2,067 first-hand accounts of flood events in Illinois, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
The combination of very weak flow aloft and an anomalously unstable and moist environment along a residual outflow boundary promoted the development of thunderstorms across the mid Mississippi and lower Ohio Valleys through the late afternoon into mid evening.
Read the full account →Supercell thunderstorms developed in the afternoon and evening north of a warm front that ran from Southern Iowa into Central Illinois. Three distinct supercells produced a majority of the wind, hail, and heavy rain reports from Jefferson County Iowa into Henry County Illinois.
Read the full account →Supercell thunderstorms developed in the afternoon and evening north of a warm front that ran from Southern Iowa into Central Illinois. Three distinct supercells produced a majority of the wind, hail, and heavy rain reports from Jefferson County Iowa into Henry County Illinois.
Read the full account →Still supported by a nearby stationary front, a second round of thunderstorms dropped another 3-5 inches of rain across northwest Illinois during the overnight hours of July 23rd into the early morning of July 24th.
Read the full account →A line of thunderstorms developed early in the morning from western Arkansas into south central Missouri ahead of a strong cold front. This line of storms intensified as it moved east-northeast across the mid Mississippi Valley later in the morning.
Read the full account →Moderate to major river flooding developed during the month. After a wet January, the active weather pattern continued into February. Frequent moderate to heavy rain events continued pushing not only the monthly and seasonal precipitation totals higher but also the rivers.
Read the full account →Widely scattered thunderstorms developed during the afternoon of May 26th. Due to an extremely moist environment and weak steering winds aloft, the storms were slow-moving in nature and produced copious amounts of rainfall.
Read the full account →A slow-moving cold front crossing the Mississippi River triggered scattered thunderstorms during the late afternoon and evening of May 28th. The storms produced 3 landspout tornadoes...one in Peoria County and two in Moultrie County.
Read the full account →Several clusters of thunderstorms developed along and north of a warm front extending from northern Missouri into southern Illinois during the afternoon and evening of July 11th.
Read the full account →The remnants of hurricane Ike moved across northern Illinois during the morning hours of September 14th. This system produced a second round of very heavy rain after a period of heavy rain just 24 hours earlier across many of the same areas.
Read the full account →A stationary frontal boundary triggered several rounds of showers and thunderstorms across central Illinois on July 30th. Rainfall of totals of 3 to 4 inches were reported in many locations south of the I-72 corridor.
Read the full account →A cold front interacting with a warm and very humid airmass triggered several lines of strong to severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening of June 7th.
Read the full account →A cold front dropping slowly southward from the Upper Midwest interacted with a hot and humid airmass to trigger thunderstorms across north-central Illinois during the late afternoon and evening of June 10th.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms initiated along an old outflow boundary extending from Jacksonville to near Lawrenceville during the evening of June 17th. Due to a strong low-level jet flowing into the area, the storms continually re-developed and tracked across the same locations, producing…
Read the full account →Significant flooding developed after two thunderstorm complexes crossed southern Illinois, bringing 72-hour rainfall totals to nearly one foot in isolated locations. A large complex of thunderstorms moved southeast across southern Illinois during the evening hours of the 29th.
Read the full account →Significant flooding developed after two thunderstorm complexes crossed southern Illinois, bringing 72-hour rainfall totals to nearly one foot in isolated locations. A large complex of thunderstorms moved southeast across southern Illinois during the evening hours of the 29th.
Read the full account →Area streams were already running above normal due to heavy runoff from a wet winter and spring. Additional heavy rain in June cause moderate to major flooding of rivers. June rainfall amounts included 8.87 inches at Shirland, 6.16 inches in Roscoe, and 6.27 inches at Rockford.
Read the full account →Multiple rounds of thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois on October 14th producing very heavy rainfall and some flooding. Severe thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois during the late evening of October 14th.
Read the full account →During the evening, clusters of storms developed just north of a surface warm front that extended from the Missouri bootheel northeastward along the Ohio River.
Read the full account →The remnants of hurricane Ike moved across northern Illinois during the morning hours of September 14th. This system produced a second round of very heavy rain after a period of heavy rain just 24 hours earlier across many of the same areas.
Read the full account →The remnants of hurricane Ike moved across northern Illinois during the morning hours of September 14th. This system produced a second round of very heavy rain after a period of heavy rain just 24 hours earlier across many of the same areas.
Read the full account →A warm front slowly lifted northward from central Missouri into eastern Iowa and northern Illinois May 12th and 13th. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms moved across the area producing widespread torrential rains and some hail.
Read the full account →A warm front slowly lifted northward from central Missouri into eastern Iowa and northern Illinois May 12th and 13th. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms moved across the area producing widespread torrential rains and some hail.
Read the full account →Powerful and damaging thunderstorms moved across northern Illinois producing widespread wind damage. The most intense wind damage occurred along a path which began in far western Dupage County near the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Washington Street in West Chicago and…
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