1 tornado, 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 Aug 26, 1:00 PM CST, 4 hours 9 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 200 PM CDT THU AUG 26 2004 .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT... BIGGEST CHALLENGE TODAY IS PLACEMENT OF POTENTIALLY SEVERE CONVECTION AND HEAVY PRECIPITATION NEXT 36 HOURS. COLD DOME AND CLOUDS FROM LAST NIGHTS CONVECTION HAS KEPT CWA CAPPED SO FAR. BOUNDARY ASSOCIATED WITH COLD DOME IS NOW SET UP JUST EAST OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER. INITIAL CONCERN IS DEVELOPMENT ALONG THIS BOUNDARY LATER THIS AFTERNOON. IN ADDITION...THERE REMAINS POTENTIAL FOR QLCS DEVELOPMENT OVER IOWA THIS EVENING THAT MAY ADVECT INTO CWA TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH FLOW WOULD SUGGEST AN EASTERLY MOVEMENT...AM A BIT CONCERNED THAT BOUNDARY MENTIONED ABOVE MAY PLAY A ROLL IN TURNING SYSTEM MORE SOUTHEAST. SINCE THERE REMAINS LARGE UNCERTAINTY IN THE EVOLUTION OF THIS SYSTEM WILL GO CHC POPS ALL BUT SOUTHEAST WITH HIGHEST CHANCES IN NORTH TONIGHT. MODELS CONSISTENT IN BRINGING FRONT INTO REGION ON FRIDAY. ETA DEVELOPS PRECIPITATION AHEAD OF MAIN FRONT AND MOVES IT INTO CENTRAL ILLINOIS DURING THE DAY. GIVEN THE ABUNDANCE OF BOUNDARIES IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION THIS SEEMS MORE REASONABLE THAN KEEPING ALL THE PRECIP ALONG THE FRONT PER GFS. AS LOW LEVEL JET KICKS UP FRIDAY NIGHT ADVECTING VERY MOIST FLOW INTO FORECAST AREA...POTENTIAL FOR A HEAVY RAIN EVENT INCREASES IN THE VICINITY AND BEHIND FRONT AS WELL AS NEAR ANY PRE-FRONTAL BOUNDARIES THAT MAY BE IN PLACE. ETA PROGGED PRECIP WATER OF 2 INCHES + OVER PORTIONS OF THE CWA FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT HIGHLIGHTS THIS THREAT. WITH SO MUCH UNCERTAINTY OF THE EVOLUTION TONIGHT THAT WILL SET UP FOCUS FOR HEAVY RAIN LATE FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...WILL HOLD OFF ON FLOOD WATCH FOR NOW...BUT IT IS LIKELY THAT A WATCH WILL BE NEEDED ACROSS SOME PORTION OF THE REGION WITH A LATER ISSUANCE. FOR NOW WILL JUST MENTION HEAVY RAINFALL CENTRAL AND NORTH FOR FRIDAY NIGHT. GENERALLY WENT WITH A COMPROMISE ON MET AND MAV TEMPS. LEANED CLOSER TO ETA HIGHS FOR FRIDAY GIVEN THE POSSIBILITY OF PRECIP FURTHER SOUTH THAN GFS SUGGESTS. LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... LINGERING POST-FRONTAL MOISTURE AND DYNAMICS ASSOCIATED WITH MAIN 5H TROUGH WILL KEEP PRECIP GOING...PARTICULARLY IN THE EAST SATURDAY INTO SATURDAY NIGHT. TROUGH MOVES EAST AND SURFACE HIGH BUILDS IN FOR SUNDAY. GFS ENSEMBLES CONSISTENT IN BUILDING HEIGHTS NEXT WEEK AND DRYING REGION. SOME QUESTION WHETHER RETURN FLOW ON BACKSIDE OF HIGH WILL BRING IN ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR SCATTERED ACTIVITY BY MIDWEEK BUT WITH TIMING UNCERTAINTY AND LACK OF FOCUS WILL KEEP DRY FOR NOW. SHOULD BE A GRADUAL WARM-UP TO ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS BY THURSDAY. && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...NONE. && BARKER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1125 AM CDT THU AUG 26 2004 ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-271100- CASS-CHAMPAIGN-CHRISTIAN-CLARK-CLAY-COLES-CRAWFORD-CUMBERLAND- DE WITT-DOUGLAS-EDGAR-EFFINGHAM-FULTON-JASPER-KNOX-LAWRENCE-LOGAN- MACON-MARSHALL-MASON-MCLEAN-MENARD-MORGAN-MOULTRIE-PEORIA-PIATT- RICHLAND-SANGAMON-SCHUYLER-SCOTT-SHELBY-STARK-TAZEWELL-VERMILION- WOODFORD- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BLOOMINGTON...CHAMPAIGN...DANVILLE... DECATUR...EFFINGHAM...FLORA...GALESBURG...HAVANA...JACKSONVILLE... LAWRENCEVILLE...LINCOLN...MATTOON...PEORIA...SHELBYVILLE... SPRINGFIELD AND TAYLORVILLE 531 AM CDT THU AUG 26 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A VERY WARM AND HUMID AIRMASS WILL BE IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A FEW WEAK UPPER AIR DISTURBANCES MOVING THROUGH DURING THE PERIOD MAY TRIGGER THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BE SEVERE...PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND LARGE HAIL. ALSO...ANY THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN AND FLASH FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A STRONGER UPPER AIR DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION ON FRIDAY AND DROP A COLD FRONT INTO THE STATE. THE FRONT WILL LINGER ACROSS THE REGION INTO EARLY SUNDAY...BRINGING A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE STATE FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... MAINLY BETWEEN 2 PM AND 8 PM. BYRD
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 64 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:09 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado briefly touched down in a field. No damage or injuries were reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Illinois, 2004Warnings in Illinois, August 2004
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: 5419366.