National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Scattered strong thunderstorms developed along a stationary frontal boundary across central Illinois during the afternoon of Wednesday, July 8th.  With winds at the surface generally out of the east and winds a few thousand feet aloft out of the southwest, enough low-level wind shear was present to create rotation within a few of the cells.  Of particular note was a strong cell that moved across the southern sections of Moultrie and Coles counties, then dropped southeastward into Cumberland and Jasper counties.  This storm produced copious amounts of lightning, as well as small hail and torrential rainfall.  Widespread street flooding occurred in Mattoon, with several observers reporting up to 2 inches of rain in about one hour!  Further south, a downburst associated with the storm brought large tree branches down in Neoga.  Two additional severe cells formed much further northwest across parts of Knox and Fulton counties.  Two brief tornado touchdowns were reported with these cells, although no damage or injuries occurred.  To view a listing of the severe weather reports from July 8th, please see: Local Storm Report (LSR)

Rainfall across central Illinois was rather spotty on July 8th, with some areas staying completely dry and others getting a deluge.  The "big winner" for this event was one of our Mattoon SWOPs, who measured 2.01!  Check out the July 8th SWOP rainfall graphic. 

July 8, 2009 Rainfall

Here are the rainfall totals for July 4th across central and southeast Illinois from our significant weather observers (SWOPs) and airports. Rainfall amounts from showers from a Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) on Saturday July 4th ranged from around a half inch to as much as 2 inches.  The showers had diminished to spotty drizzle after dusk Saturday evening for the 4th of July fireworks.  Check out our Cooperative Weather Observer rainfall maps, & SWOP rainfall maps.

Significant Weather Observers (SWOP) & Airport Rainfall Totals...

1.87"... Oakland 7 N (Douglas Co)
1.83"... Chestnet 2.5 S (Logan Co)
1.70"... Charleston (Coles Co)
1.54"... Monticello (Piatt Co)
1.54"... Cisne 2 NE (Wayne Co)
1.50"... Homer 2N (Champaign Co)
1.46"... Champaign Airport (Champaign Co)
1.40"... Ogden (Champaign Co)
1.40"... Martinsville (Clark Co)
1.34"... Clinton (De Witt Co)
1.34"... Morton (Tazewell Co)
1.33"... Germantown Hills (Woodford Co)
1.26"... Mahomet (Champaign Co)
1.20"... Bismarck (Vermilion Co)
1.16"... Wataga (Knox Co)
1.10"... Gridley (McLean Co)
1.07"... Peoria (Peoria Co)
1.06"... Abingdon 1 N (Knox Co)
1.06"... Bloomington 3 NE (McLean Co)
1.05"... Eureka (Woodford Co)
1.05"... Lincoln NWS (Logan Co)
1.02"... Peoria Airport (Peoria)
0.98"... West Union 1 W (Clark Co)
0.98"... Manito 1 S (Mason Co)
0.95"... Bloomington Airport (McLean)
0.90"... Mattoon (Coles Co)
0.88"... Watson (Effingham Co)
0.85"... Petersburg (Menard Co)
0.84"... Newton (Jasper Co)
0.83"... Henry (Marshall Co)
0.83"... Mattoon Airport (Coles Co)
0.82"... Shelbyville (Shelby Co)
0.81"... Springfield Airport (Sangamon Co)
0.51'... Lawrenceville Airport (Lawrence Co)
0.50"... Chatham (Sangamon Co)
0.47"... Bloomington 3 SW (McLean Co)

Cooperative Weather Observer Rainfall Totals...

2.05"... Sullivan 3 S (Moultrie Co)
2.02"... Tuscola (Douglas Co)
2.00"... Havana (Mason Co)
1.89"... Lovington (Moultrie Co)
1.69"... Paris (Edgar Co)
1.69"... Mount Pulaski (Logan Co)
1.64"... Mason City (Mason Co)
1.55"... Altona (Knox Co)
1.48"... Ogden (Champaign Co)
1.47"... Marietta (Fulton Co)
1.45"... Champaign-Urbana (Champaign Co)
1.39"... Chillicothe (Peoria Co)
1.37"... Morton (Tazewell Co)
1.32"... Mackinaw (Tazewell Co)
1.32"... Sidell (Vermilion Co)
1.30"... Princeville (Peoria Co)
1.29"... Mattoon (Coles Co)
1.28"... Lewistown (Fulton Co)
1.20"... Camp Grove (Marshall Co)
1.20"... Clinton 1 SSW (De Witt Co)
1.19"... Roanoke (Woodford Co)
1.17"... Normal 4 NE (McLean)
1.09"... Galesburg (Knox Co)
1.05"... Peoria 5 NW (Peoria Co)
1.04"... Effingham (Effingham Co)
1.01"... Bloomington 5 W (McLean Co)
1.00"... Fisher (Champaign Co)
1.00"... Clay City (Clay Co)
0.97"... Springfield (Sangamon)
0.94"... Moweaqua (Macon Co)
0.92'... Pana (Christian Co)
0.92"... Effingham SE (Effingham Co)
0.91"... Minonk (Woodford Co)
0.91"... Rankin (Vermilion Co)
0.88"... St David (Fulton Co)
0.83"... Stanford (McLean Co)
0.79"... Newton (Jasper Co)
0.79"... Neoga 4 NW (Cumberland Co)
0.78"... Jacksonville (Morgan Co)
0.75"... Bradford (Peoria Co)
0.68"... Neoga (Cumberland Co)
0.67"... Morrisonville (Christian Co)
0.66"... Hutsonville (Crawford Co)
0.64"... Virgina (Cass Co)
0.64"... Claremont 6N (Richland Co)
0.49"... Robinson (Crawford Co)
0.37"... Lawrenceville (Lawrence Co)
                                                      July 4, 2009 Rainfall