Clusters of thunderstorms developed along a cold front as it moved east across the Mississippi Valley. As the atmosphere became very unstable due to daytime heating and hot south winds, the clusters evolved into a well-organized mesoscale convective system during the afternoon.
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 PAH wrote it up.
Clusters of thunderstorms developed along a cold front as it moved east across the Mississippi Valley. As the atmosphere became very unstable due to daytime heating and hot south winds, the clusters evolved into a well-organized mesoscale convective system during the afternoon. Numerous reports of damaging winds accompanied storms within the complex as it moved southeast.
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 Jun 15, 1:56 PM CST, 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 256 PM CDT TUE JUN 15 2010 .UPDATE... UPDATED PUBLIC DISCUSSION FOR SHORT MESOSCALE UPDATE. ALSO UPDATED AVIATION SECTION. && .DISCUSSION... GIVEN SEVERE WIND GUSTS (REPORTED 70 MPH FROM KCGI ASOS) AND REPORTS OF DAMAGE ACROSS THE AREA DUE TO THE ONGOING STORMS...WENT AHEAD AND LOCALLY EXTENDED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH TO INCLUDE ALL OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AND MOST OF WEST KENTUCKY. WIND GUSTS OF 60 TO 70 MPH ARE LOOKING MORE AND MORE LIKELY WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. DAMAGE SO FAR HAS CONSISTED OF POWER POLES AND TREES DOWN AS WELL AS SOME STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...(SENT AT 106 PM CDT) MID LEVEL CIRCULATION SEEN ON SATELLITE AND RADAR MOSAIC / PROFILER OVERLAY...MOVING INTO NW MISSOURI WITH A SHARP INCREASE IN CONVECTION NOTED FROM ECNTRL ILLINOIS INTO SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. SVR WATCH IS ONGOING THROUGH 9 PM AND INCLUDES OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES. PROSPECT FOR SVR IS A TAD HIGHER TODAY WITH SLIGHTLY BETTER FLOW ALOFT AND COOLER TEMPS ALOFT ALLOWING FOR STEEPER LAPSE RATES. WIND SHOULD BE THE MAIN THREAT...BUT SOME HAIL IS POSSIBLE TOO. PARENT UPPER SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE GREAT LAKES REGION BY 12Z WEDNESDAY WHILE A WEAK SLOW MOVING FRONTAL BOUNDARY PUSHES INTO THE AREA. WILL TRANSLATE BEST POPS EAST WITH TIME TONIGHT...THEN SUPRESS THEM TO OUR SOUTHERN MOST COUNTIES WEDNESDAY...WITH MOST OF THE AREA DRY AS THE FRONT MAKES EVEN FARTHER SOUTHWARD PROGRESS. THE RIDGE WILL REMAIN PROMINENT ACROSS THE SOUTHERN/SOUTHEAST STATES LATE WEEK THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. KEPT SLIGHT CHANCE OF DIURNAL CONVECTION GOING THROUGH SUNDAY...THEN DRY AFTER THAT...THOUGH LITTLE CHANGE IN AIRMASS MEANS ISOLD TSRA MAY BE POSSIBLE EVEN THEN. TOO FAR OUT TO TELL AT THIS TIME. AFTER A SUBTLE DOWN TICK IN TEMPS AND DEW POINTS NEXT 48 HOURS...WILL RETURN TO HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS FRIDAY ON THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND INTO NEXT WEEK. STAYED VERY CLOSE TO HPC GUIDANCE IN THE LONG TERM. IN THE SHORT TERM...USED A BLEND OF GFS AND NAM MOS NUMBERS FOR MAXS AND MINS. .AVIATION... SHRA/TSTM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...AND INCLUDED CB AT ALL TAF SITES. ADDED A TEMPO GROUP AT KCGI GIVEN CURRENT RADAR TRENDS. CONVECTION SHOULD TAPER OFF BY 00Z...WITH VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED OVERNIGHT. AREAS THAT RECEIVE PRECIP MAY SEE SOME MVFR FOG AFTER 06Z...BUT WILL NOT INCLUDE THAT UNTIL WE SEE WHAT SITES HAVE ACTIVITY THIS AFTERNOON. