Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, May 26, 2004

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, May 26, 2004
Start: 2004-05-26T08:50
End: 2004-05-26T11:30
Location: Illinois

May 26, 2004 · NWS PAH · 11 events in 6 counties and zones

The first round of severe thunderstorms to affect southern Illinois occurred during the late morning hours. Most of the severe weather was in the form of large hail during this episode.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: $155,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

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 PAH wrote it up.

The first round of severe thunderstorms to affect southern Illinois occurred during the late morning hours. Most of the severe weather was in the form of large hail during this episode. The first storm became severe just south of Mount Vernon and tracked east along the Hamilton/Wayne County border. Other severe storms developed across the Marion and Herrin areas, producing copious amounts of large hail in Herrin. There was wind damage in Carterville and the Cambria area of Williamson County, where trees and power lines were down. Roads were blocked by fallen trees in Carterville and just south of Cambria. Five to six houses were struck by falling trees, mainly on the west side of Carterville. Major damage occurred to some of the houses. At John A. Logan College near Carterville, numerous trees and limbs were down, destroying fencing and a light pole. These severe storms then moved east and consolidated into a supercell in southern Saline County, just south of Harrisburg. As the supercell crossed Hardin County, a 12-mile long swath of wind damage occurred. The wind damage was primarily in the Shawnee National Forest, resulting in little structural damage until the storm reached Cave-In-Rock, a small town on the Ohio River. At Cave-In-Rock, there were trees down, including at least ten on structures. At the Cave-In-Rock State Park campground near the Ohio River, tents were blown away, and about 20 trees and many more limbs were blown down. Torrential downpours caused street flooding in Cave-In-Rock, and water seeped into the post office and a cafe.

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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 26, 1:56 AM CST, 6 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 26, 1:56 AM CST, 6 hours 54 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
256 AM CDT WED MAY 26 2004

.DISCUSSION...
MAIN QUESTIONS THIS MORNING ARE FLOOD WATCH TIMING AND ATTEMPTS TO
CLARIFY PRECIPITATION TIMING AND LOCATION.

WILL GO WITH FFA OVER THE ENTIRE AREA THROUGH 6AM THURSDAY FOR
SEVERAL REASONS. OVER THE NORTHERN SECTIONS...RAINFALL FROM TUESDAY
EVENING CONVECTION HAS SATURATED THE SOIL IN MANY AREAS. SOME
LOCATIONS RECEIVED 3 INCHES IN 1 HOUR. ANY ADDITIONAL ORGANIZED
CONVECTION WILL INITIATE MORE FLOODING. SOME FLOOD WARNINGS STILL
GOING BASED ON REPORTS OF CLOSED ROADS. OVER THE REST OF THE
CWA...HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES OF OVER 1.5 INCHES...RELATIVELY
SLOW STORM SPEEDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH AND TRAINING OF ECHOES POSSIBLE
NEAR THE BOUNDARY. COORDINATED WITH HPC AND SURROUNDING OFFICES ON
FFA AS HPC HAS US IN ISOLATED EXCESSIVE RAINFALL. DIFFICULT TO
DETERMINING EXACT LOCATION OF BOUNDARY WHICH MAY BE DRIVEN MORE BY
CONVECTION THAN SYNOPTIC PATTERN...SO WENT WITH ENTIRE FORECAST
AREA.

ETA SEEMS TO BE THE MODEL TO GO WITH AS IT HAS A BETTER HANDLE ON
INITIAL FRONTAL LOCATION...HAS HIGHER QPF AMOUNTS...WHICH HPC
SUGGESTS IS THE BEST CONSIDERING PAST COUPLE OF DAYS. GFS ALSO MAY
BE SUFFERING FROM CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK.

04Z SURFACE ANALYSIS HAD FRONT EXTENDING FROM NEAR SBN TO POF TO
WEAK SURFACE LOW NEAR PBF. ETA HAS THIS FRONT EXTENDING EAST TO WEST
OVER NORTHERN PART OF CWA BY 18Z WEDNESDAY...THEN SLOWLY SINKING
SOUTH TO KENTUCKY/TENNESSEE BORDER BY 06Z. WILL FOCUS POPS NEAR
BOUNDARY. AFTER THAT...THINGS GET A BIT MORE CONFUSING AS FRONT
APPEARS TO WASH OUT.

WEAK SYSTEM EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHEAST SECTIONS ON
THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS WILL BRING ANOTHER WEAK FRONT
INTO THE REGION...REACHING PAH AROUND 18Z FRIDAY...HANG UP OVER
TENNESSEE BY SATURDAY...THEN RETREAT NORTH AS A WARM FRONT BY
SUNDAY. WILL KEEP THE CHANCE OR SLIGHT CHANCE POPS GOING FROM
THURSDAY INTO SATURDAY.

DAY 1 OUTLOOK FROM SPC EXPECTS MAIN STORM INITIATION TO BE IN
SOUTHERN MISSOURI THIS AFTERNOON AND FOCUS ALONG FRONT ACROSS THE
CENTRAL PORTION OF CWA.

