A cold front interacting with a warm and humid airmass triggered scattered thunderstorms across west-central Illinois during the evening of May 8th. A few of the storms produced 50 to 60 mph wind gusts and hail up to the size of nickels.
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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.
A cold front interacting with a warm and humid airmass triggered scattered thunderstorms across west-central Illinois during the evening of May 8th. A few of the storms produced 50 to 60 mph wind gusts and hail up to the size of nickels.
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 8, 1:59 PM CST, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lincoln IL 259 PM CDT Thu May 8 2014 .DISCUSSION... ISSUED 258 PM CDT Thu May 8 2014 Temperatures warming nicely across the forecast area today, with gusty south-southwest winds and mainly some high clouds. Mostly in the mid 80s, although some 90 degree temperatures reported at Champaign and Rantoul at 2 pm. Convection developing as expected west of the Mississippi River, with one cluster over Minnesota/Iowa along the warm front, and the second developing over western Missouri just ahead of the cold front. Both fronts are tied into a surface low over northeast Nebraska. Initial forecast concerns are with thunderstorm trends through Friday including severe threat, followed by timing of showers/storms for much of the first half of next week. SHORT TERM...Tonight through Friday Night: Latest mesoscale analysis showing CAPE's of 1000-1500 J/kg over the forecast area, with the cap eroding along the Mississippi River. Latest HRRR has the storms reaching the Illinois River valley by around 6 pm and I-57 toward 9-10 pm. Areas west of I-55 most likely to see any severe weather as the instability will be decreasing by the time the storms make it further east. Hail/wind remains the primary concern with the storms. Secondary line of showers/storms immediately ahead of the front will begin to move in after midnight, but think the severe threat will be be over by that point. Extent of overnight convection will dictate where the severe threat is for Friday. Areas south of I-70 would be most likely as the front comes in and with outflows from the earlier convection around, but additional instability would likely have to come during the afternoon in between periods of storms. Will mention categorical PoP's over 80% across the southeast third of the forecast area through the day, with not the rain not fully moving out of the southeast CWA until closer to midnight. Further west, will largely go dry west of I-55 during the afternoon. LONG TERM...Saturday through Thursday: Short period of dry weather on tap for Saturday as a narrow ridge axis slides by, but next wave will be approaching from the Plains. Have added some slight chance PoP's in the afternoon west of I-55, but main period of convection will develop Saturday night. Will introduce likely PoP's late Saturday night across about the northwest 2/3 of the forecast area, lingering into Sunday across the north as remnants of an MCS move across the area. The forecast from Sunday night into Monday night is more of a challenge. The GFS is much faster than the ECMWF or Canadian models by surging a cold front through the area Monday night, while the latter models are close to 24 hours slower. This slower solution would keep a good part of Sunday night and Monday dry. This appears to be tied into phasing of the long wave trough across the Rockies Sunday night, with the GFS featuring a more progressive wave and the ECMWF cutting off a low over the northern Dakotas for a time early next week. Am trending the blended model grids on the slower side, but have not completely eliminated any PoP's Monday/Tuesday. Deep upper trough over the central U.S. to provide a period of cooler weather for the middle of the week. Will see highs only in the 60s much of the Tuesday-Thursday period. Geelhart && .AVIATION... ISSUED 104 PM CDT Thu May 8 2014 Timing of convection remains tricky later today and tonight as short-term model solutions are not in good agreement. 14z HRRR features a broken line of thunderstorms coming into the Illinois River Valley by around 00z, then steadily pushes it eastward to I-57 by 04z. Meanwhile, the 12z NAM has similar timing with regards to precip onset, but then shows widespread showers/thunder continuing across the entire area throughout the night into Friday morning. With 40-45kt 850mb jet currently focused across the Plains expected to shift eastward into Illinois tonight, think the wetter NAM may be the way to go. As such, think current convection approaching the Ozarks will spread northeastward into central Illinois this evening, then persist overnight as low-level jet strengthens. Based on NAM forecast soundings and cross-sections, will introduce predominant rain with VCTS between 01z and 04z. Ceilings will initially be VFR, but will drop into the MVFR category after midnight, then remain there through 18z Fri. Overnight rain/thunder area will gradually shift eastward and exit the TAF sites between 13z and 16z. Barnes && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 304 PM CDT THU MAY 8 2014 ILZ027>031-036>038-040>043-047>053-091100- CASS-CHRISTIAN-DE WITT-FULTON-KNOX-LOGAN-MACON-MARSHALL-MASON- MCLEAN-MENARD-MORGAN-PEORIA-SANGAMON-SCHUYLER-SCOTT-STARK- TAZEWELL-WOODFORD- 304 PM CDT THU MAY 8 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WILL TRIGGER THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT. A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE DURING THE EVENING...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY MORNING...THEN THE EMPHASIS FOR ADDITIONAL STORM DEVELOPMENT WILL SHIFT EAST OF THE I-55 CORRIDOR BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON. AFTER A BRIEF LULL FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...ANOTHER SLOW-MOVING STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING STORM CHANCES BACK INTO THE REGION SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED BETWEEN 5 AND 10 PM. ILZ044>046-054>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-091100- CHAMPAIGN-CLARK-CLAY-COLES-CRAWFORD-CUMBERLAND-DOUGLAS-EDGAR- EFFINGHAM-JASPER-LAWRENCE-MOULTRIE-PIATT-RICHLAND-SHELBY- VERMILION- 304 PM CDT THU MAY 8 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WILL TRIGGER THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL GRADUALLY COME TO AN END FRIDAY MORNING...HOWEVER ANOTHER ROUND OF STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT LATER IN THE DAY. A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE EAST OF THE I-55 CORRIDOR FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. AFTER A BRIEF LULL FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...ANOTHER SLOW-MOVING STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING STORM CHANCES BACK INTO THE REGION SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. HOWEVER...IT MAY BE REQUIRED FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BETWEEN 3 AND 10 PM. BARNES
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:57 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Part of a chicken coop was blown down.
Several tree branches were blown down southeast of Manito.
A 6-inch diameter tree limb was blown down near Manito.
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, May 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: 517346, 517344, 517343, 517342.