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 May 1, 1:30 AM CST, 0 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 230 AM CDT THU MAY 1 2003 FORECAST CHALLENGE IS ADDRESSING SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY RAIN CHANCES THROUGH THIS EVENING AND TIMING OF COLD FRONT. ETA IS SLOWEST WITH MOVING COLD FRONT SLOWLY SE ACROSS CENTRAL IL THRU TONIGHT WHILE AVN AND NGM MORE SIMILAR AND 3 TO 6 HOURS FASTER. ETA HAD BEEN MODEL OF CHOICE PAST COUPLE OF RUNS. THIS RUN WILL LEAN TOWARD THE GFS MODEL WHICH BETTER CAPTURES THE STRONG SSW LOW LEVEL JET AND SHORT WAVE ENERGY EJECTING OUT OF SE CO TOWARD KANKAKEE BY SUNSET. GFS HAS MOST QPF THIS AFTERNOON OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ALONG I-72 WHICH HPC USED. SPC DAY1 OUTLOOK CONTINUES SLIGHT RISK TODAY AND THIS EVENING SE OF THE IL RIVER. WILL MAINTAIN CHANCE OF SEVERE STORMS AND HEAVY RAINS CENTRAL AND SE ILX CWA ESPECIALLY THIS AFTERNOON. DO NOT THINK FLASH FLOODING WILL BE WIDESPREAD ENOUGH TO WARRANT A FLOOD WATCH. FFG VALUES AVERAGE AROUND 2 INCHES PER HOUR NORTH OF I-70 WHERE HEAVIEST RAIN EXPECTED TODAY...AND A FEW SPOTS COULD EXCEED THIS AMOUNT AS WHAT OCCURRED EARLIER TONIGHT IN NW CWA. ACTIVE FRONTAL BOUNDARY OVER FAR NORTHERN CWA JUST NW OF GALESBURG AND FRONT EXTENDS WEST TO LOW PRESSURE OVER NORTHCENTRAL MO. LEADING LINE OF CONVECTION JUST EAST OF I-55 AND MOVING ESE. 35 TO 45 KT SSW LOW LEVEL JET INTERSECTING BOUNDARY AND HELPING FIRE UP LARGE AREA OF CONVECTION WITH A FEW STRONG STORMS AND FLASH FLOODING STILL ONGOING FORM I-55 NW. THIS CONVECTION TO WEAKEN SOMEWHAT DURING THE MORNING...WITH MOST AREA STAYING IN WARM SECTOR TODAY. ATMOSPHERE TO BECOME VERY UNSTABLE AGAIN WITH LIFTED INDICES OF MINUS 4 TO 6C AND CAPES AT LEAST 1000 TO 2000 J/KG FROM THE IL RIVER SE. THUNDERSTORMS TO REFIRE UP LATER TODAY AND EVENING AS SHORT WAVE MOVES IN AND COLD FRONT MOVES SE THRU CENTRAL CWA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING AND SE CWA TONIGHT. SPC TORNADIC THREAT EAST OF IL TODAY. LIKE WARMER FWC/MET HIGHS TODAY RANGING FROM LOWER 70S NW AND NEAR 80 FROM I-70 SOUTH. KEEPING LIKELY CHANCE OF CONVECTION THIS EVENING...THEN PCPN CHANCES DIMINISH OVERNIGHT. MODELS STILL DIGGING AN UPPER LEVEL TROF INTO WI AND IL FRI AND WILL KEEP PROB30 CHANCE OF SHOWERS DURING THE DAY WITH MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES. COULD BE JUST ISOLATED LIGHT SHOWERS OR SPRINKLES FRI AS MOISTURE BECOMING MORE SHALLOW AND NOTICED GFS...ETA AND NGM KEEP IT DRY FRI. CANADIAN HIGH BRINGS CLEARING FRI NIGHT AND THEN SHIFTS OFF TO THE EAST SAT WITH RETURN FLOW BEGINNING. MODELS FASTER WITH NEXT STORM SYSTEM ARRIVING SAT NIGHT AND SUNDAY WITH ANOTHER STRONG LOW EJECTING OUT OF CO TOWARD THE GREAT LAKES. ETA EVEN BRINGING QPF IN SW HALF OF CWA SAT AFTERNOON AHEAD OF WARM FRONT BUT THINK THIS IS TOO FAST SO WILL KEEP SAT DRY FOR NOW. BEST CHANCE OF CONVECTION SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY WITH SEVERE WEATHER A RISK AGAIN MON AS GFS LIFTED INDICES MINUS 4 TO 8C. COLD FRONT TO MOVE EAST THRU IL MON NIGHT WITH LINGERING CHANCE OF SHOWERS TUE WITH ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL TROF OVER THE MIDWEST. .ILX...NONE. HUETTL
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
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN, IL
1034 PM CDT WED APR 30 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0945 PM 3ESE CASTLETON IL .75 INCH HAIL
04/30/03 STARK REPORTED BY STORM SPOTTER.
0925 PM VICTORIA IL WIND DAMAGE
04/30/03 KNOX POWER LINES
DOWN...REPORTED BY KNOX CO
SHERIFF.
KELLYThe Lincoln radar (KILX), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:31 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Very heavy rain fell on already saturated ground in the western half of Marshall County. Numerous roads were flooded for a time due to the heavy rain.
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, May 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: 5363041.