Severe Weather and Flooding of January 7-8, 2008
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National (left) and Midwest (right) severe weather reports from 6 am January 7 to 6 am January 8, 2008. Click images to enlarge.
The first severe weather outbreak of 2008 occurred unusually early across the Midwest. Severe weather occurred in areas from Oklahoma and Kansas, northeast across Missouri and Illinois, and into the Great Lakes on January 7. Strong tornadoes were reported in as far north as northeast Illinois and southeast Wisconsin, areas that have historically only seen a couple January tornadoes since reliable records began. Click here for a national summary of severe weather (from the Storm Prediction Center). More specific information is available as well:
- Tornadoes in northeast Illinois (from Chicago NWS)
- Tornadoes in southeast Wisconsin (from Milwaukee NWS)
- Severe weather in central and northeast Missouri (from St. Louis NWS)
- Tornadoes in southwest Missouri (from Springfield MO NWS)
Most of the severe weather reports across central Illinois were along and just east of the Illinois River, extending from around Quincy, then northeast between Peoria and Bloomington, to around Chenoa. A second area was clustered south of Jacksonville. Most of these reports were of large hail, with a few tornado reports. The severe weather began in the afternoon, when the nation's first tornado watch of the year included western portions of central Illinois. Watches eventually covered much of the northwest half of the state. Click here for specific reports in central Illinois.
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While most of the severe weather was done by early evening, storms repeatedly moved northeast along the same areas. This resulted in extremely heavy rainfall of 3 to 5 inches across central parts of the state. Area rivers rose quite rapidly; some parts of the state, which had seen rapid snowmelt a few days earlier from unseasonably warm weather, saw widespread flooding develop from a combination of the rain and the snowmelt. The image on the far left shows the rainfall reports through 7 am Tuesday, January 9. Because the parent cold front was still moving through the area, heavy rainfall continued into Tuesday across southeast parts of the state. These totals, generally in the 1 to 2 inch range, are shown by the image at right. Click either of the images to enlarge. Some of the worst flooding was around Pontiac IL, and in north central Indiana. |
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
821 AM CST TUE JAN 08 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0400 PM TSTM WND DMG RUSHVILLE 40.12N 90.57W
01/07/2008 SCHUYLER IL EMERGENCY MNGR
TREE FELL ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF RUSHVILLE.
0429 PM HAIL DUNCAN MILLS 40.33N 90.18W
01/07/2008 E0.75 INCH FULTON IL EMERGENCY MNGR
0432 PM HAIL ST. DAVID 40.49N 90.05W
01/07/2008 M0.75 INCH FULTON IL CO-OP OBSERVER
0441 PM TORNADO TOPEKA 40.33N 89.93W
01/07/2008 MASON IL EMERGENCY MNGR
*** 1 INJ *** TORE ROOF AWAY FROM HOUSE. 1 MINOR INJURY.
0511 PM TSTM WND GST MORTON 40.61N 89.47W
01/07/2008 E60.00 MPH TAZEWELL IL EMERGENCY MNGR
REPORTED NEAR INTERSECTION OF I-74/I-155
0511 PM HAIL MORTON 40.61N 89.47W
01/07/2008 M1.00 INCH TAZEWELL IL EMERGENCY MNGR
REPORTED NEAR INTERSECTION OF I-74/I-155.
0516 PM HAIL 1 S MORTON 40.60N 89.47W
01/07/2008 E0.75 INCH TAZEWELL IL TRAINED SPOTTER
0519 PM TSTM WND GST MACKINAW 40.53N 89.36W
01/07/2008 E60.00 MPH TAZEWELL IL TRAINED SPOTTER
0520 PM HAIL 1 N HOPEDALE 40.44N 89.42W
01/07/2008 M0.88 INCH TAZEWELL IL TRAINED SPOTTER
0522 PM TORNADO 2 SE MACKINAW 40.51N 89.33W
01/07/2008 TAZEWELL IL EMERGENCY MNGR
POLE BARN DESTROYED. DAMAGE TO HOUSE.
0530 PM TORNADO 4 ESE MACKINAW 40.51N 89.29W
01/07/2008 TAZEWELL IL TRAINED SPOTTER
DOOR TORN FROM HINGEST ON BARN, 5-INCH TREE TOP TWISTED
OFF, ROOF DAMAGE TO HOUSE AND OUTBUILDINGS, FLAG POLE
BENT, CHAIN LINK FENCE BLOWN OVER, TREE LIMBS DOWN.
0530 PM HAIL DANVERS 40.53N 89.17W
01/07/2008 E0.88 INCH MCLEAN IL BROADCAST MEDIA
TIME ESTIMATED.
0537 PM HAIL MANCHESTER 39.54N 90.33W
01/07/2008 E1.50 INCH SCOTT IL EMERGENCY MNGR
0539 PM FUNNEL CLOUD ARMINGTON 40.34N 89.31W
01/07/2008 TAZEWELL IL PUBLIC
LOCATED NORTHWEST OF ARMINGTON. RELAYED BY LOGAN COUNTY
911
0540 PM HAIL 3 SW MURRAYVILLE 39.55N 90.29W
01/07/2008 E1.50 INCH MORGAN IL EMERGENCY MNGR
0552 PM HAIL LEXINGTON 40.64N 88.78W
01/07/2008 M0.75 INCH MCLEAN IL EMERGENCY MNGR
0552 PM HAIL HUDSON 40.61N 88.99W
01/07/2008 M0.75 INCH MCLEAN IL EMERGENCY MNGR
1000 PM HEAVY RAIN 3 W FARMER CITY 40.24N 88.70W
01/07/2008 M1.88 INCH DE WITT IL CO-OP OBSERVER
1030 PM FLOOD LINCOLN 40.15N 89.37W
01/07/2008 LOGAN IL EMERGENCY MNGR
MANY STREETS IN TOWN HAVE WATER 4 TO 6 INCHES DEEP.
1130 PM FLOOD BLUFFS 39.75N 90.53W
01/07/2008 SCOTT IL LAW ENFORCEMENT
REPORTED ALONG HIGHWAY 100
1130 PM FLOOD WINCHESTER 39.63N 90.46W
01/07/2008 SCOTT IL LAW ENFORCEMENT
WIDESPREAD STREET FLOODING
&&
