Hail, Macoupin
- When
- March 13, 12:23 AM CST
- Where
- Macoupin County, 3 mi E of Bunker Hill
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 39.033, -89.900
Hail in Illinois, March 13, 2003
A storm spotter reported hail up to golf ball size east of Bunker Hill.
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
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 LSX wrote it up.
A storm spotter reported hail up to golf ball size east of Bunker Hill.
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 St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 12, 1:00 PM CST, 11 hours 23 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 1:00 PM CST, 11 hours 23 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 100 PM CST WED MAR 12 2003 COLD FRONT LIES ACROSS SRN IA AT THIS TIME WITH TEMPS WARMING UP NICELY ACROSS THE REGION. EXPECT THE FRONT TO PUSH ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT WITH A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE COVERING THE AREA ON THU. ETA FORECASTS SHORT WAVE TO SLIDE ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT. MODEL FORECASTS SIGNIFICANT DIVERGENCE AT H3 ACROSS THE SE HALF OF MO AT MIDNIGHT IN RIGHT REAR QUADRANT OF ENTRANCE REGION OF JET WITH THE GFS VERY CLOSE TO ETAS SOLUTION. THIS COMBINED WITH AMPLE 850 MOISTURE AND A COLD FRONT SLIDING THROUGH WILL PROVIDE A RAINY NIGHT ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. NGM AND GFS ALONG WITH THE ETA ALL CONCUR ON COLD FRONT TO LIE ACROSS THE BOOTHEEL BY 12Z THU. MAV AND MET POPS LOOK REASONABLE FOR TONIGHT AND WILL FOLLOW FAIRLY CLOSE. COOL DOWN ON THU WONT BE TOO EXTREME THOU WITH MODELS FORECASTING 850 TEMPS OF 6-8C REMAINING ACROSS THE AREA. NGM TIME CROSS SECTS DRY OUT THE LOW LEVEL HUMIDITY ON THU, SO EXPECT SUNSHINE TO RETURN TO MUCH OF THE AREA BY AFTERNOON. COMPARISON OF THE 12Z UPDATE GFS TO THE 00Z RUN GIVES A SIMILAR PATTERN FOR MON MORNING. BOTH RUNS FORECAST AN 80-100 METER HEIGHT FALL CENTER AT H5 NEAR THE 4 CORNERS. IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD, THE 500 PATTERN IS FAIRLY SIMILAR FOR SUN MORNING ON THE GFS, ECMWF, AND UKMET WITH RIDGING ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND SIGNIFICANT TROF APPROACHING THE W COAST. THE 3 MODELS ARE REMARKABLY SIMILAR IN CLOSING OFF THE LOW NEAR THE TX/OK PANHANDLE BY MON EVENING. THE GFS AND ECMWF FORECAST A VIGOROUS SURFACE LOW OVR SW KS TUE MORNING AS A RESULT. THE 00Z RUN OF THE GFS AT THAT TIME IS FORECASTING A 50 KT 850 JET ACROSS E MO WITH SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE. LOOKS LIKE IT COULD BE A STORMY AND WET PERIOD EARLY NEXT WEEK. .STL...NONE
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 12, 7:55 PM CST, 4 hours 28 minutes before
ILZ058>060-064-065-069-070-074-079-095>102-MOZ018-019-026-027- 034>036-041-042-047>052-059>065-072>075-084-085-099-131300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 755 PM CST WED MAR 12 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN MISSOURI AND WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT SOUTH OF A LINE FROM MONROE CITY (MONROE COUNTY MISSOURI) TO CARROLTON ILLINOIS (GREENE COUNTY ILLINOIS) TO NASHVILLE ILLINOIS (WASHINGTON COUNTY ILLINOIS). WARM AND HUMID AIR MOVING NORTH IN ADVANCE OF A COLD FRONT OVER NORTHERN MISSOURI IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AND MAY BECOME SEVERE...WITH THE MAIN THREAT BEING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE MONDAY AND ALL DAY TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE TONIGHT. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT... HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/LSX (ALL LOWER CASE) WDB
In the hours before
Local storm report, Mar 12, 10:07 PM CST, 2 hours 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1007 PM CST WED MAR 12 2003
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0950 PM BARRY IL 0.75 INCH HAIL
03/12/03 PIKE REPORTED BY PIKE COUNTY
SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT.
0958 PM GRIGGSVILLE IL 0.75 INCH HAIL
03/12/03 PIKE REPORTED BY PIKE COUNTY
SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT.Local storm report, Mar 12, 11:24 PM CST, 59 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1124 PM CST WED MAR 12 2003
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1050 PM CALIFORNIA MO 70 MPH WIND GUST
03/12/03 MONITEAU REPORTED BY MONITEAU
COUNTY SHERIFFS
DEPARTMENT.Local storm report, Mar 12, 11:40 PM CST, 43 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1140 PM CST WED MAR 12 2003
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1050 PM WRIGHT CITY MO 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/12/03 WARREN REPORTED BY SEVERE
WEATHER SPOTTER. POWER
OUT IN PART OF CITY DUE
TO LIGHTNING STRIKE TO
POWER POLE.Local storm report, Mar 13, 12:10 AM CST, 13 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1210 AM CST THU MAR 13 2003
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1128 PM 10NW JEFFERSON CITY MO WIND DAMAGE
03/12/03 COLE TREES DOWNED IN CITY AND
NW COLE COUNTY. REPORTED
BY COLE COUNTY SHERIFFS
DEPARTMENT.The radar
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:23 UTC.
Event by event
2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Macoupin
- When
- March 13, 12:46 AM CST
- Where
- Macoupin County, 3 mi E of Bunker Hill
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 39.033, -89.900
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in West Virginia, March 13, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, March 13, 2003
- Flash Flood and Hail in Texas, March 13, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, March 13, 2003
- Wildfire in U.S. Virgin Islands, March 13, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, March 13, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Florida, March 13, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 13, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 13, 2003
- High Wind in Nevada, March 13 to 14, 2003
- High Wind in Oregon, March 13, 2003
- High Surf in Hawaii, March 13 to 14, 2003
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, March 2003
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: 5344450, 5344451.