Flash Flood — Winnebago, Illinois

2024-07-14 · near Rockford, Winnebago, Illinois

Event narrative

Around 2115 CST, a pickup truck with two people inside attempted to drive through moving flood waters in a parking lot due to flash flooding of Keith Creek near Charles Street and 22nd Street. The pickup truck was swept away by the flood waters. The driver was able to escape but was swept underneath a culvert at 22nd Street before being rescued. A 76 year old passenger became trapped in the pickup truck and drowned.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms developed during the evening of July 14th and continued into the early morning of July 15th, as they moved across all of northern and central Illinois. Nine tornadoes occurred, along with widespread wind damage. In the City of Chicago, there were 2,810 tree emergency calls and 1,430 calls for tree debris. Localized flash flooding also occurred, for a second night in a row in the Rockford area.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.2622, -89.0576)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1201318. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.