A strong area of low pressure moving along the Ohio River Valley combined with a slow moving high pressure center in the upper Great Lakes resulted in sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph, with gusts over 40 mph in southeast Illinois. This wind, along with a very saturated ground, resulted in several shallow rooted trees toppling over in southeast Illinois.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
A strong area of low pressure moving along the Ohio River Valley combined with a slow moving high pressure center in the upper Great Lakes resulted in sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph, with gusts over 40 mph in southeast Illinois. This wind, along with a very saturated ground, resulted in several shallow rooted trees toppling over in southeast Illinois.
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 25, 2:00 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 300 PM CDT THU MAR 25 2010 .DISCUSSION... ISSUED 300 PM CDT THU MAR 25 2010 SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY... SURFACE LOW OVER EXTREME SOUTHERN ILLINOIS WILL MOVE RAPIDLY EAST-NORTHEAST INTO THE ATLANTIC COAST STATES BY 12Z FRI. COOL HIGH PRESSURE WILL SETTLE INTO THE MIDWEST IN ITS WAKE...BRINGING DRY CONDITIONS AND A COUPLE OF NIGHTS OF COOLER TEMPERATURES. EXPECT THAT THE CURRENT PRECIPITATION SHIELD WILL CLEAR SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS BEFORE MIDNIGHT WITH CLOUDS CLEARING OUT SHORTLY THEREAFTER. THIS WILL ALLOW A CHUNK OF CANADIAN AIR TO COME SOUTH INTO ILLINOIS TONIGHT...WITH MOST AREAS SEEING LOWS IN THE 20S. AFTER THE COOL START...ABUNDANT SUNSHINE ON FRIDAY WILL THEN ALLOW HIGHS TO REACH THE UPPER 40S AND LOWER 50S. THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM WILL BE EMERGING INTO THE PLAINS ON SATURDAY. MOISTURE AVAILABILITY WILL BE MEAGER INITIALLY...BUT AN INCREASING FETCH FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO WILL ALLOW RAIN TO INCREASE LATE IN THE DAY AS THE SYSTEM REACHES THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. WILL MAINTAIN SLIGHT CHANCE POPS IN THE EXTREME WEST SATURDAY AFTERNOON...THEN BUMP UP TO LIKELY MOST AREAS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. ALTHOUGH THE MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT ON THE TIMING...SOME DIFFERENCES REMAIN ON HOW FAR NORTH OR SOUTH THE SURFACE AND UPPER LOWS WILL BE WHEN THEY ARRIVE IN THE REGION. THE MAIN IMPACT OF THESE DIFFERENCES WILL BE THE CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL AS THE UPPER LOW CLOSES OFF AND DEVELOPS A MID LEVEL COLD POOL...SIMILAR TO WHAT IS NOW OCCURRING NEAR MEMPHIS WITH THE CURRENT LOW. A LOW TRACK RIGHT OVER CENTRAL ILLINOIS IS ON THE NORTHERN FRINGE OF THE VARIOUS MODEL SOLUTIONS. WILL THEREFORE INDICATE A CHANCE OF THUNDER IN THE SOUTH SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY...THEN CHANCE POPS SUNDAY NIGHT AS THE SYSTEM PULLS AWAY. LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... THE EARLY WEEK LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE EASTWARD INTO THE NEW ENGLAND STATES AS A NEW UPPER WAVE COMES INTO THE WEST COAST. THIS WILL CONTINUE THE OVERALL PROGRESSIVE UPPER PATTERN OVER THE CONUS. SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WILL RESULT IN DRY CONDITIONS WITH A WARMING TREND. HIGH IN THE 50S ON MONDAY WILL RISE INTO AT LEAST THE UPPER 60S AND LOWER 70S BY THURSDAY. THE NEXT CHANCE OF RAIN WILL PROBABLY HOLD OFF UNTIL AT LEAST NEXT WEEKEND. 04 && .AVIATION... ISSUED 1259 PM CDT THU MAR 25 2010 PROBLEMATIC FORECAST...WITH TIMING THE DEPARTURE OF THE SYSTEM BTWN 00Z AND 06Z TONIGHT. IN THE SHORTER TERM...RA CONTINUES WITH CIG DROPS AND VISIBILITIES ALL OVER THE PLACE AS WELL. FOR THE MOST PART...PIA IS ONLY PLACE STRUGGLING TO COME UP OUT OF MVFR...BUT STILL HAS PROBLEMS WITH A LOW STRATUS DECK. DRY AIR IS WINNING AND CONDITIONS ARE IMPROVING. SLOWLY EXPECT TO SEE IMPROVEMENT FROM NW TO SE THROUGH 01Z...BUT LOW CENTER MOVING SLOW ACROSS THE SOUTH. GUSTY WINDS ACROSS THE BOARD AND MOSTLY MVFR. RAPIDLY SHIFTING CONDITIONS FROM ONE OB TO THE NEXT. BEYOND MIDNIGHT...RETURN TO SKC. CONCERNED ABOUT SOME VISBY ISSUES WITH THE MORNING AS LLVL MOISTURE GETS LEFT BEHIND...BUT SO FAR MODELS SCOUR OUT ANY HIGHER DWPTS. HJS && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 255 PM CDT THU MAR 25 2010 ILZ027>031-036-037-040-041-047-049-050-261100- CASS-FULTON-KNOX-MARSHALL-MASON-MORGAN-PEORIA-SCHUYLER-SCOTT- STARK-TAZEWELL-WOODFORD- 255 PM CDT THU MAR 25 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE ILLINOIS RIVER FROM PEORIA TO DOWNSTREAM OF BEARDSTOWN FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. ILZ038-042-043-048-051-261100- DE WITT-LOGAN-MCLEAN-MENARD-SANGAMON- 255 PM CDT THU MAR 25 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. ILZ044>046-052>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-261100- CHAMPAIGN-CHRISTIAN-CLARK-CLAY-COLES-CRAWFORD-CUMBERLAND-DOUGLAS- EDGAR-EFFINGHAM-JASPER-LAWRENCE-MACON-MOULTRIE-PIATT-RICHLAND- SHELBY-VERMILION- 255 PM CDT THU MAR 25 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS...AS A LOW PRESSURE CENTER MOVES FROM MISSOURI OVER SOUTHERN ILLINOIS INTO KENTUCKY. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3/4 INCH TO ONE INCH WILL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. HJS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several tree limbs and small trees were downed in many parts of Crawford County.
Sustained wind of 25 to 35 mph, with a gust of 43 mph were measured at the Lawrenceville/Vincennes Airport. The wind caused several shallow rooted trees to topple over, and many small branches were downed. One tree fell on an unoccupied mobile home and tore down a power line in the town of Bridgeport.
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, March 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: 221335, 221336.