An approaching cold front brought showers and thunderstorms to central Illinois during the evening of May 31st. Many of the storms became severe, producing widespread wind damage across the area.
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.
An approaching cold front brought showers and thunderstorms to central Illinois during the evening of May 31st. Many of the storms became severe, producing widespread wind damage across the area. Two tornadoes briefly touched down as well. The first tornado occurred in Decatur in Macon County, while the second one touched down just southeast of Westville in Vermilion County. In addition, excessive rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour associated with some of the storms produced localized flash flooding that lingered into the morning hours of June 1st.
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 May 31, 11:55 PM CST, 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1255 AM CDT SAT JUN 1 2013 .DISCUSSION... ISSUED 245 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2013 ANOTHER AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS TRACKING ENE ACROSS CENTRAL THRU EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. THIS IS KEEPING TEMPERATURES AT BAY...AT LEAST EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...WITH READINGS MOSTLY IN THE LOW TO MID 70S...WITH A FEW LOW 80S OVER EXTREME SE IL WHERE THE THICKER CLOUD COVER AND RAIN HAS STAYED AWAY FROM FOR NOW. DUE TO THE CLOUD COVER AND RAIN OVER MOST OF THE AREA...INSTABILITY HAS BEEN HELD DOWN SOME WITH THE HIGHER CAPES ACRS FAR EAST AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY ENHANCED FLASH FLOOD THREAT SETTING UP TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING FOR AREAS SOUTH OF A SPRINGFIELD TO CHAMPAIGN LINE. MODELS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE SLOW MOVING UPPER SYSTEM OUT TO OUR NORTHWEST AND THE ATTENDANT COLD FRONT...THAT IS EXPECTED TO PUSH ACRS OUR AREA SATURDAY. BUT BEFORE THAT HAPPENS...SEVERAL OF THE CONVECTIVE ALLOWING MODELS HAVE BEEN ADVERTISING THE THREAT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LARGE AND SLOW MOVING MCS ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL MO ENE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL AND SE IL LATER THIS EVENING AS THE COMBINATION OF HIGH 850 MB THETA-E AIR AND IMPRESSIVE MOISTURE TRANSPORT NORTHWARD INTO THE REGION POINTS TO THE POTENTIAL FOR EXCESSIVE RAINFALL AMOUNTS. THIS MORNINGS 850 MB CHART SHOWED DEW POINTS IN THE 15-18 DEGREE C RANGE TO THE SOUTH OF THE AREA AND AS THE LOW LEVEL JET INCREASES TONIGHT...THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE ADVECTING NORTHWARD INTO SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. NAM-WRF FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOWING A WARM CLOUD DEPTH OF 12000 FEET OVER PARTS OF SOUTHERN IL LATER THIS EVENING WITH PRECIP WATER VALUES OF CLOSE TO 2 INCHES IN PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL MO AND SOUTHERN IL. IT APPEARS THE RIVERS IN EAST CENTRAL AND PARTS OF SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS HAVE A HIGHER PROBABILITY FOR SEEING SIGNIFICANT RISES IN RIVER LEVELS LATER TONIGHT AND THRU THE WEEKEND...WHEREAS THE NORTHERN BASINS APPEAR TO BE TOO FAR NORTH THIS TIME FOR THE SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL. HOWEVER...UNTIL WE SEE THIS SCENARIO START TO EVOLVE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WE ARE PLANNING ON KEEPING THE CURRENT FLASH FLOOD WATCH GOING THRU SATURDAY (SEE THE HYDRO SECTION BELOW). THE COMBINATION OF DEEP LAYER SHEAR AND SOME INSTABILITY...ESPECIALLY ACRS THE SOUTH...SUGGESTS THE SEVERE THREAT WILL CONTINUE OVER THE AREA TONIGHT...WITH WIND AND HAIL THE PRIMARY THREATS. CONVECTION SHOULD BEGIN TO WIND DOWN SATURDAY MORNING AS THE MCS TRACKS FURTHER OFF TO OUR EAST AND SOUTH. THEN OUR ATTENTION TURNS TO THE COLD FRONT WHICH WILL FINALLY BE ON THE MOVE ACROSS OUR FORECAST AREA SATURDAY AFTERNOON. JUST WHAT AFFECT THE OVERNIGHT AND MORNING CONVECTION HAS ON ANY REDEVELOPMENT TOMORROW AFTERNOON IS A REAL CHALLENGE THIS FAR OUT AS EACH MODEL HAS A DIFFERENT SCENARIO. IT STILL APPEARS AREAS MAINLY EAST OF I-55 STAND THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEEING THE POTENTIAL FOR REDEVELOPMENT AND POSSIBLE SEVERE TOMORROW AFTERNOON. THE SHOWER THREAT SHOULD PROGRESS EAST TOMORROW EVENING ALONG WITH THE COLD FRONT SO WILL START TO SHAVE THE POPS BACK LATER SATURDAY NIGHT...WITH COOLER AND DRIER WEATHER SETTLING IN FOR THE REST OF THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AS THE SLOW MOVING UPPER LEVEL LOW SHIFTS AWAY FROM OUR AREA EARLY NEXT WEEK...WE SHOULD SEE WEAK UPPER LEVEL RIDGING BUILD IN FOR A DAY OR TWO BEFORE ANOTHER SLOW MOVING UPPER WAY TRACKS ACRS THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND APPROACHES OUR AREA LATE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. THIS SHOULD PROVIDE US WITH THE NEXT CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS STARTING IN THE FAR WEST LATE TUESDAY NIGHT AND A BETTER CHANCE FOR SHOWERS WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY