2,067 first-hand accounts of flood events in Illinois, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
A slow-moving cold front passed across the region between the 20th and 22nd. Several upper level disturbances moved north-northeast along the front, touching off numerous showers and thunderstorms.
Read the full account →An ice jam on the Kankakee River downstream from the gauge at Momence (MOMI2) resulted in minor flooding. Gauge heights rose drastically during the night of the 19th and into the 20th and reached minor flood stage during the afternoon of the 20th.
Read the full account →A 500mb trough extended from Quebec southwest to the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers around midday and pushed slowly eastward through the afternoon.
Read the full account →A 500mb shortwave trough moved across the Upper Midwest with height falls across the Quad State during the afternoon and evening of the 16th. The exit region of a strong (125kt) upper level jet was positioned across the area as well.
Read the full account →Isolated thunderstorms produced funnel clouds across central Illinois during the late morning of July 25th. A narrow line of thunderstorms developed over southeast DuPage and central Cook Counties during the late morning of July 25th and continued into the early afternoon…
Read the full account →Isolated thunderstorms produced funnel clouds across central Illinois during the late morning of July 25th. A narrow line of thunderstorms developed over southeast DuPage and central Cook Counties during the late morning of July 25th and continued into the early afternoon…
Read the full account →Isolated thunderstorms produced funnel clouds across central Illinois during the late morning of July 25th. A narrow line of thunderstorms developed over southeast DuPage and central Cook Counties during the late morning of July 25th and continued into the early afternoon…
Read the full account →Isolated thunderstorms produced funnel clouds across central Illinois during the late morning of July 25th. A narrow line of thunderstorms developed over southeast DuPage and central Cook Counties during the late morning of July 25th and continued into the early afternoon…
Read the full account →Isolated thunderstorms produced funnel clouds across central Illinois during the late morning of July 25th. A narrow line of thunderstorms developed over southeast DuPage and central Cook Counties during the late morning of July 25th and continued into the early afternoon…
Read the full account →A surface cold front stalled out as it moved towards the northern edge of the Quad State on the 17th. Showers and thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours, tracking eastward, including a broken line of storms moving through the Evansville Tri-State area mid-afternoon.
Read the full account →As high pressure slowly crept northward towards the Quad State region, ridging remained over the middle Mississippi River Valley. A slow-moving MCS moved through the northeastern half of the Quad State midday to near sunset.
Read the full account →The Big Muddy River remained above flood stage from late March through mid-April. Even though rainfall was pretty close to normal in April, flooding continued from March because the heavy rainfall in March primed the ground for more flooding.
Read the full account →Strong to severe thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois during the afternoon and evening hours of July 23rd producing strong winds. Additional thunderstorms developed in the late evening of July 23rd and lasted in the early morning hours of July 24th producing very heavy…
Read the full account →The Little Wabash River remained above flood stage from late March through much of April. Even though rainfall was pretty close to normal in April, flooding continued from March because heavy rainfall in March primed the ground for more flooding.
Read the full account →The Ohio River began its upward climb toward historic levels. The river rose above flood stage about mid-month. A series of heavy rainfall events gradually forced the river upward at an unsteady rate.
Read the full account →The large mainstem rivers remained well above flood stage following several rounds of heavy rain in late February. February monthly precipitation was 4 to 7 inches above normal, with monthly totals of 8 to 10 inches common.
Read the full account →A surface low pressure center developed northeastward from south central Oklahoma to southwest Missouri. A gradual increase in the warm sector southerly low level jet occurred as the surface low deepened.
Read the full account →A series of thunderstorms moved across extreme southeastern Champaign, southern Vermilion, and northern Edgar counties over a three hour period. The storms dumped between 2.5 and 5 inches of rain during that time. This caused numerous roads in the area to be flooded.
Read the full account →The Ohio River was above flood stage all month at Cairo and Brookport (Lock and Dam 52). The river crested around mid month at both places. At Cairo, the crest was 53.5 feet, 13.5 feet above flood stage. Brookport crested at 46.6 feet, 9.6 feet over flood stage.
Read the full account →Widespread river flooding occurred as a result of several heavy rain events in June. The remnants of Tropical Storm Bill on the 19th were responsible for widespread heavy rain that drove most of the smaller rivers above flood stage.
Read the full account →Widespread river flooding occurred as a result of several heavy rain events in June. The remnants of Tropical Storm Bill on the 19th were responsible for widespread heavy rain that drove most of the smaller rivers above flood stage.
Read the full account →A cold front stalled out across eastern Iowa September 13 while remnants from Pacific Hurricane Lowell and moisture from the remnants of Hurricane Ike moved across the region. Copious amounts of rain was the result over much of the Midwest.
Read the full account →A slow-moving complex of thunderstorms with torrential rain caused major problems over much of Franklin County, especially at Benton and West City. Firefighters rescued an elderly woman who needed assistance getting out of rising floodwater in her cellar.
Read the full account →An outflow boundary from a large complex of thunderstorms that tracked across Iowa and northern Illinois the night before dropped southward on July 24th. Convection developed along this boundary, with a bow echo eventually taking shape across northern Missouri.
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