Hail in Lawrence County, Illinois

Record-breaking warmth occurred across central Illinois on February 27th as afternoon high temperatures soared well into the 70s to around 80 degrees. Despite moderate instability and wind shear, the atmosphere remained largely capped throughout the day before the cap weakened by late evening. Scattered thunderstorms were then able to develop ahead of an advancing cold front along the I-70 corridor. A few of the storms produced gusty winds and hail...with one cell dropping quarter-sized hail just east of Sumner in Lawrence County and producing a 50mph wind gust at the Lawrenceville Airport during the pre-dawn hours of February 28th.