An approaching cold front brought scattered thunderstorms to central Illinois during the afternoon of July 26th. One cell produced wind damage in rural Schuyler County about 6 miles west of Rushville.
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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.
An approaching cold front brought scattered thunderstorms to central Illinois during the afternoon of July 26th. One cell produced wind damage in rural Schuyler County about 6 miles west of Rushville.
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 Jul 26, 2:18 PM CST, 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 318 PM CDT FRI JUL 26 2013 .DISCUSSION... ISSUED 300 PM CDT FRI JUL 26 2013 SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH TONIGHT ALONG A COLD FRONT...THEN AN UNSEASONABLY COOL AIRMASS WILL SETTLE INTO ILLINOIS FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. A WARMING TREND WILL BEGIN ON MONDAY AS UPPER FLOW BECOMES MORE ZONAL FROM WEST TO EAST. ONE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO EJECT FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS ACROSS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. A WEAKER UPPER TROUGH WILL SWING ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS ON THURSDAY...SETTING UP NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT THROUGH FRIDAY. SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. 19Z SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS THE COLD FRONT APPROACHING THE IOWA/ILLINOIS BORDER. RADAR SHOWS A NARROW LINE OF SHOWERS AND STORMS ALONG THE FRONT IN IOWA...AND FARTHER SOUTHEAST AHEAD OF THE FRONT IN EASTERN MISSOURI AND FAR WESTERN ILLINOIS. A BROAD COVERAGE OF LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS EXTENDED ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND INTO WEST CENTRAL INDIANA. MOST AREAS IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS WERE SEEING LESS THAN 0.10" OF RAIN OUT AHEAD OF THE FRONT. 4KM NCEP AND HRRR OUTPUT INDICATE THE LINE WILL MAINTAIN SOME INTENSITY DURING THE DAYLIGHT HOURS...BUT WEAKEN WITH SUNSET AS THE LINE OF STORMS REACHES THE I-55 CORRIDOR. TIMING BASED ON RADAR AND HRRR HAS THE LINE OF STORMS GENERALLY INTO INDIANA BY 08Z/3 AM. THE GFS/NAM/ECMWF/GEM ARE NOT FAR OFF FROM THAT ASSESSMENT...SO WE HAVE UPDATED THE POPS LIKEWISE. BASICALLY, SCATTERED COVERAGE IS EXPECTED ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT, SO CHANCE POPS WERE USED /30-50 PCT/. SOME AREAS MAY SEE A STRONGER UPDRAFT AND RECEIVED 0.25" RAIN IN A SHORT TIME, WHILE NEARBY AREAS SEE LITTLE TO NO RAIN. SATURDAY WILL FEATURE THE ARRIVAL OF A CHILLY CANADIAN AIRMASS AS AIRFLOW BECOMES NORTH-NORTHWEST THROUGH A DEEP LAYER OF THE ATMOSPHERE. 850MB TEMPS WILL DROP TO +6C IN OUR NORTH WITH 9-10C IN THE SOUTH. ANY DAYTIME HEATING WILL CREATE STEEP LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES...WHICH WILL WORK TOGETHER WITH INCREASING BULK SHEAR AND POSITIVE VORTICITY ADVECTION TO KICK OFF A FEW SHOWERS SATURDAY AFTERNOON. MOST AREAS WILL PROBABLY REMAIN DRY...AND ANY RAIN THAT DOES DEVELOP WILL NOT ADD UP TO 0.01"...SO WE WENT WITH SCATTERED SPRINKLES FOR OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES SAT AFTN. CLOUD COVER WILL DEVELOP QUICKLY IF ANY SUNSHINE BREAKS THROUGH FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME...WHICH WILL HELP TO KEEP HIGHS IN THE 70-73 DEG RANGE. WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF SOME LOCATIONS DO NOT REACH 70 IF THE 6C LINE AT 850MB DOES REACH OUR COUNTIES. DRY ADIABATIC MIXING OF 6C FROM 850MB WOULD ONLY PRODUCE A HIGH OF 66F. ANY SHOWERS WILL QUICKLY DISSIPATE WITH THE APPROACH OF SUNSET. RECORD OR NEAR RECORD LOWS ARE FORECAST FOR SATURDAY NIGHT. CLEARING SKIES WILL BE A KEY COMPONENT OF THAT HAPPENING...BUT ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT CLOUDS WILL BE DIURNALLY DRIVEN AND SHOULD DISSIPATE SAT EVE. LOW 50S WILL BE COMMON ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. RECORD LOW FOR PIA AND SPI SAT NIGHT IS 53. SUNDAY MAY BE A CARBON COPY OF SATURDAY...WITH THE UPPER TROUGH LINGERING ACROSS THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES AND INTO EASTERN ILLINOIS, AND LITTLE CHANGE IN THE AIRMASS. SPOTTY SHOWERS AND SPRINKLES WILL BE POSSIBLE...MAINLY