5 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 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 Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 31, 2:00 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 300 PM CDT MON MAY 31 2004 .DISCUSSION... DEEP H5 LOW OVER THE UPPER LAKES BROUGHT CLOUDY SKIES...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS AND SMALL HAIL TO MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. WITH LOW BEING SLOW TO MOVE EAST OF THE AREA...EXPECT SCENARIO SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO TODAY WITH SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS TO REVELOP AGAIN TUESDAY AS WAVES ROTATE AROUND/THROUGH TROUGH. COMBINATION OF DIURNAL HEATING AND COLD TEMPS ALOFT PRESENT THE POSSIBILITY OF PEA HAIL ALSO. SOME DIFFERENCES ON WHEN UPPER LOW IS EAST OF AREA WITH GFS BEING ODD MAN OUT. FORECASTS REFLECT ETA/NGM SOLUTIONS WITH CLOSED LOW NORTH OF LAKE HURON WEDNESDAY MORNING AND SURFACE FROPA THROUGH NORTHEAST ILLINOIS EARLY WEDNESDAY. HI AMP RIDGE BUILD OVER CENTRAL US AFTER TROUGH MOVES EAST THAT SHOULD FINALLY BRING SOME DRY WX TO THE AREA. SURFACE RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE UPPER LAKES WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. NEXT WEATHER APPEARS LATE SATRUDAY INTO SUNDAY/MONDAY AS WAVES IN H5 FLOW PASESES ACROSS AREA. && .AVIATION... WITH VORT MAX CURRENTLY ROTATING NEWRD INTO FAR SERN WI...NUMBER OF SHRA/TSRA SHUD CONT TO DEC DURG EARLY PART OF FCST PD. SUBSIDENCE IN WAKE OF VORT AND LACK OF SFC FOCUS TO LIMIT RENEWED DVLPMNT BUT GIVEN STEEP LAPSE RATES INDICATED BY FCST SOUNDINGS DUE SFC HEATING AND COOL MID LVLS...STIL LOW PROB OF OCCURENCE THRU LATE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVE BUT NO MENTION IN TAFS BEYOND 20Z DUE RESTRICTION ON PROB GROUPS FIRST 9HRS. STEEP LAPSE RATES ALSO TO ALLOW STGR WND ALFT TO MIX DOWN WITH GUSTY SFC WNDS EXPECTED TIL NEAR SUNSET. WRAP AROUND MOISTURE TO SPREAD INTO NRN IL OVRNGT AS UPR LOW ON ND/MN BORDER DROPS SEWRD. TRS && .LOT...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...NONE. IN...NONE. LK MI...NONE. IMPORTANT NOTICE...EFFECTIVE JUNE 8...THE AWIPS IDENTIFIER FOR THIS PRODUCT WILL CHANGE FROM CHIAFDCHI TO CHIAFDLOT. THE WMO HEADER FXUS63 KLOT WILL NOT CHANGE.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 600 AM CDT MON MAY 31 2004 ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>022-023-032-033-039-INZ001-002-010-011-019 -011100- 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- 600 AM CDT MON MAY 31 2004 THIS PORTION OF THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS...AND NORTHWEST INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA TODAY. A POOL OF COLD AIR ALOFT WILL MOVE OVER THE REGION AND DESTABILIZED THE ATMOSPHERE THIS AFTERNOON. THIS WILL PROVIDE ENOUGH INSTABILITY TO SET OFF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND GUSTS OF WIND UP TO 58 MPH. THERE ARE RIVERS IN FLOOD. HEAVY RAIN FELL ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION SUNDAY. THE RIVERS ARE THE FOX...DES PLAINES...KISHWAUKEE...ROCK... ILLINOIS AND VERMILION RIVERS. SEE FLOOD STATEMENTS AND FLOOD WARNINGS FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THERE WILL BE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AS THE LARGE UPPER AIR DISTURBANCE MOVES SLOWLY ACROSS THE REGION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER SHOULD BE ALERT TODAY FOR THUNDERSTORMS THAT MAY BECOME SEVERE. && COMPLETE FORECAST INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE NWS CHICAGO WEBPAGE: WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/LOT (LOWER CASE) LMZ740>746-766-011100- WINTHROP HARBOR IL TO NEW BUFFALO MI- LAKE MICHIGAN- 600 AM CDT MON MAY 31 2004 THIS PORTION OF THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE ILLINOIS AND INDIANA WATERS OF LAKE MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MAY OCCUR TODAY. SOME ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. && COMPLETE FORECAST INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE NWS CHICAGO WEBPAGE: WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/LOT (LOWER CASE)
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:59 UTC.
5 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A large tree was knocked down onto house at the corner of Second and Madison Streets, causing significant structural damage. Large trees were also reported down at the corner of North Fourth and Phelps Streets, and on North Third Street. A power pole was blown down on Pines Road.
Trees were blown down.
Hail covered the ground at the intersection of Murphy and Nipper Roads.
Reported at the intersection of 11th and Lincoln Streets.
Reported at the intersection of Interstate 55 and Normantown Road.
Reported at the intersection of Sky Drive and Benton Road.
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: 5397373, 5397303, 5397372, 5397304, 5397305, 5397369, 5397370, 5397371.