Severe Weather of March 2, 2012

Severe weather reports from March 2. Click image to enlarge. Severe weather outlook issued at 7 am. Click image to enlarge.  Noon surface map from March 2, 2012
Severe weather reports from March 2.  Click image to enlarge. Severe weather outlook issued at 7 am.  The pink area represents a high risk of severe weather, with the orange area representing a moderate risk.  Click image to enlarge. Surface map from noon March 2.  Click image to enlarge.

 

Portions of central and southeast Illinois were on the fringes of a large severe weather outbreak, which affected areas from Illinois and Indiana southward to near the Gulf Coast on Friday, March 2.  Areas from Indiana southward into Tennessee and Alabama were hardest hit, with many fatalities occurring.  A preliminary listing of severe weather reports is available at the Storm Prediction Center website, including an Interactive Google map of storm reports.

Information from specific hard-hit areas, including storm survey reports, can be found at the respective National Weather Service office:

Local Impacts:

Thunderstorms began spreading northeast into central and southeast Illinois shortly after sunrise, as a warm front lifted northeast across the area.  Locations east of the I-55 corridor were most impacted.  Hail reports were common, with many locations receiving hail from pea to nickel size.  One particular corridor, starting around St. Louis and tracking northeast into Shelby, Cumberland, Coles, Clark and Edgar Counties, saw thunderstorms which periodically produced hail as large as golfballs.   A specific list of storm reports is included below.

Additional thunderstorms developed around midday, as strong low pressure moved into the area, and warm and humid conditions surged into the area to the east of this low (far southeast Illinois reached the lower 70s, while temperatures in the upper 50s spread as far north as Champaign and Danville).  However, the most volatile storms were further south in southern Illinois, tracking into neighboring parts of Indiana.

After the low exited central Illinois early in the afternoon, strong pressure rises behind it resulted in non-thunderstorm wind gusts approaching 50 mph across eastern Illinois, with gusts around 40 mph as far west as the I-55 corridor.  Further northwest toward Peoria and Galesburg, an area of rain was mixed with sleet, snow and hail at times, with a few thunderstorms also occurring.  Over an inch of snow occurred in northern parts of Knox and Stark counties, with heavier totals of 3 to 5 inches further into northern Illinois.

Storm Reports for Central and Southeast Illinois:

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
232 PM CST FRI MAR 02 2012

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

0741 AM     HAIL             LOAMI                   39.67N 89.85W
03/02/2012  M0.75 INCH       SANGAMON           IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            DIME-SIZED HAIL REPORTED IN LOAMI.

0745 AM     HAIL             4 NE COWDEN             39.28N 88.80W
03/02/2012  M1.25 INCH       SHELBY             IL   COCORAHS

            DELAYED REPORT

0749 AM     HAIL             2 W SHELBYVILLE         39.41N 88.84W
03/02/2012  M0.88 INCH       SHELBY             IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

0802 AM     HAIL             2 NE NEOGA              39.34N 88.43W
03/02/2012  E1.75 INCH       CUMBERLAND         IL   MESONET

            SWOP

0802 AM     HAIL             NEOGA                   39.32N 88.45W
03/02/2012  E1.50 INCH       CUMBERLAND         IL   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

0808 AM     HAIL             5 S MATTOON             39.40N 88.37W
03/02/2012  E0.75 INCH       COLES              IL   EMERGENCY MNGR

0815 AM     HAIL             2 SE FRANKLIN           39.60N 90.02W
03/02/2012  E0.88 INCH       MORGAN             IL   LAW ENFORCEMENT

0820 AM     HAIL             CASEY                   39.30N 87.99W
03/02/2012  E0.50 INCH       CLARK              IL   CO-OP OBSERVER

0827 AM     HAIL             MARTINSVILLE            39.34N 87.88W
03/02/2012  E0.88 INCH       CLARK              IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

0829 AM     HAIL             WESTFIELD               39.46N 88.00W
03/02/2012  E1.75 INCH       CLARK              IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

0834 AM     HAIL             DENNISON                39.47N 87.58W
03/02/2012  E0.88 INCH       CLARK              IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

0835 AM     HAIL             LOAMI                   39.67N 89.85W
03/02/2012  E0.88 INCH       SANGAMON           IL   EMERGENCY MNGR

0835 AM     HAIL             3 S CAMARGO             39.75N 88.18W
03/02/2012  E0.75 INCH       DOUGLAS            IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            REPORT FROM HUGO.

