Hail, Livingston
- When
- July 9, 2:40 PM CST to 2:45 PM CST
- Where
- Livingston County, Fairbury
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.750, -88.517
Hail in Illinois, July 9, 2004
Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours across portions of east-central Illinois from northern Iroquois County, westward through the Ford County panhandle to southeastern Livingston County. One of these storms, over Fairbury in Livingston County, rapidly developed and produced large hail and heavy rain for a brief time.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours across portions of east-central Illinois from northern Iroquois County, westward through the Ford County panhandle to southeastern Livingston County. One of these storms, over Fairbury in Livingston County, rapidly developed and produced large hail and heavy rain for a brief time.
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 Jul 9, 1:45 PM CST, 55 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 9, 1:45 PM CST, 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 245 PM CDT FRI JUL 9 2004 .PUBLIC DISCUSSION FOR AFTERNOON GRIDS/ZONES... FIRST PRIORITY IS TSTMS MOVING THRU NERN IL THIS AFTN TO ERY EVENING. MOST IF NOT ALL WILL APPEAR TO BE OVER LK MICH BY FCST ISSUANCE. HOWEVER CAN SEE NEW DEVELOPMENT IN FAR WEST SECTIONS. DEWPTS IN 50S OVER FAR NERN IL WHERE NE WINDS STABILIZED LOWEST LAYERS BUT ELEVATED SHOWERS AND TSTMS STILL MOVING THRU AND RAISING DEWPTS INTO 60S. SOUTH OF I-80 MORE JUICY WITH DPS IN LOW TO MID 70S. THIS AREA JUST NORTH OF STNRY FNT RUNNING EAST-WEST ACROSS PIA. MODELS FOCUS THIS AS MAIN AREA OF STORM GENERATION OVERNIGHT UNTIL UPR LVL TROF SWINGS THRU SAT MRNG. WILL GO FOR HIGHER POPS SOUTH OF I-80 TONIGHT WITH CHC POPS NORTH...THEN CONTINUE A CHC MAINLY SOUTH SATURDAY WHILE DIMINISHING FROM THE WI BORDER AS UPR RIDGE BUILDS INTO AREA...PUSHING STNRY FNT SOUTH INTO SRN IL. CUD GET SOME CLEARING SATURDAY MAINLY NORTH. WINDS OFF LK MICH AGAIN WILL KEEP CHI AREA TEMPS DOWN TO 75 TO 80 RANGE. MCS DROPPING SE FROM DAKOTAS ON SUNDAY SHUD PROMPT ANOTHER RISK OF TSTMS AS THIS STNRY FNT IS RETURNED TO CNTRL IL...ENDING SUN NGT WITH PASSAGE OF YET ANOTHER WAVE. RIDGE BUILDING INTO LAKES AND MS VLY MONDAY. SHUD BE DRY UNTIL WED WHEN NEXT WAVE COMES RIDING ACROSS THE PLAINS...TAPPING GULF MSTR ONCE AGAIN UP THE MS VLY. RLB && .AVIATION DISCUSSION REGARDING 18Z TAFS: MAIN WX PROBLEM WILL BE IN NEAR TERM AS CLUSTER OF SHWRS/TSTMS CONTS TO MOVE ACRS NRN IL. HAVE LEFT MENTION OF THUNDER OUT OF ORD/MDW/GYY AS AREA IS SOMEWHAT MORE STABLE THAN RGN JUST TO W/SW WHERE SFC DEW POINTS IN LO-MID 70S OVR CNTRL IL ARE BEING LIFTED NEWD. WIND PROFILER AND ACARS DATA SHOW WEAK WIND PROFILES. WITH LACK OF DYNAMIC FORCING...EXPECT TSTMS TO DMNSH AS THE APCH MORE STABLE AMS OVR CHI/GYY AREA. EXPECT STGST STMS TO PROPAGATE ESEWD THRU ARR...JOT...VPZ CORRIDOR OVR NXT 1-2 HRS. WARM STEAMY AMS OVR JUST TO SW OF RGN WILL CONTINUE TO BE A SOURCE OF CONTD SHWR/TSTM DVLPMT WELL INTO THIS EVENING...ENDING WITH PASSAGE OF MID LVL TROF AXIS BTWN 04Z AND ABOUT 07Z. WILL GO WITH MVFR CIGS/VSBYS IN AREAS OF PCPN INTO TNGT...THEN IMPROVE TO VFR CONDS LATER TNGT AND SAT MRNG. WITH FRONTAL BOUNDARY RMNG S OF TERMINALS...EXPCT ELY WIND FLOW TO CONT...WITH TURN TO NE LATER TNGT AS MID LVL TROF PASSES THRU. GRADIENT TO RMN QUITE LGT SO WIND SPEEDS GENLY TO RMN AOB 10 KTS. MERZLOCK && .LOT...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .IL...NONE. .IN...NONE. .LK MI...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 9, 8:40 AM CST, 6 hours before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 940 AM CDT FRI JUL 9 2004 ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>022-023-032-033-039-INZ001-002-010-011-019 -101100- WINNEBAGO-BOONE-MCHENRY-LAKE IL-OGLE-LEE-DE KALB-KANE-DU PAGE-COOK- LA SALLE-KENDALL-GRUNDY-WILL-KANKAKEE-LIVINGSTON-IROQUOIS-FORD- LAKE IN-PORTER-NEWTON-JASPER-BENTON- 940 AM CDT FRI JUL 9 2004 THIS PORTION OF THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS...AND NORTHWEST INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT AS A WARM FRONT BEGINS TO MOVE NORTH FROM CENTRAL ILLINOIS. NONE OF THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF MAINLY AFTERNOON AND NIGHTTIME THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE THAT SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY COULD BECOME SEVERE. DUE TO THE HIGH MOISTURE CONTENT OF THE ATMOSPHERE THROUGH THE WEEKEND...THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. MORE THUNDERSTORMS AND ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN ARE POSSIBLE MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. && COMPLETE FORECAST INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE NWS CHICAGO WEBPAGE: WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/LOT (LOWER CASE) LMZ740>746-766-101100- WINTHROP HARBOR IL TO NEW BUFFALO MI- LAKE MICHIGAN- 940 AM CDT FRI JUL 9 2004 THIS PORTION OF THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE ILLINOIS AND INDIANA WATERS OF LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT AS A WARM FRONT BEGINS TO MOVE NORTH FROM CENTRAL ILLINOIS. NONE OF THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF MAINLY AFTERNOON AND NIGHTTIME THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE THAT SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY COULD BECOME SEVERE. DUE TO THE HIGH MOISTURE CONTENT OF THE ATMOSPHERE THROUGH THE WEEKEND...THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. MORE THUNDERSTORMS AND ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN ARE POSSIBLE MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. && COMPLETE FORECAST INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE NWS CHICAGO WEBPAGE: WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/LOT (LOWER CASE)
The radar
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:40 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Heat in Missouri, July 9 to 13, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Georgia, July 9, 2004
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Indiana, July 9, 2004
- High Wind and Strong Wind in Utah, July 9, 2004
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, July 9, 2004
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Iowa, July 9, 2004
- Flash Flood and Hail in Kansas, July 9, 2004
- Flash Flood and Hail in Colorado, July 9, 2004
- Damaging Winds and Strong Wind in Kansas, July 9, 2004
- Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, July 9, 2004
- Flash Flood and Hail in Illinois, July 9, 2004
- Flash Flood and Flood in Kansas, July 9, 2004
More
Every storm in Illinois in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, July 2004
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: 5412810.