WILL GENERALLY RAISE TEMPERATURES OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF
DAYS...CLOSER TO MET NUMBERS TODAY AND THEN A COMBINATION OF MAV/MET
AND LOCAL TEMPERATURE COMPUTATIONS.

&&

.PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KY...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 6AM THURSDAY.
MO...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 6AM THURSDAY.
IL...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 6AM THURSDAY.
IN...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 6AM THURSDAY.

&&

SPODEN

Hazardous weather outlook, May 26, 4:03 AM CST, 4 hours 47 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
503 AM CDT WED MAY 26 2004

ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100-
107>112-114-271000-
ALEXANDER IL-BALLARD KY-BOLLINGER MO-BUTLER MO-CALDWELL KY-
CALLOWAY KY-CAPE GIRARDEAU MO-CARLISLE KY-CARTER MO-CHRISTIAN KY-
CRITTENDEN KY-DAVIESS KY-EDWARDS IL-FRANKLIN IL-FULTON KY-
GALLATIN IL-GIBSON IN-GRAVES KY-HAMILTON IL-HARDIN IL-HENDERSON KY-
HICKMAN KY-HOPKINS KY-JACKSON IL-JEFFERSON IL-JOHNSON IL-
LIVINGSTON KY-LYON KY-MARSHALL KY-MASSAC IL-MCCRACKEN KY-MCLEAN KY-
MISSISSIPPI MO-MUHLENBERG KY-NEW MADRID MO-PERRY MO-PERRY IL-PIKE IN-
POPE IL-POSEY IN-PULASKI IL-RIPLEY MO-SALINE IL-SCOTT MO-SPENCER IN-
STODDARD MO-TODD KY-TRIGG KY-UNION KY-UNION IL-VANDERBURGH IN-
WABASH IL-WARRICK IN-WAYNE MO-WAYNE IL-WEBSTER KY-WHITE IL-
WILLIAMSON IL-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SIKESTON...POPLAR BLUFF...PERRYVILLE...
CAPE GIRARDEAU...PADUCAH...OWENSBORO...MURRAY...MAYFIELD...
MADISONVILLE...HOPKINSVILLE...HENDERSON...EVANSVILLE...HERRIN...
HARRISBURG...CARMI...CARBONDALE AND CAIRO
503 AM CDT WED MAY 26 2004

...FLOOD WATCH TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR THE ENTIRE QUAD STATE AREA...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN
ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT AS A SLOW MOVING FRONT
PUSHES THROUGH THE REGION. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT...SOME OF THEM WILL PRODUCE HEAVY
RAINFALL. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST FLOOD WATCH PRODUCT FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION.

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT ACROSS THE ENTIRE QUAD STATE REGION. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE
DAMAGING WINDS AND SOME LARGE HAIL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY.

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS BOTH THURSDAY AND
FRIDAY. THE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDS INTO SATURDAY AS
WELL.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND
EVENINGS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGERS
SHOULD KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS THROUGH THE
PERIOD. ANY REPORTS OF FLOODING OR HEAVY RAINFALL WOULD BE
APPRECIATED TODAY AND TONIGHT.

SPODEN

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Jefferson

When: May 26, 8:50 AM CST to 8:56 AM CST
Where: Jefferson County, 2 mi S of Mt Vernon
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.283, -88.900

Hail, Hamilton

When: May 26, 9:06 AM CST to 9:20 AM CST
Where: Hamilton County, 1 mi NE of Dahlgren
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.217, -88.667

Hail, Jackson

When: May 26, 9:19 AM CST
Where: Jackson County, 3 mi S of Carbondale
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.667, -89.217

Hail, Williamson

When: May 26, 9:34 AM CST
Where: Williamson County, 5 mi E of Crab Orchard
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 37.733, -88.717

Hail, Williamson

When: May 26, 9:37 AM CST
Where: Williamson County, Herrin
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.800, -89.033

Thunderstorm Wind, Williamson

When: May 26, 9:50 AM CST to 10:00 AM CST
Where: Williamson County, 1 mi S of Cambria
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $75,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 37.767, -89.117

Hail, Williamson

When: May 26, 10:08 AM CST to 10:15 AM CST
Where: Williamson County, Marion
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.733, -88.933

Hail, Saline

When: May 26, 10:15 AM CST to 10:20 AM CST
Where: Saline County, Carriers Mills
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 37.683, -88.650

Thunderstorm Wind, Hardin

When: May 26, 10:45 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where: Hardin County, Karbers Ridge
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $80,000
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 37.583, -88.333

Hail, Hardin

When: May 26, 10:50 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
Where: Hardin County, Karbers Ridge
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 37.583, -88.333

Heavy Rain, Hardin

When: May 26, 10:52 AM CST to 11:30 AM CST
Where: Hardin County, Cave in Rock
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 37.518, -88.267 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Illinois in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, May 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: 5397837, 5397838, 5397839, 5397840, 5397842, 5397841, 5397843, 5397844, 5397845, 5397846, 5397847.