Gusty winds of 40 to 50 mph associated with a dying thunderstorm complex spread across parts of central Illinois during the early afternoon of July 25th. A 48 mph gust was measured at Capital Airport in Springfield, which blew a large tree onto a house just southeast of Springfield.
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The episode as NWS ILX wrote it up.
Gusty winds of 40 to 50 mph associated with a dying thunderstorm complex spread across parts of central Illinois during the early afternoon of July 25th. A 48 mph gust was measured at Capital Airport in Springfield, which blew a large tree onto a house just southeast of Springfield.
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 25, 11:51 AM CST, 1 hour 9 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lincoln IL 1251 PM CDT Fri Jul 25 2014 .DISCUSSION... ISSUED 1043 AM CDT Fri Jul 25 2014 Already did a major update to the forecast today for more cloud cover along with much higher chances of showers along with isolated thunderstorms for areas west of I-57 into early afternoon. Continued a chance of showers and thunderstorms during mid/late afternoon over central IL with just slight chances in southeast IL while far southeast IL near Lawrence county to likely stay dry today. Trimmed highs down a bit into upper 70s to around 80 degrees due to more showers and clouds over central IL. MCS over eastern IA, northeast MO and nw half of IL has held together longer than earlier expected as it tracked se to along I-72 by late morning. Just isolated thunderstorms west of I-55 while more numerous thunderstorms and heavier rains have been on western edge of MCS over ne MO and se IA. SPC has 5% risk of large hail and damaging wind gusts nw of a Shelbville to Tuscola line today so severe threat quite low today. 12Z ILX sounding showing a lot of dry air below 650 mb so this should weaken the convection into this afternoon as it continues moving se toward I-70. Think HRRR model is holding onto convection too long as it moves it into southeast IL by mid afternoon. NAM and RUC/RAP model on the other hand appears too quick diminishing convection during early afternoon. Will blend between the wetter HRRR and drier NAM/RUC models for the afternoon forecast. Southerly winds increasing to 10-15 mph this afternoon between 1021 mb high pressure over WV and ridging into the ohio river valley and 1006 mb low pressure in eastern SD/NE to bring in a bit more humid air into central IL this afternoon. Dewpoints currently in the upper 50s to around 60F rising to between 60-65F during the afternoon and highest west of the IL river. 07 && .AVIATION... ISSUED 1250 PM CDT Fri Jul 25 2014 MCS over central IL and ne MO with widespread showers and isolated thunderstorms will gradually weaken during the afternoon as cap increases and low level jet weakens. Showers have just passed se of PIA and will end at BMI in next hour and along I-72 during mid afternoon. MVFR ceilings and vsbys to occur at times with rain showers with isolated thunderstorms possible especially at SPI and possibly DEC next hour or so. Carried VCSH during mid afternoon until sunset across central IL. Models have differ solutions tonight and Sat morning with NAM model generally dry while RUC has qpf just ne of BMI & CMI after 08Z/3 am tonight. Kept tafs dry after dusk tonight into Sat morning and feel best chances of convection will develop during Saturday afternoon as frontal boundary drops southward toward I-72 into very unstable tropical airmass. SSW winds 7-13 kts this afternoon and near or just below 10 kts tonight veer more sw on Sat morning. Wind shift with front dropping south to occur after 18Z Sat especially at northern taf sites of PIA and BMI. 07 && .PREV DISCUSSION... ISSUED 247 AM CDT Fri Jul 25 2014 Illinois remains on the periphery of high pressure centered over Ohio early this morning. To our northwest, convection has been ramping up quickly over the last couple hours in central and northwest Iowa along a warm front, as the low level jet increases from the central Plains. The initial concern for this forecast package involves how much of this convection will affect our area today. However, the main forecast issue is with severe weather potential Saturday afternoon and evening. SHORT TERM...Today through Saturday Night: The track of this developing thunderstorm cluster has necessitated some noticeable changes to the going forecast for today. Earlier grids mainly had the north half affected by the overnight convection. Latest high-res models are all indicating a southeast track, which would favor the western parts of the CWA. However, very dry conditions above 850 mb were observed on our evening sounding, and LAPS soundings for Peoria and Springfield at 1 am still showed a sizable dry wedge around 800 mb. Model soundings show this eroding somewhat by mid morning