9 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 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 30, 12:45 PM CST, 5 hours 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 145 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 2003 MAIN FCST CONCERN IN THE SHORT TERM IS SEVERE WX/PCPN CHANCES THIS EVENING. IN THE LATER PERIODS...ONGOING POP CHANCES/TIMING OF EVENTS QUITE PROBLEMATIC FOR ALL NEXT WEEK. CONFIDENCE LOWER THAN USUAL THRU MOST OF NEXT WEEK IN SEMI ZONAL FLOW WITH ONE WAVE AFTER ANOTHER MOVING THRU. FIRST PROBLEM IS HOW TO HANDLE THIS EVENING/TNGHT. MODELS LOOK FAIRLY DRY THIS EVENING...CONSIDERING WE ARE EXPECTING AT LEAST ISOLATED SEVERE. SAT PICS SHOWING CLEARING PUSHING IN FROM THE WEST AS MOST OF THIS MORNINGS ACTIVITY HAS WEAKENED AND MOVED STEADILY E-SE. SFC TEMPS IN IOWA ARE 20+ WARMER THAN IN CENTRAL/N IL. MODEL INSTABILITY FCST ARGUES THAT THE BEST INSTABILITY IS OVER MO...BUT THE BEST DYNAMICS ARE OVER THE NORTH WITH RATHER VIGOROUS LOW OVER W WI. IN ANY EVENT EXPECT SOME SORT OF SQUALL LINE TO FORM OVER IA THIS AFTERNOON AND MOVE EAST LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING. WILL HAVE TO MAKE LAST MINUTE DECISION ON POPS/ZONE CONFIGURATION FOR THIS EVENING ACTIVITY. FRONT MOVES THRU QUICKLY OVERNIGHT WITH SOME COLD AIR/WRAP AROUND SC LATE AND INTO TOMORROW. WILL WORD ZONES AS MOSTLY CLOUDY MORNING-PC IN THE AFTERNOON. BREEZY AND COOLER TOMORROW WITH HIGHS MAINLY UPPER 60S TO AROUND 70. HIGH PRESSURE THEN BUILDS IN THE FOR THE BALANCE OF THE WEEKEND WITH COOL WEATHER CONTINUING FOR THIS TIME OF THE YEAR...MID 40S SAT NIGHT AND HIGHS MAINLY LOWER 70S ON SUNDAY. MODELS SIMILAR FOR MON-FRI. ECMWF AND GFS TAKE ON A DIFFERENT LOOK BY THU-FRI. AS STATED ABOVE...NOT VERY CONFIDENT...KEPT LOW CHC POPS IN THE DATABASE THRU THE WEEK. TRIED TO FIND SOMEWHERE TO YANK POPS OUT BUT COULDNT REALLY FIND A GOOD 12 HR WINDOW ANYWHERE. IM SURE AS WE GET CLOSER WE WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THINGS A LITTLE MORE CLEARLY. DONT SEE A LOT OF GOOD FORCING NEXT WEEK SO DONT THINK WE ARE LOOKING AT A PROLONGED REAL WET PERIOD...JUST SOME HARD TO TIME SHOWERS AND A FEW TSRA. TEMPS CONTINUE TO RUN A FEW DEGREES BELOW CLIMO. ISC GRIDS LOOK CLOSE. ALL GRIDS ALREADY SENT. FURTHER COORDINATION WELCOME. .ILX...NONE. HALL
ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-311100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1035 AM CDT FRI MAY 30 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AS A COLD FRONT DROPS INTO THE REGION. AS THE ATMOSPHERE BECOMES INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE LATER TODAY...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT. CURRENT INDICATIONS SUGGEST THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. HOWEVER...AN ISOLATED TORNADO WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE WILL BE A DAILY CHANCE OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...AS A SERIES OF WEAK DISTURBANCES TRACK ACROSS THE REGION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. THE PRIMARY THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL OCCUR BETWEEN 300 PM AND 1000 PM. && THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGIC AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/ILX. THIS ADDRESS IS ALL IN LOWER CASE. EH
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:36 UTC.
9 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado briefly touched down in a field. No damage or injuries were reported.
Several power poles were blown down.
Several homes sustained major damage and several sheds were destroyed by the tornado. It also blew down numerous trees, tree limbs, power lines and power poles. As the tornado approached Roanoke, it weakened quite a bit with only minor tree damage reported through town before the tornado lifted and dissipated on the southeast side of town. No injuries were reported.
A tornado touched down west of Forest City (Mason County) and traveled east. On the south side of town, several homes sustained minor to major damage and a mobile home was destroyed. Also, some sheds and garages were destroyed. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down before it moved into Tazewell County. No injuries were reported.
When the tornado moved from Mason County into Tazewell County it blew down more trees and power lines. Also, several sheds were destroyed before it lifted and dissipated 5 miles south southeast of Green Valley. No injuries were reported.
A tornado touched down several times along a 5 mile long path. It blew down several trees and tree limbs but no structural damage or injuries were reported.
A tornado briefly touched down in a field. No damage or injuries were reported.
A tornado touched down 4 miles north of the Lincoln Weather Service Office, just southwest of Lawndale (Logan County). It traveled to the southeast blowing down numerous trees, tree limbs, power lines and power poles. It destroyed a mobile home, shoved a two-story house 15 feet off its foundation, destroyed several sheds and barns. Six to seven other homes sustained minor to major damage due to the tornado. It crossed from Logan County into DeWitt County just north of Illinois Route 10 near Beason. No injuries were reported.
As the tornado crossed from Logan County into DeWitt County it blew down additional trees and power lines. The tornado lifted and dissipated on the outskirts of Hallsville. No injuries were reported with this tornado.
As the first tornado was weakening on the west side of Hallsville another more significant tornado developed on the east side of town. It quickly intensified to F2 intensity, destroying two homes and causing damage to several others. In one home, a family of four sought shelter in the hallway. They were briefly trapped after the walls collapsed around them, but only sustained minor injuries. The tornado maintained its intensity and traveled to the southeast towards the south side of Clinton. As it approached US 51 numerous homes and businesses were severely damaged. Seven businesses were destroyed. The tornado finally weakened and lifted one mile south of Lane. Numerous trees, power lines and power poles were blown down as well. No other injuries were reported.
Three large trees were blown down.
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: 5356706, 5356708, 5356707, 5356709, 5356710, 5356996, 5357054, 5357055, 5357056, 5357057, 5355191, 5357058, 5355269.