A stationary frontal boundary draped across central Illinois served as the focal point for showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon of 09/11/2008. Areas along and west of the I-55 corridor recorded between 2 and 4 inches of rain, as storms repeatedly rolled over the same locations.
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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 episode as NWS ILX wrote it up.
A stationary frontal boundary draped across central Illinois served as the focal point for showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon of 09/11/2008. Areas along and west of the I-55 corridor recorded between 2 and 4 inches of rain, as storms repeatedly rolled over the same locations. As a result, localized flooding occurred from near Jacksonville northeastward toward Bloomington.
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 Sep 11, 2:00 PM CST, 0 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 300 PM CDT THU SEP 11 2008 .DISCUSSION... ISSUED 300 PM CDT THU SEP 11 2008 SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY... INITIAL RELATIVELY DRY AIRMASS OVER ILLINOIS HAS MOISTENED UP CONSIDERABLY AND A MESOSCALE BAND OF LOW-TOPPED CONVECTION HAS PRODUCED LOCALIZED HEAVY RAIN FROM JACKSONVILLE TO PETERSBURG TO BLOOMINGTON. WE SHOULD SEE A BREAK IN THE HEAVIER PRECIPITATION EARLY THIS EVENING UNTIL ANOTHER BATCH OF STEADY RAIN NOW OVER SOUTHWESTERN MISSOURI COMES IN. WILL GO AHEAD WITH HIGH POPS FOR TONIGHT...WITH MOST OF THE RAIN COMING AFTER 06Z. A STEADY SOUTHWESTERLY UPPER FLOW ORIGINATING WITHIN THE REMNANTS OF PACIFIC TROPICAL CYCLONE LOWELL WILL ASSURE PERIODS OF RAIN THROUGH SATURDAY WITH SOME EXCESSIVE RAINFALL AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. INITIAL BAROCLINIC ZONE LIFTING NORTH THROUGH ILLINOIS WILL SET UP OVER NORTHERN ILLINOIS BY FRIDAY EVENING...RESULTING IN THE NEXT WAVE OF HEAVY RAIN BEING TO OUR NORTH FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. AFTER THAT...THEN THE REMAINS OF IKE GET DRAWN UP INTO THE ALREADY MOIST AIRMASS OVER THE MIDWEST. FOR CENTRAL ILLINOIS...THE BEST SHOT AT HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT WITH THE CLOSEST APPROACH OF IKE. TOO EARLY TO TELL WHERE THE HEAVIEST RAIN TRACK WILL BE...SO WILL ISSUE A FLOOD POTENTIAL OUTLOOK TO HIGHLIGHT THE EXTENDED PERIOD OF HEAVY RAIN. LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... ALTHOUGH THE GFS AND ECMWF BOTH TAKE IKE REMNANTS WELL EAST OF THE AREA BY MONDAY...WILL HOLD ON TO SOME CHANCE AND SLIGHT CHANCE POPS TO ACCOUNT FOR THE USUAL UNCERTAINTIES IN TROPICAL SYSTEMS THIS FAR IN ADVANCE. TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SHOULD BE A STRETCH OF DRY WEATHER AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE PLAINS INTO THE MIDWEST. THE NEXT COLD FRONT AND CHANCE OF RAIN APPEARS TO BE BEYOND THIS FORECAST CYCLE. 04 && .AVIATION... ISSUED 1243 PM CDT THU SEP 11 2008 REALLY NO WAY TO SAY IT NICELY...THE AVIATION FORECAST IS JUST DREARY. VISIBILITY AND CEILINGS WILL BOTH BE DISMAL THROUGH 24 HOURS. MVFR CONDITIONS...TEMPO IFR...AND AFTER MIDNIGHT...IFR MAY VERY WELL BECOME THE RULE THROUGH MID MORNING. OVER-RUNNING PRECIP ALREADY STARTED TODAY AS WARM FLOW FROM THE SOUTH CONTINUES ON BACKSIDE OF HIGH. LSX A BIT DRY BTWN NRN OVERRUNNING AND WAVE TO THE SW. BUT CHANCES FOR A REAL BREAK FOR ILX TERMINALS IS A BIT DISMAL WITH NO REAL DRY AIR TO SPEAK OF TO PUT THE BRAKES ON. ANY BREAK IN THE PRECIP BEFORE SUNSET WOULD BE BRIEF. MODELS DO GIVE A BIT OF A BREAK AFTER DAWN...AND HAVE TRIED TO GO WITH VCSH TO REFLECT THAT OPTION. OTHER THAN THAT...TS SHOULD REMAIN ISLD THROUGH THE 24 HOURS. HJS && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1134 AM CDT THU SEP 11 2008 ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-121100- 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- 1134 AM CDT THU SEP 11 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A FRONTAL SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AND STRENGTHEN OVER THE REGION TODAY AND TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY...WITH THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL EXPECTED ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 72 THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. ANY THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS RAINFALL ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE FRONTAL SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY OVER CENTRAL ILLINOIS THROUGH MONDAY. AS A RESULT...PERIODS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE OVER THE AREA THROUGH THE DAY MONDAY. HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE AT TIMES FROM THE STORMS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE. FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE IN SOME AREAS...ESPECIALLY FROM HEAVY RAINS ON FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. HJS
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:00 UTC.
4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous basements were flooded in Jacksonville due to heavy rainfall.
Multiple roads were closed in Ashland due to high water.
Six homes in Arenzville had 1.5 feet of water in their basements due to heavy rainfall.
Route 97 near New Salem State Park in Petersburg was closed due to high water.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, September 2008
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: 136040, 136041, 136043, 136046.