Thunderstorm Wind — Woodford, Illinois

2023-05-07 · near Metamora, Woodford, Illinois

Event narrative

Several trees were blown down.

Wider weather episode

An outflow boundary from convection that occurred during the early morning served as the focusing mechanism for additional severe thunderstorm development during the afternoon and evening of May 7th. The storms initially focused along a Macomb...to Springfield...to Mount Vernon line and were very slow-moving in nature. Due to a feed of highly unstable air characterized by CAPE values in excess of 3000J/kg, vigorous updrafts quickly developed and supported giant hail. Hailstones as large as 3.25 inches in diameter were reported in the town of Chatham in Sangamon County, causing significant damage to homes and vehicles. Numerous other thunderstorm cells produced hail larger than quarters, with the slow-movement of the cells causing some locations to report hail lasting for greater than 30 minutes. As storms merged into a large cluster, the severe weather threat temporarily waned: however, flash flooding developed across southern portions of Sangamon and Christian counties as rainfall amounts of 4 to 6 inches were common across this area. By early evening, a line of thunderstorms developed further north along a cold front across eastern Iowa into northern Illinois. As the line sagged southward, damaging wind gusts of 60 to 70mph produced scattered wind damage along and north of a Canton to Bloomington line.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.7800, -89.3500)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1095214. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.