BEFORE THE UPPER SYSTEM FINALLY PUSHES OFF TO OUR EAST LATE THU INTO FRIDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL START OUT A BIT BELOW NORMAL EARLY NEXT WEEK BUT SHOULD RETURN TO NORMAL BY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. SMITH && .AVIATION... ISSUED 1255 AM CDT SAT JUN 1 2013 SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT PRIMARILY KSPI/KDEC/KCMI THROUGH MOST OF THE OVERNIGHT HOURS... WHILE KPIA/KBMI SHOULD BE MOSTLY DRY. IN ANY EVENT...VFR CONDITIONS SHOULD PREVAIL. SHOWER/STORM CHANCES WILL INCREASE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING AS DIURNAL INSTABILITY GROWS AND A COLD FRONT APPROACHES. AGAIN...CHANCES WILL BE HIGHEST AT KSPI/KDEC/KCMI. BAK && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR ILZ027>031-036>038- 040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 321 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2013 ILZ027>031-036-037-040-041-047>050-011100- CASS-FULTON-KNOX-MARSHALL-MASON-MENARD-MORGAN-PEORIA-SCHUYLER- SCOTT-STARK-TAZEWELL-WOODFORD- 321 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2013 ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING. WHILE WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED...A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO SATURDAY AS A COLD FRONT PUSHES THROUGH THE REGION. THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FOCUSED FURTHER EAST AHEAD OF THE FRONT...MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF THE I-55 CORRIDOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ALONG MANY AREA RIVERS...INCLUDING THE ILLINOIS...THE SPOON...AND THE MACKINAW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. ILZ038-042>046-051>053-011100- CHAMPAIGN-CHRISTIAN-DE WITT-LOGAN-MACON-MCLEAN-PIATT-SANGAMON- VERMILION- 321 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2013 ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT. WHILE WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED...A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THE FOCUS FOR THE HEAVIEST RAIN WILL SET UP JUST SOUTH OF THE AREA...PRIMARILY ALONG AND SOUTH OF A TAYLORVILLE TO PARIS LINE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG AN ADVANCING COLD FRONT ON SATURDAY. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FOCUSED ALONG AND EAST OF I-55 SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A FEW OF THE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND LARGE HAIL. DUE TO RECENT HEAVY RAINFALL...FLOODING WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE SANGAMON RIVER OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. ILZ054>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-011100- CLARK-CLAY-COLES-CRAWFORD-CUMBERLAND-DOUGLAS-EDGAR-EFFINGHAM- JASPER-LAWRENCE-MOULTRIE-RICHLAND-SHELBY- 321 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2013 ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT. WITH THUNDERSTORM CELLS TRAINING OVER THE SAME LOCATIONS...HEAVY RAINFALL OF ONE TO THREE INCHES IS EXPECTED. THIS COULD LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING IN MANY LOW-LYING AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG AN ADVANCING COLD FRONT ON SATURDAY. A FEW OF THE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND LARGE HAIL SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. DUE TO RECENT HEAVY RAINFALL...FLOODING WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE LITTLE WABASH AND EMBARRAS RIVERS OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TONIGHT. RAINFALL TOTALS AND ANY REPORTS OF FLASH FLOODING WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. BARNES
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
1120 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1000 PM TSTM WND DMG DECATUR 39.85N 88.93W
05/31/2013 MACON IL EMERGENCY MNGR
NUMEROUS LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN. ESTIMATED 70 MPH WIND
SPEED.
1010 PM TSTM WND DMG ARGENTA 39.99N 88.82W
05/31/2013 MACON IL EMERGENCY MNGR
DAMAGE TO THREE HOUSES. NUMEROUS POWERLINES AND TWO POWER
POLES BLOWN DOWN
1030 PM FLASH FLOOD 4 NW DECATUR 39.89N 88.99W
05/31/2013 MACON IL EMERGENCY MNGR
ROUTE 121 CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING BETWEEN WARRENSBURG AND
DECATUR
&&
JRPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
1128 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1127 PM TSTM WND GST DANVILLE 40.14N 87.62W
05/31/2013 M62 MPH VERMILION IL AWOS
AT AIRPORT
&&
JRPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
1142 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1120 PM TSTM WND DMG HOOPESTON 40.47N 87.67W
05/31/2013 VERMILION IL EMERGENCY MNGR
TREE BLOWN DOWN IN HOOPESTON
&&
JRPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
1157 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1120 PM TSTM WND DMG HOOPESTON 40.47N 87.67W
05/31/2013 VERMILION IL EMERGENCY MNGR
TREE DOWN ON HOUSE ON 4TH STREET...TREE BLOCKING ROAD ON
SEMINARY STREET
1120 PM TSTM WND DMG DANVILLE 40.14N 87.62W
05/31/2013 VERMILION IL EMERGENCY MNGR
NUMEROUS POWER LINES DONW AROUND CITY.