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 111 PM CDT TUE JUN 15 2010 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-161000- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION IL-JOHNSON-POPE- HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH- WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES- LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL- UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN- MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER- RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID- 111 PM CDT TUE JUN 15 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS CAPABLE OF STRONG WINDS AND MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE. MOVEMENT OF THE ACTIVITY WILL BE NORTHEAST AROUND 40 MPH. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS NEAR THE TENNESSEE AND ARKANSAS BORDERS WITH MISSOURI AND KENTUCKY WEDNESDAY. THEN A DAILY CHANCE OF STORMS EXISTS THURSDAY ON THROUGH THE WEEKEND. A BRIEF PULSE SEVERE STORM CANNOT BE RULED OUT...BUT MOST OF THE ACTIVITY SHOULD BE NON SEVERE. HOT AND HUMID WEATHER WILL PREVAIL FROM FRIDAY AND THIS WEEKEND ON INTO THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
249 PM CDT TUE JUN 15 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0215 PM TSTM WND DMG DELTA 37.20N 89.74W
06/15/2010 CAPE GIRARDEAU MO EMERGENCY MNGR
6 MEDIUM SIZED TREES DOWN
&&
JAYSONWThe Paducah radar (KPAH), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:59 UTC.
12 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trees were blown down near Route 37.
Large tree limbs were down on a house. Winds were estimated near 60 mph at Highway 13 and 154 on the west side of town.
A photograph of an apparent funnel cloud was taken near West Vienna.
In Mount Vernon, numerous tree limbs and wires were blown down, along with one power pole. Streets were blocked by downed limbs and wires. Some businesses received minor damage, such as ripped awnings and fallen gutters. An antenna with its 30-foot tower was brought down at a city residence. A fence was blown over. Elsewhere in the county, a couple of trees were blown down in Woodlawn and Nason.
A wind gust to 66 mph was measured on U.S. Highway 51 north of DuQuoin. At Sunfield, numerous trees and power lines were blown down near City Lake. A few trees and power lines were blown down on the north side of DuQuoin. There were 1,800 families without power in Perry County at the peak of the power outages.
Trees were blown down.
Nickel-size hail was reported at mile marker 23 on Interstate 24 in the extreme southeast part of the county.
A garage was flattened. Tree limbs and power lines were down in the area.
A five-foot diameter tree was blown over. Other large tree limbs were blown down, some on power lines.
In Carmi, three power poles and a light pole were blown down. A few trees and numerous large tree limbs were blown down. There were numerous power outages. South of Epworth, a couple of trees were down.
Tree limbs and utility lines were down around the county.
In Metropolis, large tree limbs were blown down. A metal carport was blown over. A trained spotter measured a wind gust to 60 mph on the Interstate 24 bridge over the Ohio River. The most concentrated area of damage appeared to be on the north side of Metropolis, where numerous large limbs were down, some whole trees were uprooted, and sections of a large fence were blown down. On Interstate 24 at the Metropolis exit, a tractor-trailer rig hauling half of a mobile office was blown off the road. The half of the mobile office was destroyed.
A trained spotter estimated a wind gust to 60 mph on the west side of town. A power line was down across a street. Tree limbs were blown down across the city, and some of them landed on power lines. Some of the limbs were three to four inches in diameter. Power was out for 12 to 24 hours in some cases. A tree limb fell on a gas line, causing a leak.
An old wood barn was blown down on Highway 145 a few miles north of the U.S. Highway 45 intersection.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, June 2010
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: 233489, 233491, 234867, 234923, 233497, 233494, 234924, 233492, 233499, 233500, 243054, 233498, 234191, 243060, 233493, 233495, 233496.