Name: Hail in Illinois, September 26, 2003
Start: 2003-09-26T14:45
End: 2003-09-26T14:50
Location: Illinois

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

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 LSX wrote it up.

Storm spotters reported hail up to 2 inches in diameter in Camp Point and 1 1/2 inch hail near Golden.

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 Sep 26, 1:00 PM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 26, 1:00 PM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
200 PM CDT FRI SEP 26 2003

.DISCUSSION...

COLD FRONT MAKING PROGRESS SOUTH...NOW ENTERING NORTHERN MO. MOD
RISK OF SVR WX THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING ACROSS ALL CWFA.
EXPECTING CONVECTION TO FIRE AHEAD OF COLD FRONT AND MOVE SOUTHEAST
ACROSS ENTIRE CWFA. THREAT OF LARGE HAIL AND TORNADOES AT
ONSET...SWITCHING TO A SEVERE WIND EVENT. POST FRONTAL PRECIPITATION
IN THE FORM OF SHOWERS OVERNIGHT BEFORE SKIES PARTIALLY CLEAR
TOMORROW MORNING. HAVE KEPT 30 POPS IN NORTHEAST ZONES TOMORROW
GIVEN COLD POCKET OF AIR ALOFT (-20 C AT 500MB) DIVING SOUTHWARD
FROM NORTHERN PLAINS.

THE EXTENDED FORECAST FEATURES BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND DRY
CONDITIONS UNTIL LATE IN THE WORK WEEK. MODELS AGREE ON THE UPPER
AIR PATTERN REMAINING AMPLIFIED THROUGH THE EXTENDED...WHICH IS
HIGHLIGHTED BY AN UPPER LOW OVER ONTARIO EMBEDDED IN A DEEPENING
TROUGH OVER THE CENTER OF THE CONUS AND A STRENGTHENING RIDGE OVER
THE ROCKIES. THE RESULT WILL BE A NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WITH
SHORTWAVES AND ACCOMPANING SURFACE COLD FRONTS DIVING SOUTH FROM THE
CANADIAN PRARIES REINFORCING THE COOL FALL CONDITIONS. TEMPERATURES
WILL BE 5 TO 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL WITH HIGHS IN THE 60S AND
LOWS IN THE 30S AND 40S.

&&

.LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.MO...NONE.
.IL...NONE.

CVKING

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 26, 11:10 AM CST, 3 hours 35 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>075-084-085-099-271200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1210 PM CDT FRI SEP 26 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN MISSOURI
AND WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
THIS EVENING ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN MISSOURI...AS WELL AS
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS.  SOME CITIES IN THE MODERATE
RISK AREA INCLUDE ST LOUIS...COLUMBIA...JEFFERSON CITY...
FARMINGTON...QUINCY...HANNIBAL...LITCHFIELD...SPARTA AND SALEM
ILLINOIS.

SOUTHERLY WINDS ARE TRANSPORTING MOIST AND WARM AIR INTO THE REGION
THI AFTERNOON...WHILE A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE IS DROPPING
SOUTHEAST FROM THE NORTHERN PLAINS.  THESE FEATURES WILL COMBINE TO
PRODUCE THE INSTABILITY AND WIND PATTERNS FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.

THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP EARLY THIS AFTERNOON OVER
NORTHERN MISSOURI...THEN RACE EAST INTO EASTERN MISSOURI AND
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS BY EARLY THIS EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER ACTIVATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY
THIS EVENING.

&&

MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT...
HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/LSX (ALL LOWER CASE)

TRUETT/CVKING

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 26, 2:44 PM CST, 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
344 PM CDT FRI SEP 26 2003

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

0325 PM    LORAINE                   IL   1.75 INCH HAIL
09/26/03   ADAMS                          FROM SPOTTER

0325 PM    LIMA                      IL   1.75 INCH HAIL
09/26/03   ADAMS                          PUBLIC REPORT.

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 143 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:44 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Adams

When: September 26, 2:45 PM CST
Where: Adams County, 3 mi N of Golden
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.167, -91.017

Hail, Adams

When: September 26, 2:50 PM CST
Where: Adams County, Camp Pt
Measured: 2 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.033, -91.067

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

More

Every storm in Illinois in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, September 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: 5374426, 5374427.