IN THE NORTH CLOSER TO THE COLDER AIR. MONDAY WILL START A WARMING TREND AS THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS DEPARTS TO THE EAST AND WESTERLY FLOW DEVELOP. THAT WILL SET THE STAGE FOR A PROGRESSIVE LOW TO MOVE FROM THE PLAINS ACROSS SOUTHERN MISSOURI AND SOUTHERN IL. SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE LATER MONDAY NIGHT AS THE LOW APPROACHES AND A WARM FRONT DEVELOPS NEAR OUR SOUTHERN COUNTIES. THE MODELS HAVE TRENDED FARTHER SOUTH WITH THE TRACK OF THE LOW THE LAST 2 MODEL RUNS...SO IT IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION THAT LATER RUNS TAKE IT EVEN FARTHER SOUTH. WE REDUCED LIKELY POPS TO CHANCE MONDAY NIGHT TO TREND DOWN...BUT ADDED SOME LIKELY TO TUES IN OUR FAR SOUTHERN COUNTIES AS GFS/ECMWF AGREE ON DECENT COVERAGE OF SHOWERS/STORMS DURING THE DAY IN SOUTHERN IL RIGHT NOW. PRECIP WILL DIMINISH TUESDAY NIGHT AS THE BULK OF THE FORCING FOR PRECIP DEPARTS TO THE EAST WITH THE LOW. WARMING WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE LOW...AND DEWPOINTS WILL CLIMB BACK INTO THE 60S WITH THE SYSTEM. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN MAY DEVELOP IN THE STRONGER STORMS...WITH RAINFALL RATES OF 1-2 INCHES PER HOUR. LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY LOOKS MAINLY DRY AT THIS POINT, ALTHOUGH SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS/STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AS NORTHWEST FLOW RETURNS AND 500MB SHORTWAVES MOVE INTO THE AREA. DEWPOINTS WILL CLIMB INTO THE UPPER 60S BY WEDNESDAY...SO MUGGY FEELING AIR WILL RETURN AS HIGHS CLIMB INTO THE LOWER 80S. SOME MID 80S FOR HIGHS WILL BE POSSIBLE ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS 850MB TEMPS CLIMB BACK TO 14-16C. RAIN CHANCES INCREASE MORE DRAMATICALLY ON FRIDAY PER THE GFS...WITH A STRONGER SYSTEM DROPPING SOUTHEAST FROM THE NORTHERN PLAINS. THE ECMWF LAGS THE GFS BY 24 HRS WITH THAT FEATURE. SHIMON && .AVIATION... ISSUED 1240 PM CDT FRI JUL 26 2013 BAND OF LIGHT SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO DISSIPATE ACROSS CENTRAL ILLINOIS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...WHILE MAIN FOCUS TURNS TO ADVANCING COLD FRONT CURRENTLY ACROSS EASTERN IOWA. HIGH-RES MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW SCATTERED CONVECTION DEVELOPING ALONG/AHEAD OF THE FRONT LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. BASED ON HRRR TIMING...HAVE INCLUDED VCTS AT KPIA AFTER 21Z AND FURTHER SOUTHEAST AT KDEC AND KCMI AFTER 23Z. FRONT WILL PROGRESS EASTWARD TOWARD THE INDIANA BORDER BY MIDNIGHT...SO WILL END THUNDER MENTION AFTER THE 02 TO 04Z TIME FRAME. WHILE FORECAST SOUNDINGS TEND TO KEEP QUITE A BIT OF CLOUD COVER IN PLACE BEHIND THE FRONT...UPSTREAM SATELLITE IMAGERY REVEALS MAINLY DIURNAL CLOUD COVER ACROSS IOWA. HAVE THEREFORE SCATTERED OUT THE LOW VFR CEILINGS AFTER FROPA FROM LATE EVENING THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. AS DEEP UPPER LOW CURRENTLY OVER NORTHERN MINNESOTA DIGS SOUTHWARD...A POCKET OF COLD AIR ALOFT WILL LEAD TO STEEP LAPSE RATES SATURDAY AFTERNOON. GIVEN 500MB TEMPS OF -16 TO -18C...THINK SCT-BKN CU WILL DEVELOP AT AROUND 5000FT. MAY EVEN BE SOME SCATTERED LIGHT SHOWERS AROUND THE AREA AS WELL...BUT TOO SPOTTY TO MENTION IN TAFS. WINDS WILL INITIALLY BE FROM THE S/SW AT AROUND 10KT THIS AFTERNOON...THEN WILL BECOME NORTHWESTERLY TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY. BARNES && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 330 PM CDT FRI JUL 26 2013 ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-271100- 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- 330 PM CDT FRI JUL 26 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AN ADVANCING COLD FRONT WILL TRIGGER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY ANOTHER WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL PROVIDE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. BARNES
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:28 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Shingles were damaged on a house and several 4-inch diameter trees were snapped on Curry Chapel Road about 1 mile south of Camden Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, July 2013
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: 468079.