4 thunderstorm wind, 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 May 7, 1:59 AM CST, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 259 AM CDT FRI MAY 7 2004 .DISCUSSION... PLENTY OF CHALLENGES CONTINUE WITH FRONT ACROSS CWA NEXT 24 HRS WITH TEMPERATURES...POSSIBLE PRECIPITATION AND SEVERE STORMS. SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY... LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACES SURFACE STATIONARY FRONT ACROSS LAKE ERIE SOUTHWEST INTO NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL PLAINS STATES. LATEST 0615Z IR SATELLITE PLACES SOME MID AND LOW CLOUDS ACROSS GREAT LAKES SOUTHWEST INTO NORTHERN MISSOURI. LATEST 0615Z WATER VAPOR IMAGE PLACES A SHORT WAVE ACROSS NORTHWEST OHIO. LATEST 0634Z KDVN INDICATES SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS EAST CENTRAL IOWA. SOME DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN GFS AND ETA ON HANDLING FRONT AND ELECTING TO GO WITH A BLEND AT THIS TIME. MODELS MAINTAINS H50 RIDGE ACROSS SOUTHEAST U.S BY 00Z SAT. H50 TROUGH DEVELOPS ACROSS PLAINS STATES BY 00Z SUN...AND WEAK H50 TROUGH IS ACROSS UPPER MIDWEST BY 12Z SUN. MODELS MOVE SFC HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS UPPER MIDWEST SOUTHEAST INTO GREAT LAKES REGION AND MOVES SURFACE FRONT SOUTH ACROSS CWA THIS MORNING. AS SFC LOW DEVELOPS ACROSS PLAINS STATES SURFACE FRONT BEGINS TO LIFT TO ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS BY 00Z SUN. TIME/HEIGHT CROSS SECTIONS INDICATES FAIRLY HIGH LOW AND MID LEVEL RH ACROSS NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CWA THROUGH 00Z SAT. THEN TIME/HEIGHT CROSS SECTIONS MAINTAINS SOME DECENT RH AT LOW AND MID LEVEL RH FROM 00Z SUN-18Z SUN. MODEL SOUNDINGS INDICATES DECENT INSTABILITY WITH LI/S OF -5 TO -7 AND CAPES 1500-2500 J/KG ACROSS CWA BY 00Z SAT. SOUNDING DATA INDICATES A DECENT CAP BUT NOT AS STRONG AS THURSDAY WITH H70 TEMPS COOLING TO +7C BY 00Z SAT. SOUNDING DATA RETURNS DECENT LOW LEVEL RH BETWEEN 06-12Z SAT. 305K ISENTROPIC SFC INDICATES SOME LIFT AND SOME COND PRES DEF ACROSS CWA BY 00Z SAT. BEST COND PRES DEF NORTH OF CWA. SOME COND PRES DEF AND LIFT RETURNS AGAIN FROM 18Z SAT-00Z SUN. 850MB TEMPS ARE +15C TO +18C BY 00Z SAT...850MB TEMPS THEN ARE +15C TO +18C BY 00Z SUN...AND +15C TO +19C BY 12Z SUN. ETA/GFS PLACES SOME WEAK 250MB DIVERGENCE ACROSS CWA THROUGH THE PERIOD. WITH FRONT ACROSS CWA...EXPECT TEMPERATURES SPREAD FROM NORTH TO SOUTH. WILL LEAN ON WARMER GUIDANCE TEMPS FOR TODAY. SPC PLACES FAR NORTHERN PART OF CWA AND OVER BY DANVILLE IN DAY 1...JUST NORTH OF FRONT. WILL GO SCATTERED WORDING THIS MORNING ACROSS NORTHERN CWA AND WILL WAIT FOR LATEST RADAR TRENDS. LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... LONG RANGE MODELS HAVING DIFFERENCES ON HANDLING SYSTEMS OVER THE NEXT WEEK. VERY ACTIVE PATTERN CONTINUES THROUGH THURSDAY. MADE SOME MODIFICATIONS WITH INCREASE CHANCES ON MONDAY AND ADJUSTMENTS TO TEMPERATURES. OTHERWISE...NOT TOO MANY CHANGES IN THE EXTENDED AT THIS TIME. && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...NONE. && 13
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1150 AM CDT THU MAY 6 2004 ILZ027>031-036>038-071100- FULTON-KNOX-MARSHALL-MCLEAN-PEORIA-STARK-TAZEWELL-WOODFORD- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BLOOMINGTON...GALESBURG AND PEORIA 1150 AM CDT THU MAY 6 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR AREAS ALONG AND NORTH OF A RUSHVILLE TO BLOOMINGTON LINE. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING THROUGH TONIGHT. THE BEST AREA FOR STRONG STORMS WILL BE ALONG AND NORTH OF A RUSHVILLE TO BLOOMINGTON LINE. LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT. THE STORMS WILL FORM ALONG AND NORTH OF A FRONT THAT WILL SLOWLY SINK SOUTH OVER ILLINOIS TONIGHT...BUT REMAIN NORTH OF INTERSTATE 72. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THERE IS A CONTINUED SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ON FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...MAINLY IN THE AREA ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 72. THE LINGERING FRONT WILL REMAIN EAST WEST OVER CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ILLINOIS INTO EARLY SATURDAY...THEN MOVE NORTH. THE FRONT WILL FINALLY MOVE BACK THROUGH THE AREA ON SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. THE RESULT WILL BE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE AREA FROM FRIDAY INTO TUESDAY. .SPOTTER ACTIVATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. ILZ040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-071100- CASS-CHAMPAIGN-CHRISTIAN-CLARK-CLAY-COLES-CRAWFORD-CUMBERLAND- DE WITT-DOUGLAS-EDGAR-EFFINGHAM-JASPER-LAWRENCE-LOGAN-MACON-MASON- MENARD-MORGAN-MOULTRIE-PIATT-RICHLAND-SANGAMON-SCHUYLER-SCOTT-SHELBY- VERMILION- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CHAMPAIGN...DANVILLE...DECATUR... EFFINGHAM...FLORA...HAVANA...JACKSONVILLE...LAWRENCEVILLE... LINCOLN...MATTOON...SHELBYVILLE...SPRINGFIELD AND TAYLORVILLE 1150 AM CDT THU MAY 6 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR AREAS SOUTH OF A RUSHVILLE TO BLOOMINGTON LINE. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THERE WILL BE A CONTINUED CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE AREA ON LATE FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THE LINGERING FRONT WILL REMAIN EAST WEST OVER CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ILLINOIS...FINALLY MOVING THROUGH THE AREA ON SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. HOWEVER...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER ACTIVATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. && THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGIC AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/ILX. THIS ADDRESS IS ALL IN LOWER CASE. BYRD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds destroyed 2 barns, damaged numerous farm buildings, and blew down numerous trees, tree limbs, power lines and power poles. No injuries were reported.
Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees and numerous tree limbs. No injuries or structural damage were reported.
A tornado briefly touched down on a storage building damaging the roof. A section of the roof was lifted off and landed on a car in the parking lot, damaging the unoccupied car. The tornado then quickly lifted and dissipated. No injuries were reported.
A line of severe thunderstorms moved across Marshall County. Numerous trees were blown down in the Lacon and La Rose areas. Also, several power lines were blown down. No injuries were reported.
Thunderstorm winds blew down several large tree limbs.
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, 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: 5400672, 5400673, 5400674, 5400675, 5400676.