Two to three inches of rain falling on already saturated soils caused many area creeks and streams to overflow their banks. As a result, several county roads were flooded along and north of a Rushville to Minonk line.
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 episode as NWS ILX wrote it up.
Two to three inches of rain falling on already saturated soils caused many area creeks and streams to overflow their banks. As a result, several county roads were flooded along and north of a Rushville to Minonk line.
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 Mar 9, 10:39 PM CST, 1 hour 21 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1139 PM CDT MON MAR 9 2009 .DISCUSSION... ISSUED 836 PM CDT MON MAR 9 2009 FORECAST ON TRACK THIS EVENING WITH VERY FEW CHANGES PLANNED. LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS INDICATING A WARM FRONT STILL WELL SOUTH OF THE FORECAST AREA OVER SRN MO INTO CNTRL TN. CONVECTION HAS BEEN OCCURRING IN THE ZONE OF LOW LEVEL WARM ADVECTION ACRS PARTS OF KS INTO NW MO. AREAS FURTHER TO THE EAST...DISPLACED SOMEWHAT FROM THE 850 MB THETA-E RIDGE SEEING MOSTLY LIGHT RAIN. LATER THIS EVENING...AS THE LOW LEVEL JET BEGINS TO VEER AND THE SFC WARM FRONT SHIFTS NORTH CLOSER TO ILLINOIS...WE SHOULD SEE AN INCREASE IN CONVECTION. MODELS HAVE BEEN CONSISTENLY SHOWING A LEAD UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE AND SFC WAVE SHIFTING ACRS CNTRL IL BY TUE MRNG. TEMPERATURES NOT GOING ANYWHERE THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT...AND IN FACT AS THE SFC WMFNT APPROACHES...WE SHOULD SEE LATE NIGHT TEMPERATURES BEGIN TO SLOWLY RISE. CONVECTIVE PARAMETERS NOT THAT IMPRESSIVE ACRS MOST OF OUR AREA BUT AS THE LOW LEVEL BNDRY MOVES INTO OUR SRN COUNTIES LATE TNT...MUCAPES WERE FORECAST TO INCREASE TO ARND 500 J/KG. A FEW OF THE STORMS LATER TNT IN ADDITION TO PRODUCING ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN...MAY BRING SOME HAIL AS WELL. && .AVIATION... ISSUED 1130 PM CDT MON MAR 9 2009 LOW LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE SLOWER TO SATURATE THIS EVENING THAN EARLIER EXPECTED. HOWEVER...STILL PLENTY OF MOISTURE ADVECTING NWD INTO CNTRL IL AHEAD OF A WARM FRONT WHICH WAS LOCATED OVER SOUTHEAST MO INTO WRN KY. LARGE AREA OF LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN CONTINUES TO PUSH IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST AND EXPECT MORE CONVECTION TO WORK ITS WAY IN AS WELL AS THE WARM FRONT DRAWS CLOSER. WE CONTINUE TO EXPECT CIGS AND VSBYS TO LOWER AS THE FRONTAL BNDRY EDGES CLOSER TO THE FORECAST AREA. SFC WNDS WL GRDLY VEER FROM AN EASTERLY DIRECTION INTO THE SOUTH BY MRNG AS THE FRONT MOVES THRU. WE MAY SEE A BREAK IN THE PRECIP LATER TUE MRNG BUT WITH AS MUCH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE THAT WILL BE IN PLACE...EXPECT THE MVFR CIGS AND VSBYS TO ONLY GRDLY BREAK IN THE AFTN. A COLD FRONT WL APPROACH THE AREA IN THE 21Z-02Z TIME FRAME AND IT STILL APPEARS CONVECTION WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY JUST AHEAD OF THE FRONT. GUSTY WINDS ARE STILL EXPECTED IN THE WARM SECTOR TUE AFTN AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT...WITH WINDS SHIFTING INTO THE WEST DURING THE EVENING. FORECAST SOUNDINGS CONTINUE TO INDICATE THE STRONGEST GUSTS...PSBLY UP TO 35 KTS WL BE JUST AFTR COLD FROPA TUE EVENING. SMITH && .PREV DISCUSSION... ISSUED 325 PM CDT MON MAR 9 2009 SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY... CONVECTION ALREADY WELL UNDERWAY OVER MISSOURI AND IS CROSSING INTO WESTERN ILLINOIS THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT STORMS TO CONTINUE TO BLOSSOM AND ENVELOP THE AREA TONIGHT. THE BETTER CHANCE OF HEAVIER RAINFALL WILL BE TOWARD MIDNIGHT AS THE NORTHWARD-MOVING WARM FRONT NOW OVER SOUTHERN MISSOURI APPROACHES. ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL POTENTIAL STILL LOOKS ON TARGET LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. AFTER THAT...THE SURFACE LOW WILL BE MOVING FROM EASTERN IOWA INTO WESTERN WISCONSIN...WITH THE TRAILING COLD FRONT SWEEPING THE AREA FROM LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH THE EVENING. EXPECT THE NEXT ROUND OF SEVERE POTENTIAL TO ACCOMPANY THIS FRONT. WITH THE SURFACE LOW TRACKING FURTHER NORTHWEST THAN THE ONE ON SUNDAY...LOW LEVEL SHEAR WONT BE QUITE AS INTENSE...BUT MAY BE SUFFICIENT FOR AN ISOLATED TORNADO WITH ANY DISCRETE STORMS OR LINE SEGMENTS. EXCEPT FOR A LINGERING CHANCE OF STORMS IN THE SOUTHEAST...MOST OF THE ACTIVITY SHOULD BE CLEAR OF THE AREA BY 06Z WED. THERE IS NO CHANGE IN THE HEAVY RAIN POTENTIAL...WITH THE HEAVIEST AMOUNTS AROUND 2 INCHES ACROSS THE NORTHERN CWA. WILL KEEP THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN PLACE. LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY... AFTER TUESDAY NIGHT...COOL HIGH PRESSURE WILL PUSH IN FROM CANADA AND BRING DRY QUIET WEATHER THAT WILL LAST INTO AT LEAST THE END OF THE WEEK. MODEL GUIDANCE IS QUITE COOL ON TEMPERATURES ESPECIALLY WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...WITH LOTS OF LOWS IN THE TEENS AND HIGHS IN THE 30S. AFTER THAT...UPPER FLOW WILL THEN RETURN TO SOUTHWESTERLY ALLOWING A SLOW WARMUP. THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM IS SLATED TO COME INTO THE PLAINS SOMETIME AROUND NEXT SUNDAY OR MONDAY...BUT THE MODELS ARE STILL PRETTY DIVERGENT IN THEIR SOLUTIONS THAT FAR OUT. FOR NOW...WILL KEEP POPS IN THE SLIGHT CHANCE RANGE FOR MONDAY. && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING FOR ILZ027>031-036>038- 040-041. