2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 13, 1:13 PM CST, 6 hours 2 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 213 PM CDT THU MAY 13 2004 .DISCUSSION...UNSEASONABLY WARM AND MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW PERSISTS ACROSS FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON...THOUGH THIS WILL BE COMING TO AN END SHORTLY. LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS HAD LOW PRESSURE CENTERED OVER THE UPPER GREAT LAKES...WITH A COLD FRONT EXTENDING SOUTHWEST (BRUSHING THE NORTHWEST EDGE OF ILLINOIS) TO ANOTHER LOW OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. MAIN FORECAST CONCERN OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS REVOLVES AROUND SHOWER/STORM CHANCES TONIGHT AND FRIDAY AS THE FRONT PASSES THROUGH ILLINOIS. 12Z MODELS IN GOOD OVERALL AGREEMENT AGAIN THIS RUN. WHILE I DO NOT HAVE A MAJOR MODEL PREFERENCE...THE ETA HAS BEEN FOLLOWED FOR THE DETAILS. GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES GENERALLY CLOSE AND REASONABLE. SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY... TONIGHT AND FRIDAY...THINGS STILL COMING TOGETHER NICELY FOR A DECENT PRECIPITATION EVENT ACROSS FORECAST AREA AS FRONT SLOWLY MAKES ITS WAY THROUGH ILLINOIS. EXPECT WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH OCCASIONALLY HEAVY RAIN ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT...THOUGH THE THREAT FOR SEVERE STORMS SEEMS LOW. DEEP...JUICY AIRMASS (PRE FRONTAL PRECIPITABLE H2O VALUES AROUND 1.5 INCHES AHEAD OF THE FRONT) SUPPORTS HEAVY RAIN (ESPECIALLY WITH THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE FRONT) BUT ALSO SUPPORTS ONLY MARGINALLY STEEP LAPSE RATES (ABOUT 6 C/KM). SEVERAL IMPULSES (SOME CONVECTIVELY INDUCED) WILL MOVE NORTHEAST ALONG THE FRONT AND ENHANCE THE SHOWER/STORM THREAT AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY WHEN COUPLED WITH THE FORCING FROM THE RRQ OF A JET STREAK THAT WILL BE OVERHEAD WITH FROPA. HOWEVER...LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE WITH THE FRONT IS NOT TOO GOOD GIVEN ITS SPEED AND THE PRE FRONTAL SHEAR IS NOT IMPRESSIVE. FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...FRONT SHOULD CLEAR FORECAST AREA BY FRIDAY EVENING...BRINGING AN END TO THE PRECIPITATION THREAT FOR A FEW DAYS. UPPER FLOW WILL QUICKLY TRANSITION TO ZONAL BEHIND DEPARTING UPPER WAVE...WITH STRONG CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING IN AT THE SURFACE. THE ASSOCIATED AIRMASS WILL BE CONSIDERABLY COOLER AND LESS HUMID THAN WE HAVE SEEN LATELY (EVEN A BIT BELOW NORMAL). LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...MODELS IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT TODAY...AT LEAST ABOUT AS GOOD AS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH HANDLING WEAK IMPULSES MOVING THROUGH A ZONAL FLOW PATTERN. A WSW ZONAL UPPER FLOW PATTERN WILL BE ACROSS MUCH OF THE U.S. THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH A SURFACE BOUNDARY DRIFTING BACK AND FORTH THROUGH ILLINOIS. && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...NONE. && BAK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1059 AM CDT THU MAY 13 2004 ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-141100- 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 1059 AM CDT THU MAY 13 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT MAINLY ALONG AND WEST OF INTERSTATE 55. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. HOWEVER...AN ISOLATED TORNADO IS ALSO POSSIBLE. A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY. THIS FRONT WILL IGNITE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... THE THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY MORNING. HOWEVER...AS THE FRONT PUSHES EAST OF THE AREA DURING THE DAY...THE THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL DECREASE. ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP ON FRIDAY COULD CONTAIN HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. HOWEVER...NO ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED. ANOTHER FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA MONDAY INTO TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA. .SPOTTER ACTIVATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT IN AREAS ALONG AND WEST OF INTERSTATE 55. 13
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:12 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous roads in southern Christian County were flooded due to heavy rainfall including IL Route 48 between Morrisonville and Clarksdale.
Several streets in Moweaqua were flooded due to heavy rainfall.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, May 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: 5400678, 5400679.