATER TODAY AND OVERNIGHT...THE COMBINATION OF AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES IN THE MIDDLE 90S AND DEW POINT TEMPERATURES FROM 70 TO 75 DEGREES...WILL DRIVE HEAT INDEX VALUES TO NEAR 105 DEGREES IN A FEW LOCATIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THERE WILL BE ANOTHER THREAT FOR SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PARTS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS ON WEDNESDAY AS THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY REMAINS CLOSE TO THE STATE. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT ACROSS CENTRAL ILLINOIS WILL BE LIMITED DURING THE DAY. A STRONG COLD FRONT IS FORECAST TO PUSH ACROSS THE REGION LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY...BRINGING WITH IT ANOTHER THREAT FOR MORE ORGANIZED THUNDERSTORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. IT APPEARS THE PRIMARY THREAT TIME WOULD BE FROM 3 TO 8 PM IN AREAS ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 72...WITH LOCATIONS TO THE SOUTH OF INTERSTATE SEEING THE ACTIVITY BETWEEN 800 PM AND MIDNIGHT. && THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGIC...AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET AT: HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/ILX PLEASE NOTE THAT THE WEB ADDRESS SHOULD BE ALL IN LOWER CASE. BARNES
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 122 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:15 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several large tree limbs were blown down. A couple of the limbs fell onto power lines, pulling them down as well.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, August 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: 5377529.