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 315 PM CDT MON MAR 9 2009 ILZ027>031-036>038-040-041-101200- FULTON-KNOX-MARSHALL-MASON-MCLEAN-PEORIA-SCHUYLER-STARK-TAZEWELL- WOODFORD- 315 PM CDT MON MAR 9 2009 ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT HEAVY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT...AS A WARM FRONT ACROSS CENTRAL MISSOURI AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS MOVES NORTHWARD. RAINFALL TOTALS UP TO 2.5 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE. FLASH FLOODING MAY DEVELOP DUE TO THE RAIN FALLING ON ALREADY SATURATED GROUND. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR AREAS NORTH OF A LINE FROM SCHUYLER COUNTY TO MCLEAN COUNTY...AFTER 10 PM TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY HEAVY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ON TUESDAY...AS THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM PASSES BY TO THE NORTHWEST OF ILLINOIS. THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL NOON ON TUESDAY. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS ON TUESDAY. THE MAIN HAZARDS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT...BUT MAY BE NEEDED ON TUESDAY MORNING. ILZ042>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-101200- CASS-CHAMPAIGN-CHRISTIAN-CLARK-CLAY-COLES-CRAWFORD-CUMBERLAND- DE WITT-DOUGLAS-EDGAR-EFFINGHAM-JASPER-LAWRENCE-LOGAN-MACON- MENARD-MORGAN-MOULTRIE-PIATT-RICHLAND-SANGAMON-SCOTT-SHELBY- VERMILION- 315 PM CDT MON MAR 9 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THE AREA TONIGHT...AS A WARM FRONT OVER CENTRAL MISSOURI AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS PUSHES NORTHEAST OVER THE AREA. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE... WITH RAINFALL TOTALS UP TO 1.5 INCH BY TUESDAY MORNING. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS LATER TONIGHT...MAINLY SOUTH OF A QUINCY TO DANVILLE LINE. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY HAZARDS LATE TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ON TUESDAY...AS THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM PASSES BY TO THE NORTHWEST OF ILLINOIS. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS ON TUESDAY. THE MAIN HAZARDS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT...BUT MAY BE NEEDED ON TUESDAY MORNING. BARKER
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
1018 PM CDT MON MAR 09 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1132 AM TORNADO 6 SW LOAMI 39.61N 89.93W
03/08/2009 SANGAMON IL NWS STORM SURVEY
*** 2 INJ *** NWS DAMAGE SURVEY TEAM DETERMINED AN EF1
TORNADO WITH ESTIMATED WINDS OF 100 MPH TRACKED FROM 6
MILES SW OF LOAMI TO 1 MILE NORTH OF LOAMI. FIVE HOMES
DAMAGED...AS WELL AS MANY SHEDS AND OUTBUILDINGS. TWO
MINOR INJURIES.
&&
25PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
1031 PM CDT MON MAR 09 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0143 PM TORNADO 6 NE LAWRENCEVILLE 38.79N 87.61W
03/08/2009 LAWRENCE IL NWS STORM SURVEY
NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM DETERMINED AN EF1 TORNADO WITH
ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS OF 95 MPH TRACKED FROM 1 MILE
NORTHEAST OF THE LAWRENCEVILLE/VINCENNES AIRPORT...TO 1
MILE SSE OF RUSSELLVILLE. 1 HOME AND 2 MOBILE HOMES
DAMAGED...SEVERAL BARNS AND OUTBUILDINGS DESTROYED. ALSO
20 LARGE IRRIGATION UNITS DESTROYED.
&&
25The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Water was flowing across several streets in Roanoke.
Twelve roads across Stark County were closed due to high water flowing across them.
Water was flowing across Rt 17 and Rt 29 near Sparland.
Highway 17 was closed due to high water. In addition, water was flowing across numerous other county roads across Knox County.
Three county roads across Peoria County were closed due to high water.
Water was flowing across one lane of County Highway 20 during the morning of March 10th. Tarter Ferry Road off of Old County Highway 2 had three feet of water covering the road due to the Spoon River overflowing its banks.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, March 2009
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: 157565, 157566, 157567, 157568, 157569, 157570.