A line of showers tracking across southeast Illinois produced wind gusts of greater than 60 mph during the afternoon of April 6th. Scattered wind damage and power outages occurred across Richland and Lawrence counties.
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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 line of showers tracking across southeast Illinois produced wind gusts of greater than 60 mph during the afternoon of April 6th. Scattered wind damage and power outages occurred across Richland and Lawrence counties.
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 Apr 6, 11:49 AM CST, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lincoln IL 1249 PM CDT WED APR 6 2016 .UPDATE... Issued at 1046 AM CDT Wed Apr 6 2016 15z/10am surface analysis shows cold front pushing into west-central Illinois, with widespread showers occurring across all but the far E/SE KILX CWA. Have updated PoPs to better reflect current trends, with categorical PoPs spreading eastward across the entire area over the next 2-3 hours. Once the front passes, rain chances will decrease from west to east during the afternoon. Have not observed any lightning strikes around the region this morning: however, with a pocket of cooler air aloft associated with an upper trough approaching from the west, think isolated thunderstorms will be possible this afternoon. Made some major updates to hourly temps, as readings have generally dropped into the 40s where rain is falling. Afternoon highs will still rebound into the middle to upper 50s in most areas, with warmer lower to middle 60s noted south of I-70 where rain will be slower to arrive. && .SHORT TERM...(Today) ISSUED AT 340 AM CDT Wed Apr 6 2016 Frontal system still west of the area with gusty southerly winds ahead of it across the CWA. Light showers and isolated thunderstorms developed ahead of the front in the warm air advection pattern, with these missing most of the CWA...except in the north and northwest. Today the front will move through the CWA and am expecting most showers and isolated thunderstorms to develop along and ahead of the front and effect most of the CWA. Highest pops will be along an area where a line of showers and storms are expected to develop...based on HiRes model forecast. Highest pops will also be in the west this morning and then in the east this afternoon. The 500mb trough and cold pool will be close behind this front and am expecting additional scattered showers and possible thunderstorms in the west for the afternoon...behind the main front and pcpn. So will have continue chance and likely pops in the northwest parts of the CWA this afternoon. Highest QPF however will be associated with the front pushing through. High temps will be early this afternoon just ahead of the front and then begin to decrease slowly in the afternoon. Winds will remain gusty this morning ahead of the front and also in association with the line of showers and storms moving through the area. Speeds should remain below advisory criteria so believe wind advisory is not necessary. Any winds over 45-50 mph will likely be associated with the showers/storms and not gradient winds. Wind speeds will decrease as the front moves through, but then increase again on the back side of the front when winds become westerly. .LONG TERM...(Tonight through Tuesday) ISSUED AT 340 AM CDT Wed Apr 6 2016 Northwesterly flow establishes itself in the wake of todays precip. Precip slowly coming to an end from west to east in the overnight hours as the system pulls out to the NE. Decent cloud cover through the overnight will keep the temps from dropping too far. However, the break from the precip is brief as GFS/NAM/ECMWF all persist with a shortwave rippling through the broad scale trof for Thursday. Whereas previous synoptic runs had some continuity issues with placement, the 00z run at least, was a little more together. Chance pops for Central Illinois for Thursday, and keeping the temps on the cooler side. Have a feeling that cooling trend will continue in the next couple of runs if the precip remains in place. Temperatures continue to cool through the end of the week as several waves of chilly air dig into the trof over the eastern half of the CONUS, keeping temperatures a few degrees below normal. Cool temperatures moving in behind the wave on Thursday could result in a ra/sn mix overnight and into the morning hours Friday for areas roughly north of a line from Jacksonville to Paris. No significant accumulations expected...but cannot rule out the appearance of a few flakes. Whereas Fri night and Saturday dry out a bit, the temps will be very chilly with lows Saturday morning in the mid to upper 20s. Saturdays highs are currently in the mid 40s and trending cooler with 850mb temps -11 to -12C in the ECMWF, and northerly winds on the east side of the ridge axis. Temps begin to warm as high pressures exits to the east and return flow sets up WAA. However, with the return of the warmer temps, another series of waves creep into the region. The end of the weekend and into the first half of next week...the forecast will remain dominated by chance pops. Towards the end of the forecast pd out day 7/day 8...a major pattern shift starts to take place as the long wave pattern shifts and a low digs into the desert SW. The forecast moving into next week will be challenging. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Thursday afternoon) Issued at 1249 PM CDT Wed Apr 6 2016 Cold front will progress across central Illinois this afternoon, accompanied by a band of light to moderate rain and mostly MVFR ceilings. A pocket of IFR has developed along/ahead of the front from just east of KPIA to KBMI. As the front moves eastward, the rain will end and ceilings will rise back into the VFR category at KPIA by 19z...then further east to KCMI by 22z. Further upstream...diurnal clouds have developed beneath an approaching upper trough, with low VFR/MVFR ceilings noted across much of Iowa. Some of this cloud cover will spill into central Illinois late this afternoon into the evening, perhaps with a few very light showers. Have therefore included a period of MVFR ceilings and VCSH at all terminals accordingly. While NAM forecast soundings suggest MVFR may persist for the entire night, the HRRR tends to break the low cloud cover up after dark. Based on diurnal appearance on satellite imagery, have sided with the HRRR and gone with VFR ceilings overnight into Thursday morning. && .ILX Watches/Warnings/Advisories... NONE. && UPDATE...Barnes SHORT TERM...Auten LONG TERM...HJS AVIATION...Barnes
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1138 AM CDT WED APR 6 2016 ILZ027>031-036>038-040>043-047>053-071100- CASS-CHRISTIAN-DE WITT-FULTON-KNOX-LOGAN-MACON-MARSHALL-MASON- MCLEAN-MENARD-MORGAN-PEORIA-SANGAMON-SCHUYLER-SCOTT-STARK- TAZEWELL-WOODFORD- 1138 AM CDT WED APR 6 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS...NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY...HOWEVER ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 20S FRIDAY NIGHT. THE FREEZING TEMPERATURES WILL POSE A HAZARD TO SENSITIVE EARLY SEASON PLANT GROWTH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. ILZ044>046-054>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-071100- CHAMPAIGN-CLARK-CLAY-COLES-CRAWFORD-CUMBERLAND-DOUGLAS-EDGAR- EFFINGHAM-JASPER-LAWRENCE-MOULTRIE-PIATT-RICHLAND-SHELBY- VERMILION- 1138 AM CDT WED APR 6 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...SOUTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A COLD FRONT WILL TRIGGER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TODAY...HOWEVER ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE UPPER 20S FRIDAY NIGHT. THE FREEZING TEMPERATURES WILL ONCE AGAIN POSE A HAZARD TO SENSITIVE EARLY SEASON PLANT GROWTH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. BARNES
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A semi was blown over on US-50 west of Noble at around 2:00 PM CDT.
Power lines were blown down just south of Olney at around 2:12 PM CDT.
A tree was blown onto a truck in Claremont at around 2:25 PM CDT.
High winds blew the cover off a pool, which had at least 100 pounds of weight attached to it in Sumner at around 2:35 PM CDT.
Several trees and power lines were blown down in Sumner.
A tree was blown onto a house in Bridgeport at around 2:44 PM CDT.
A few trees and power lines were blown down in Lawrenceville at around 2:48 PM CDT.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, April 2016
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: 626257, 626258, 626259, 626260, 626261, 626262, 626263.