National Weather Service, Lincoln IL - Severe Weather Mar 1, 2007

Severe Weather of March 1, 2007

A large and powerful late winter storm affected much of the eastern half of the U.S. on Thursday, March 1. A very intense low pressure system tracked into Iowa, and spread blizzard conditions across the western half of Iowa, the eastern Dakotas, and much of Minnesota . Farther southeast, a strong cold front triggered severe thunderstorms and quickly pushed from the Mississippi River Valley into the southeast U.S. by evening. By Thursday night over 120 severe weather reports, including large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes, had been logged from Missouri and Illinois, southeast into Georgia .

Across central and southeast Illinois, severe thunderstorms developed just east of the I-55 corridor around midday. These storms produced hail up to ¾” in diameter and strong wind gusts which damaged trees, power lines, and produced some isolated damage to buildings. The cities of Taylorville and Decatur were particularly hard-hit by wind damage. A brief tornado developed within this line of thunderstorms just south of Decatur, in the town of Elwin . The tornado was on the ground for about 1 minute and produced wind speeds up to 80 mph, downing trees and power lines, and damaging cars and some structures. One minor injury occurred as a result of this tornado. The line of storms quickly moved east through mid-afternoon and weakened as they approached the Indiana border.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
819 PM CST THU MAR 01 2007


..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..


0657 AM     HAIL             JACKSONVILLE            39.73N 90.23W
03/01/2007  M0.88 INCH       MORGAN             IL   CO-OP OBSERVER


1005 AM     HAIL             CLINTON                 40.15N 88.96W
03/01/2007  M0.75 INCH       DE WITT            IL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            RELAYED BY MACON COUNTY EMA


1219 PM     TSTM WND DMG     TAYLORVILLE             39.52N 89.26W
03/01/2007                   CHRISTIAN          IL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            SEMI TRAILER BLOWN OVER


1219 PM     HAIL             TAYLORVILLE             39.52N 89.26W
03/01/2007  E0.75 INCH       CHRISTIAN          IL   PUBLIC


1219 PM     TSTM WND DMG     TAYLORVILLE             39.52N 89.26W
03/01/2007                   CHRISTIAN          IL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            ROOF OFF A HOUSE, DAMAGING SEVERAL OTHER HOUSES.


1241 PM     HAIL             DECATUR                 39.85N 88.93W
03/01/2007  E0.75 INCH       MACON              IL   PUBLIC

            ON LAKE SHORE DRIVE, NEAR ST MARYS HOSPITAL.


1247 PM     TORNADO          ELWIN                   39.78N 88.96W
03/01/2007                   MACON              IL   NWS STORM SURVEY

            *** 1 INJ *** NWS SURVEY TEAM DETERMINED AN EF0 TORNADO
            BEGAN 1/2 MILE SOUTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF ELWIN
            ROAD AND RT. 51 AND ENDED 1/2 MILE NNE OF THERE. PATH
            LENGTH 1 MILE...30 YARD WIDTH...ESTIMATED WINDS NO
            GREATER THAN 80 MPH. DAMAGE TO A HOUSE PORCH AND CHURCH
            CHIMNEY...NUMEROUS TREES DAMAGED...2 FOOT DIAMETER TREE
            FELL ON 3 CARS CAUSING SEVERE DAMAGE. ONE MINOR INJURY.


1250 PM     HAIL             DECATUR                 39.85N 88.93W
03/01/2007  M0.75 INCH       MACON              IL   EMERGENCY MNGR


1255 PM     TSTM WND DMG     DECATUR                 39.85N 88.93W
03/01/2007                   MACON              IL   AMATEUR RADIO

            TREES DOWN ON EAST SIDE OF DECATUR


1255 PM     TSTM WND DMG     DECATUR                 39.85N 88.93W
03/01/2007                   MACON              IL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            1 HOUSE DAMAGED NEAR LAKE. WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES IN
            THE CITY. TREES DOWN.


0152 PM     HAIL             4 W PESOTUM             39.91N 88.35W
03/01/2007  M0.75 INCH       CHAMPAIGN          IL   EMERGENCY MNGR



SCHAFFER

NOAA National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office