12 tornado, 3 hail, 2 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 May 10, 1:20 PM CST, 5 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED TO ADD WATCH INFORMATION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 220 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003 HIGH RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER REMAINS CHALLENGE FOR TODAYS PACKAGE. MODELS IN RELATIVELY GOOD AGREEMENT FOR INGREDIENTS COMING TOGETHER TO BRING A SIGNIFICANT OUTBREAK OF SEVERE WEATHER TO FORECAST AREA AGAIN THIS EVENING. LOW LEVEL SHEAR AND DYNAMICS SHOULD ADD TO THE TORNADIC POTENTIAL LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. BEST 0-3 KM VGP APPEARS TO BE WITH ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE FRONT WITH A POTENTIAL TRANSFORMATION TO A LINEAR MODE AS CONVECTION FROM FRONT RACES AHEAD OF BOUNDARY AS IT CROSSES FORECAST AREA. SPEED OF SYSTEM MAY REDUCE PERIOD OF HEAVY RAINFALL BUT GIVEN CURRENT LEVEL OF SATURATION IT WONT TAKE MUCH TO REINFORCE FLOODING THAT OCCURRED THIS MORNING. WILL KEEP FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN PLACE OVERNIGHT FOR ALL OF FORECAST AREA. MUCH QUIETER WEATHER ON TAP AFTER TONIGHT. SOME POTENTIAL FOR WRAP AROUND AND COLD POOL INSTABILITY SHOWERS IN NORTHWEST FLOW INTO SUNDAY NIGHT THEN DRY UNTIL MIDWEEK. GFS STILL DEVELOPING HEALTHY SYSTEM FOR WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY WHILE ECMWF BRINGS ONLY A MINOR SYSTEM THROUGH. ENSEMBLES AND 84HR ETA ALSO SEEM TO SUGGEST GOOD POTENTIAL FOR PRECIP. WILL ADD A BIT MORE PRECIP WORDING THAN PREVIOUS PACKAGE BUT WILL CONTINUE TO DOWNPLAY POTENTIAL PER HPCS PREHPD. .ILX...FLOOD WATCH ENTIRE CWA BARKER
ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-111100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 332 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003 ...A TORNADO OUTBREAK IS STILL EXPECTED ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN OUTBREAK OF TORNADOES IS EXPECTED ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. THERE REMAINS POTENTIAL FOR SOME OF THESE TORNADOES TO BE STRONG AND VIOLENT. LARGE HAIL UP TO BASEBALL SIZE AND THUNDERSTORM WINDS GREATER THAN 100 MPH WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL INTERACT WITH A COLD FRONT CROSSING THE AREA AND HUMID AIR IN PLACE ACROSS ILLINOIS TO PRODUCE A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SITUATION LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WINDS TURNING WITH HEIGHT WILL PRODUCE AN ENVIRONMENT CONDUCIVE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF TORNADOES. RESIDENTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS NEED TO BE WEATHER ALERT THIS AFTERNOON AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION WHEN WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS WILL BE REQUIRED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. && 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) BARKER
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 116 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:07 UTC.
12 tornado, 3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado crossed into Schuyler County from Brown County (WFO LSX County Warning Area). It was only on the ground for a short distance before it lifted and dissipated. No damage or injuries were reported.
A tornado touched down 5.5 miles west of Rushville. It destroyed a house, as well as a barn. The tornado traveled to the northeast blowing down numerous trees and power lines. Also, numerous silos, barns and machine sheds were either damaged or destroyed. The tornado lifted and dissipated 3 miles north northwest of Rushville. No injuries were reported.
Numerous large trees and tree limbs were blown down around town.
A tornado touched down 2 miles southwest of Ipava. It traveled to the northeast and went through the middle of town, destroying the fire department as well as numerous trees, power lines, sheds and garages. Numerous homes sustained roof damage and one home had major damage. No injuries were reported.
A tornado touched down half a mile south of town then traveled east northeast. It destroyed several sheds and damaged a business. Numerous trees, tree limbs, power lines and power poles were blown down. No injuries were reported.
A tornado touched down in the Quiver Beach area. It destroyed a travel trailer and a garage. As the tornado traveled to the northeast it blew down numerous trees and power lines before lifting and dissipating. No injuries were reported.
A tornado touched down just southwest of Manito. As it traveled to the northeast it destroyed 4 homes, as well as power lines and trees. Twenty-four homes sustained minor to major damage. One elderly woman sustained minor injuries, a cut on her arm and bruises, while taking shelter in her walk-in pantry. No other injuries were reported.
A tornado touched down east of Manito. It destroyed several barns, sheds and a garage. A couple of homes had minor damage. Also, numerous trees, power lines and power poles were blown down. No injuries were reported.
This long track tornado first touched down 3 miles southwest of South Pekin and traveled to the northeast. It destroyed several homes before reaching the eastern sections of South Pekin where it intensified to F3 strength. The tornado destroyed 50 homes, caused minor to major damage on an additional 80 homes before exiting the town. As the tornado approached Morton, it weakened briefly but quickly intensified again as it crossed the intersection of I-74 and I-155. When it crossed the highways, 8 vehicles were damaged and one injury was sustained when a car was overturned by the tornado as it crossed I-74. It destroyed several three story apartment buildings and severely damaged several others in the complex. A couple of businesses in the area were destroyed as well. It then moved through several subdivisions, damaging over 100 homes, some severely. The tornado eventually weakened and lifted 2.5 miles north of Morton. In all, 32 people were injured by the tornado, three seriously, but they have since recovered.
After the long track tornado dissipated, another tornado formed 3 miles north of Morton and traveled to the northeast. Three homes sustained major damage as well as a business. No injuries were reported.
A tornado first touched down in Tazewell County 3 miles southeast of Washington. It damaged a couple of homes and businesses, as well as blowing down numerous trees, power poles and power lines. The tornado then moved into Woodford County where it increased in intensity. No injuries were reported.
As the tornado crossed from Tazewell County into Woodford County it increased in intensity. It destroyed several homes, outbuildings and businesses along US 24 before clipping the northwestern side of Eureka damaging several homes there. As it traveled to the northeast, additional homes sustained damage as well as trees, power lines, power poles, sheds and outbuildings. It moved through the extreme northern portions of Roanoke before lifting and dissipating one mile north of Roanoke. Several homes in this area sustained damage. Overall, 4 people sustained minor injuries.
A tornado touched down east of Eureka, paralleling the track of the earlier tornado in Woodford County. It blew down numerous trees and power lines. Also, it destroyed several barns and out buildings and caused minor damage to a couple of homes. 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, 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: 5354957, 5354787, 5354790, 5354788, 5354869, 5354789, 5354791, 5354868, 5354870, 5354871, 5354872, 5354873, 5354955, 5354874, 5354875, 5354954, 5354956.