but not completely going away, so eastward extent is still a bit in question. Will have the highest PoP's from around Rushville to Jacksonville, with lower chances spreading eastward as far as I-57. Rain chances should be diminishing during the afternoon as the atmosphere becomes more capped. Evening models in general agreement with a shortwave tracking along the periphery of the upper ridge to our southwest, but convective alignment is more variable. The general consensus is for a convective complex to develop to our north by late evening. The ECMWF and GEM track this southeast and just brush by the forecast area, while the NAM and GFS show some development extending southwest along a frontal boundary into Kansas. Have not made much change here at this point, since leftover boundaries from the daytime activity may also contribute and are not adequately handled by the synoptic models. The frontal boundary will likely hang up somewhere in the I-72 vicinity on Saturday. Have gone with only slight chance PoP's during the morning, then increased them to around 30-40% in the afternoon as the cap starts to erode. Very unstable conditions will be developing, as dew points rise into the mid 70s and yield CAPE values well over 3000 J/kg. 0-6km shear around 35 knots is progged by evening, when the best storm chances in our area are likely. Latest SPC Day2 outlook shows 30% severe probabilities over the entire forecast area, with damaging winds favored. Precipitable waters rising to just over 2 inches will also result in locally heavy rains, and the ECMWF and GFS indicate some training echoes could also be a concern. Some secondary concerns also exist on Saturday for heat advisory potential. With dew points rising into the mid 70s, am expecting heat index values of 100-102 over most areas except perhaps along and north of I-74. This is just shy of the 105F criteria for this area. LONG TERM...Sunday through Thursday: Any lingering rain on Sunday will likely be in the morning, before a cold front passes. This will be ahead of an upper low, currently entering southwest Saskatchewan, that will be opening up as it drops southeast through the Great Lakes region. This will evolve into a broad upper trough that will dominate the eastern U.S. throughout the week, bringing another period of cooler conditions. Monday is likely to be the coolest day, with highs mainly in the mid 70s, and comfortable humidity levels to persist much of the work week. Geelhart && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1113 AM CDT FRI JUL 25 2014 ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061-261100- CASS-CHAMPAIGN-CHRISTIAN-COLES-DE WITT-DOUGLAS-EDGAR-FULTON-KNOX- LOGAN-MACON-MARSHALL-MASON-MCLEAN-MENARD-MORGAN-MOULTRIE-PEORIA- PIATT-SANGAMON-SCHUYLER-SCOTT-SHELBY-STARK-TAZEWELL-VERMILION- WOODFORD- 1113 AM CDT FRI JUL 25 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A LOW PROBABILITY FOR SEVERE WINDS OR HAIL WITH THESE STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A PERIOD OF STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE. SEVERE WIND GUSTS AROUND 60 MPH OR HIGHER ARE THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS. IN ADDITION...HEAVY RAINFALL MAY BRING LOCALIZED FLOODING PROBLEMS AS WELL. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL LINGER SUNDAY. HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS ARE ALSO EXPECTED SATURDAY AFTERNOON. HEAT INDICES IN THE UPPER 90S TO AROUND 100 DEGREES WILL APPROACH HAZARDOUS LEVELS FOR PROLONGED EXPOSURE OR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE AGAIN POSSIBLE ON THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. ILZ062-063-066>068-071>073-261100- CLARK-CLAY-CRAWFORD-CUMBERLAND-EFFINGHAM-JASPER-LAWRENCE-RICHLAND- 1113 AM CDT FRI JUL 25 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT MAINLY NORTH OF I-70. THERE IS A LOW PROBABILITY FOR SEVERE WINDS OR HAIL WITH THESE STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A PERIOD OF STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE. SEVERE WIND GUSTS AROUND 60 MPH OR HIGHER ARE THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS. IN ADDITION...HEAVY RAINFALL MAY BRING LOCALIZED FLOODING PROBLEMS AS WELL. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL LINGER SUNDAY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE STORMS NEAR THE WABASH RIVER. HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS ARE ALSO EXPECTED SATURDAY AFTERNOON. HEAT INDICES TO AROUND 100 WILL APPROACH HAZARDOUS LEVELS FOR PROLONGED EXPOSURE OR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. 07
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A large tree was blown onto a house 2 miles southeast of Springfield.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, July 2014
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: 532917.