A Pacific storm is bringing areas of low elevation rain, moderate to heavy mountain snow, and high winds to the Northwest. Strong Santa Ana winds and very dry conditions are producing elevated to critical fire weather conditions in southern California. Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms are possible through early Wednesday morning across parts of northeast Texas into western Tennessee. Read More >
Overview
Intense winds affected central Illinois the weekend of April 2-3. The strongest winds occurred on Saturday, April 2, but gusty winds also occurred on Sunday, April 3.
Rantoul (photos by Rich Lewis) | Urbana (photo by Chris Heater) | Princeville (photo by Darin Kronner) |
Wind Measurements
Saturday's Peak Wind Reports
LOCATION SPEED TIME 3 S Newman 66 mph 1:30 pm Springfield (Capital AP) 62 mph 12:02 pm Mattoon (Coles Co. AP) 61 mph 2:42 pm Bloomington 60 mph 3:09 pm 1 W Pekin 60 mph 12:10 pm 1 W Sidney 60 mph 12:40 pm Arcola 59 mph 2:30 pm 1 NNE Divernon 59 mph 3:25 pm Jacksonville Airport 59 mph 12:15 pm Lacon (Marshall Co. Arpt) 59 mph 10:55 am 2 NNE Ashland 58 mph 1:50 pm Galesburg Airport 58 mph 11:15 am Lake of the Woods 58 mph 11:15 am Bloomington (Central IL AP) 57 mph 12:30 pm Decatur Airport 57 mph 12:50 pm 1 SSE Mahomet 57 mph 1:13 pm 4 S Ellisville 56 mph 10:25 am Ogden 56 mph 12:12 pm Rantoul Nat'l Aviation Ctr 56 mph 12:55 pm Savoy (Willard Airport) 56 mph 12:51 pm Danville 55 mph 2:30 pm Paris (Edgar Co. Airport) 55 mph 1:55 pm Pekin 55 mph 1:00 pm 8 E Petersburg 55 mph 1:15 pm 3 W Bismarck 54 mph 5:15 pm South Jacksonville 54 mph 1:10 pm 1 N Tilton 54 mph 2:01 pm Peoria Int'l Airport 53 mph 10:54 am Lawrenceville-Vincennes AP 52 mph 3:46 pm 2 E Mattoon 52 mph 3:25 pm Robinson (Crawford Co. AP) 52 mph 3:15 pm 2 SE Urbana 52 mph 12:30 pm Charleston 51 mph 2:10 pm 1 W Havana 51 mph 2:10 pm Taylorville Airport 51 mph 2:35 pm Olney 50 mph 2:55 pm Tuscola 50 mph 12:15 pm
Sunday's Peak Wind Reports
LOCATION SPEED TIME
Lacon 54 mph 4:10 pm 1 W Havana 50 mph 5:25 pm 2 W Hopedale 50 mph 5:25 pm Bloomington 49 mph 4:09 pm 1 NNE Divernon 47 mph 4:25 pm 1 W Pekin 47 mph 5:10 pm 1 SSE Mahomet 46 mph 4:43 pm Savoy (Willard Airport) 46 mph 4:16 pm Bloomington (Central IL AP) 45 mph 4:58 pm Lake of the Woods 45 mph 4:41 pm 1 WSW East Peoria 45 mph 5:10 pm 2 NNE Ashland 44 mph 4:54 pm 1 S Forsyth 44 mph 3:38 pm Danville (Vermilion Rgl AP) 44 mph 3:55 pm Galesburg Airport 44 mph 5:15 pm 2 S Jacksonville 44 mph 4:25 pm Decatur Airport 43 mph 4:23 pm Peoria Int'l Airport 43 mph 4:02 pm Rantoul Nat'l Aviation Ctr 43 mph 2:55 pm Springfield (Capital AP) 43 mph 5:09 pm 1 W Sidney 42 mph 4:44 pm 3 NW Champaign 42 mph 5:13 pm Beardstown 41 mph 3:10 pm Jacksonville Airport 41 mph 3:55 pm Lacon (Marshall Co. AP) 41 mph 4:55 pm 3 W Shelbyville 41 mph 4:12 pm 4 E Waynesville 40 mph 2:41 pm
Damage Reports
Here is a sample of reports we have received. Other damage may have occurred, which was not relayed to our office.
Champaign County:
Christian County:
Douglas County:
Edgar County:
Fulton County:
Logan County:
McLean County:
Macon County:
Marshall County:
Menard County:
Peoria County:
Piatt County:
Sangamon County:
Shelby County:
Tazewell County:
Vermilion County:
Woodford County County:
Photos & Video:
Blowng dust near Windsor (photo by Everett Lau) |
SE of Paris (photo by Everett Lau) |
Near Lawndale (photo by Kathy Payne) |
Decatur (Photo by Jackie Hayes) |
Environment
The image below, courtesy of the Chicago NWS office, shows the mean sea-level pressure (left) and the 3-hourly pressure change (right), from 2 am to 7 pm on April 2nd. The pressure value of 997 millibars over Milwaukee during the morning is rather low for a springtime "clipper" system, and such deep lows have an inherent stronger wind field due to the change in pressure (referred to as a "pressure gradient"). In addition, the rapid speed of the low's movement (which is common for clippers) produced a high rate of change in pressure values. The highest change in pressure values tracked over northern Illinois, which also saw wind gusts of 50-60 mph (visit https://www.weather.gov/lot/2016apr02_windssnow for more information).
Image courtesy: National Weather Service, Chicago |
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