An approaching cold front triggered scattered thunderstorms across portions of central Illinois during the late afternoon of September 10th. The storms mainly impacted locations north of a Jacksonville to Rantoul line, producing isolated wind damage and hail as large as golf balls.
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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 triggered scattered thunderstorms across portions of central Illinois during the late afternoon of September 10th. The storms mainly impacted locations north of a Jacksonville to Rantoul line, producing isolated wind damage and hail as large as golf balls. One of the storms produced a brief tornado in Mason County that damaged a home and downed power lines southwest of Kilbourne.
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 Sep 10, 11:40 AM CST, 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1240 PM CDT THU SEP 10 2015 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 1004 AM CDT THU SEP 10 2015 Outflow boundary from convection in northern Illinois showing up nicely on regional radar mosaics, located just north of I-80 at 10 am. This may slip into the far northern CWA over the next couple hours, although latest HRRR does not show much further south progress. However, the actual cold front will be advancing into southeast Iowa through midday, and the combination of this and the remnants of the outflow will start to trigger additional shower and thunderstorm development. PoP's have been adjusted a bit to time the higher chances of rain, largely keeping the rest of the morning dry. Little change needed to overall high temperatures, but have made some adjustments to the hourly trends. Arrival of convection will likely result in some falling temperatures over the far northwest later this afternoon. && .SHORT TERM...(TODAY) ISSUED AT 330 AM CDT THU SEP 10 2015 Narrow ridge over the area is keeping clear skies across the central and southeast parts of the CWA early this morning. Where high clouds were last to clear last night, dense fog has developed; which is mainly in southeast IL. Considering a dense fog advisory for about 5- 6 hours this morning. Will make last minute decision on this. Believe this fog will likely last for a couple of hours this morning. As the ridge moves east a frontal system will move in from the northwest and bring the chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms to areas northwest of a Jacksonville to Pontiac line, mainly during the afternoon. Cooler temps are expected today as cooler air advects into the area, so below normal temps will occur across the whole CWA. Light winds will become more westerly this afternoon, with wind speeds less than 10kts. .LONG TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH Wednesday) ISSUED AT 330 AM CDT THU SEP 10 2015 Cold front exits southeast IL tonight with much cooler air ushering into the region on increasing NW breezes especially by Friday morning. A strong upper level trof digs into the area by 12Z/Fri and will spread a good chance of showers from NW to SE across area tonight, with southeast IL likely staying dry through this evening. Instability parameters look weak for thunder and only carried isolated thunder to central IL this evening and into southeast IL overnight. Lows overnight in the upper 50s/lower 60s except near 55F by Galesburg. Cooler highs Friday range from upper 60s NW of IL river to mid 70s southeast of I-70 as mostly cloudy skies prevail Friday. Chances of rain showers Friday will be mainly east of the IL river with highest pops of 40-50% in eastern/SE IL. Forecast models have trended stronger with upper level trof and embedded cutoff upper level low over eastern/SE IL by Saturday afternoon and gives isolated light rain showers in eastern IL from I- 57 east where more clouds expected. Cool highs in the mid to upper 60s on Saturday. Lows Friday night in the upper 40s/lower 50s and then mid to upper 40s for lows Sat night. Stronger upper level trof begins to pull east of IL across the ohio river valley on Sunday with more sunshine expected and temps moderating a bit with highs around 70F. Lows Sunday night mostly in the lower 50s with eastern IL around 50F. 00Z medium and extended forecast models continue to show upper level trof pulling away from IL during Mon-Wed time frame as upper level ridge builds into the area and provides a stretch of dry weather. Below normal temperatures early next week with highs Monday 75- 80F will climb to a bit above normal by Wed with highs in the 80s. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z Friday Afternoon) ISSUED AT 1240 PM CDT THU SEP 10 2015 Outflow boundary from convection in northern Illinois is approaching KPIA/KBMI from the north. While the ongoing convection is expected to remain north of these TAF sites, high-res models develop scattered convection along this boundary as it drops into central Illinois. Already starting to see some development along the IL/IA border west of KGBG ahead of the boundary. Have made some adjustments to the timing of the VCTS, speeding it up by a couple hours in most cases. The main cold front remains further northwest and will likely start affecting central Illinois toward 06Z. After tailing off for a time, some increase in showers is possible late tonight, but currently think the overnight thunder potential will remain further south. Northerly winds may become gusty toward the end of the forecast period, with cold air advection taking place. && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && UPDATE...Geelhart SHORT TERM...Auten LONG TERM...07 AVIATION...Geelhart
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1150 AM CDT THU SEP 10 2015 ILZ027>031-036>038-040-041-111100- FULTON-KNOX-MARSHALL-MASON-MCLEAN-PEORIA-SCHUYLER-STARK-TAZEWELL- WOODFORD- 1150 AM CDT THU SEP 10 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THIS EVENING...AS A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA FROM THE NORTHWEST. WHILE WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED... A FEW OF THE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL OR GUSTY WINDS. .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. ILZ042>057-061-111100- CASS-CHAMPAIGN-CHRISTIAN-COLES-DE WITT-DOUGLAS-EDGAR-LOGAN-MACON- MENARD-MORGAN-MOULTRIE-PIATT-SANGAMON-SCOTT-SHELBY-VERMILION- 1150 AM CDT THU SEP 10 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...AS A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA FROM THE NORTHWEST. WHILE WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED...A FEW OF THE STORMS MAY PRODUCE HAIL OR GUSTY WINDS. THIS WOULD BE MOST LIKELY WEST OF I-57. .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. ILZ062-063-066>068-071>073-111100- CLARK-CLAY-CRAWFORD-CUMBERLAND-EFFINGHAM-JASPER-LAWRENCE-RICHLAND- 1150 AM CDT THU SEP 10 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AFTER MIDNIGHT...AS A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA FROM THE NORTHWEST. AT THIS TIME...ANY THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. .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. GEELHART
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:07 UTC.
2 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Several 6-inch diameter branches were blown down in Henry, including one that fell onto a house. Tin was blown off a roof.
A tornado touched down 3.5 miles southwest of Kilbourne at 4:45 PM CDT. It then tracked southeastward across East County Road 400N and quickly dissipated 3.4 miles southwest of Kilbourne at 4:46 PM CDT. One home sustained shingle and siding damage and had tree branches blown through a few windows. In addition, numerous power lines were knocked down in the area.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Illinois, 2015Warnings in Illinois, September 2015
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: 601333, 601330, 601331, 601332.