0844 AM     HAIL             SPRINGFIELD             39.78N 89.64W
03/02/2012  E0.75 INCH       SANGAMON           IL   CO-OP OBSERVER

            NORTH SIDE OF STATE FAIRGROUNDS OF DIME SIZE HAIL.

0846 AM     HAIL             LELAND GROVE            39.78N 89.68W
03/02/2012  E0.25 INCH       SANGAMON           IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            PEA SIZE HAIL COVERING GROUND.

0846 AM     HAIL             PARIS                   39.62N 87.69W
03/02/2012  E1.00 INCH       EDGAR              IL   MESONET

            SWOP REPORT.

0850 AM     HAIL             SPRINGFIELD             39.78N 89.64W
03/02/2012  E0.75 INCH       SANGAMON           IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            AT 3100 BLOCK OF CONSTITUTION DRIVE HAIL COVERING THE
            GROUND.

0910 AM     HAIL             DECATUR                 39.85N 88.93W
03/02/2012  E0.50 INCH       MACON              IL   MESONET

            SWOP REPORT FROM NORTHWEST SIDE OF DECATUR

0933 AM     HAIL             TAYLORVILLE             39.52N 89.26W
03/02/2012  E0.50 INCH       CHRISTIAN          IL   EMERGENCY MNGR

            FROM CHRISTIAN COUNTY ESDA.

0945 AM     HAIL             TAYLORVILLE             39.52N 89.26W
03/02/2012  E0.75 INCH       CHRISTIAN          IL   CO-OP OBSERVER

            HALF TO THREE-QUARTER INCH HAIL REPORTED IN TAYLORVILLE.

1051 AM     HAIL             3 W BISMARCK            40.27N 87.66W
03/02/2012  M0.25 INCH       VERMILION          IL   MESONET

            PEA SIZE HAIL COVERING THE GROUND.

1110 AM     HAIL             5 S DANVILLE            40.07N 87.62W
03/02/2012  M0.25 INCH       VERMILION          IL   EMERGENCY MNGR

1117 AM     HAIL             MATTOON                 39.48N 88.37W
03/02/2012  E0.50 INCH       COLES              IL   AMATEUR RADIO

1125 AM     HAIL             3 WSW FAIRGRANGE        39.56N 88.22W
03/02/2012  M0.75 INCH       COLES              IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

1131 AM     HAIL             CHARLESTON              39.48N 88.18W
03/02/2012  E0.25 INCH       COLES              IL   MESONET

            BRIEF 1-2 MINUTES OF PEA SIZE HAIL. SWOP OBSERVER.

1142 AM     HAIL             METCALF                 39.80N 87.81W
03/02/2012  M0.50 INCH       EDGAR              IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

1156 AM     HAIL             PARIS                   39.62N 87.69W
03/02/2012  M0.50 INCH       EDGAR              IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

1219 PM     HAIL             XENIA                   38.64N 88.64W
03/02/2012  E0.75 INCH       CLAY               IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

1233 PM     HAIL             FLORA                   38.67N 88.48W
03/02/2012  E0.25 INCH       CLAY               IL   EMERGENCY MNGR

0126 PM     TSTM WND GST     LAWRENCEVILLE           38.73N 87.69W
03/02/2012  M52.00 MPH       LAWRENCE           IL   ASOS


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