Flash Flooding in Illinois, November 4, 2003

Name: Flash Flooding in Illinois, November 4, 2003
Start: 2003-11-04T19:30
End: 2003-11-04T22:00
Location: Illinois

November 4, 2003 · NWS LOT · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Heavy rains fell across southeast Dupage county and central Cook county during the evening hours of November 4th. Many side streets were flooded.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 LOT wrote it up.

Heavy rains fell across southeast Dupage county and central Cook county during the evening hours of November 4th. Many side streets were flooded. Many intersections were flooded in La Grange Park in Cook county and in low lying areas in Clarendon Hills in Dupage county. Westmont reported 2.40 inches of rain and Wheaton reported 1.68 inches of rain.

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 Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 4, 5:55 PM CST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 4, 5:55 PM CST, 1 hour 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
555 PM CST TUE NOV 4 2003

.DISCUSSION FOR AFTERNOON GRIDS AND ZONES...

TWO PROBLEM AREAS FOR TODAYS FORECAST...ONE THE PCPN ASSOCIATED WITH
THE FRONT AND SURFACE LOW IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS THIS AFTERNOON...AND
THE SECOND WITH THE NEXT FRONT TO AFFECT THE AREA ON SUNDAY TO
MONDAY.

FOR THE FIRST...THE LOW CENTER SEEMS TO BE TRACKING BEST ALONG A
BLEND OF THE GFS AND ETA...WITH THE GFS SLIGHTLY BETTER.  FOR THE
FRONTAL PROG...ALL MODELS ARE SIMILLAR. THE LOW CENTER THIS
AFTERNOON WAS IN SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN AND WILL CROSS CENTRAL LAKE
MICHIGAN THIS EVENING. THE FRONT WILL CROSS THE CWA BY 06Z...BUT
WITH THE PCPN LINGERING POST FRONTAL. WILL NOT MAKE MANY CHANGES TO
THE GOING FORECAST FOR PCPN...AS IT LINGERS IN TO THE
SOUTHEASTERN ZONES INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING...WITH A GRADUAL CLOUD
BREAKUP DURING THE DAY.

THE SECOND CHALLENGE IS ON THE NEXT FRONT.  EXTENDED MODEL AND THE
MANUAL NMC PROGS BRING FRONT APPROACHING THE AREA FOR SUNDAY AND
SUNDAY NIGHT. HAVE ADDED CHC OF RAIN FOR SUNDAY INTO MONDAY MORNING.
PROBLEM ON SUNDAY NIGHT WILL THE TEMPS BE COLD ENOUGH FOR A MIXTURE
OF SNOW...HOWEVER 850MB PROGGED TEMPS SEEM A BIT TOO WARM SO AT THIS
TIME WILL STAY WITHE THE RAIN. PLENTY OF TIME TO ADJUST THIS LATER
IN THE WEEK.

GOETSCH

&&

.AVIATION DISCUSSION FOR 00Z TAFS...

FAST MOVING COLD FRONT WENT EAST THROUGH RFD BY 2230Z AND TIMED IT
THROUGH DPA...ORD AND MDW FROM NOW THROUGH 01Z AND TO GYY BY 02Z.
DEVELOPING CONVECTION ALONG AND BEHIND COLD FRONT WITH BACK EDGE
NEAR RFD AND LEADING EDGE OF THUNDERSTORMS NEAR DPA AND ORD. HAVE
TEMPO GROUP FOR THUNDERSTORMS UNTIL 01Z AT RFD AND UNTIL 04Z AT GYY
WITH SHOWER CHANCES LASTING A FEW HOURS LONGER. SSW WINDS TURN WNW
AND GUSTY TO AROUND 20 KFTS BEHIND COLD FRONT. VFR CEILINGS AHEAD OF
COLD FRONT DROP TO BETWEEN 500 AND 2500 FEET BEHIND FRONT...THOUGH
VSBYS RISE BACK TO P6SM ONCE THE SHOWERS END.

OBSERVATIONS AND TIME HEIGHT SECTION FORECASTS SUGGEST LOW CIGS
BETWEEN 500 AND 1500 FEET BEHIND THE COLD FRONT DEVELOPING DURING
THIS EVENING FROM THE WEST...AND BROKEN CIGS OF 1500 AND 2500 FEET
WED MORNING. HIGH PRESSURE NOSING EAST FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS
BRINGS DRYING IN THE LOW LEVELS WED AFTERNOON INTO NE IL. CLEARING
TRENDS AND IMPROVING CIGS FROM THE SW DURING WED AFTERNOON PER ETA
925 MB RH FIELD...WITH GYY KEEPING LOW CLOUDS THE LONGEST WITH NW
FLOW OFF LAKE MI.

HUETTL

&&

.LOT...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
.IL... NONE.
.IN... NONE.
.LK MICH... NONE

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 4, 6:02 PM CST, 1 hour 28 minutes before

ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019-020>023-032-033-039-INZ001-002-010-011-019
-LMZ740>746-766-051200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
602 PM CST TUE NOV 4 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST
ILLINOIS...NORTHWEST INDIANA...AND THE ADJACENT WATERS OF LAKE
MICHIGAN.

.DAY ONE... TONIGHT

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED UNTIL AROUND MIDNIGHT...ENDING
FROM WEST TO EAST.  SOME OF THE STORMS MAY PRODUCE SMALL HAIL...AS
WELL AS TORRENTIAL RAINS FOR A SHORT TIME...AND DANGEROUS CLOUD TO
GROUND LIGHTNING.  WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH MAY ALSO OCCUR.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

&&

           NWS CHICAGO WEBPAGE

    HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/LOT (LOWER CASE)
OR  HTTP://WEATHER.NOAA.GOV/CHICAGO (LOWER CASE)

In the hours before

Local storm report, Nov 4, 6:44 PM CST, 46 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
744 PM CDT TUE NOV 04 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0740 PM    CHICAGO                   IL   FLOOD
11/04/03   COOK                           STREET FLOODING AT
                                          NORTH SIDE, TOUHY AVE.
                                          AND CALIFORNIA AVE.
                                          STREETS ALMOST
                                          IMPASSIBLE. REPORTED BY
                                          STORM SPOTTER.

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Cook

When: November 4, 7:30 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Cook County, Central Portion
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.895, -87.646 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Du Page

When: November 4, 7:30 PM CST to 10:00 PM CST
Where: Du Page County, Southeast Portion
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 41.852, -88.086 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Illinois in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, November 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: 5332277, 5332278.