&&
JRPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
1208 AM CDT SAT JUN 01 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1035 PM TSTM WND DMG CHAMPAIGN 40.11N 88.26W
05/31/2013 CHAMPAIGN IL PUBLIC
LARGE BRANCH BLOCKING TRAFFIC ON SPRINGFIELD AVE. RELAYED
VIA WCIA TWITTER FEED
&&
GEELHARTPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
1257 AM CDT SAT JUN 01 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1250 AM FLASH FLOOD 1 N HORD 38.90N 88.52W
06/01/2013 CLAY IL EMERGENCY MNGR
ROUTE 45 IS FLOODED AND IMPASSABLE.
&&
BAKThe Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:58 UTC.
10 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A tree was blown down onto Route 1 just east of Robinson.
A tree was blown down onto a house at Schuyler and Jefferson Streets in Robinson.
Slow moving thunderstorms, which produced 1.50 to 3.00 inches of rain on already saturated ground in a two hour period during the late evening of May 31st across much of Sangamon County, resulted in flash flooding which continued into June 1st. Many roads in Springfield were impassable. Numerous vehicles became trapped in the rapidly rising water in the city of Springfield, where several water rescues were made. Many rural roads were closed, especially to the south and east of the Springfield metro area.
Slow moving thunderstorms, which produced 1.50 to 2.00 inches of rain on already saturated ground in a two hour period during the late evening of May 31st across western Christian County, resulted in flash flooding which continued into the early morning of June 1st. The flash flooding made many rural roads impassable.
Slow moving thunderstorms, which produced 1.50 to 2.00 inches of rain on already saturated ground in a two hour period during the late evening of May 31st across southeast Logan County, resulted in flash flooding which continued into the early morning of June 1st. The flash flooding made many rural roads impassable. State Route 121 near Latham was closed much of the night and early morning due to the flooding.
Slow moving thunderstorms, which produced 1.50 to 2.50 inches of rain on already saturated ground in a two hour period during the late evening of May 31st across northwest and northern Macon County, resulted in flash flooding which persisted into the morning of June 1st. The flash flooding made many rural roads impassable. State Route 121 from Warrensburg to the Logan County line was closed much of the night and early morning due to the flooding.
Slow moving thunderstorms, which produced 3.00 to 4.00 inches of rain on already saturated ground from the late evening of May 31st through the night across much of Effingham County, resulted in flash flooding which continued into the early afternoon of June 1st. The flash flooding made many rural roads impassable, and flooded numerous streets in the city of Effingham.
Slow moving thunderstorms, which produced 3.00 to 4.00 inches of rain on already saturated ground from the late evening of May 31st through the night, resulted in flash flooding across all of Clay County which continued into the early afternoon of June 1st. The flash flooding made many rural roads impassable, and flooded numerous streets in the city of Flora.
Slow moving thunderstorms, which produced 3.00 to 4.00 inches of rain on already saturated ground from the late evening of May 31st through the night, resulted in flash flooding across all of Jasper County which continued into the early afternoon of June 1st. The flash flooding made many rural roads impassable, and flooded numerous streets in the city of Newton. A mobile home near the town of Wheeler was evacuated due to high water entering the home during the early morning of June 1st.
A tree was blown down onto Route 33 between Robinson and Palestine.
Slow moving thunderstorms produced 2 to 4 inches of rain on already saturated ground during the early morning hours of June 1st. Most rural roads were flooded, with the worst flooding in the southeast half of the county. The flash flooding subsided by the early afternoon.
Slow moving thunderstorms produced 2 to 4 inches of rain on already saturated ground during the early morning hours of June 1st. Most rural roads in the county were flooded as a result. Flash flooding was also reported in parts of the city of Olney. The flash flooding subsided by the early afternoon of June 1st.
Slow moving thunderstorms, which produced 1.50 to 3.00 inches of rain on already saturated ground in a two hour period during the late evening of May 31st across much of Sangamon County, resulted in flash flooding which continued into June 1st. Many roads in Springfield were impassable. Numerous vehicles became trapped in the rapidly rising water in the city of Springfield, where several water rescues were made. Many rural roads were closed, especially to the south and east of the Springfield metro area. The heavy rain caused most roads to remain in flood through the early morning hours of June 1st, before subsiding early in the afternoon.
Slow moving thunderstorms produced 2 to 4 inches of rain on already saturated ground during the early morning hours of June 1st. Most rural roads in the county were flooded. Numerous streets in the city of Lawrenceville were also flooded. The flash flooding subsided by the early afternoon of June 1st.
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, June 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: 453162, 453164, 464705, 464709, 464710, 464711, 464717, 464728, 464745, 453163, 464753, 464756, 464707, 464758.