Thunderstorm Wind — Hamilton, Illinois

2024-08-01 · near Blairsville, Hamilton, Illinois

Event narrative

A powerful line of storms surged southeastward through northeastern Hamilton County causing extensive damage. Large sections of metal roofing from a long farm building blew off at County Rd 1300 E, while a smaller metal roof section blew off at County Rd 1700 N/County Rd 1440 E. A row of 10 power lines snapped on Blairsville Rd/County Rd 1800 N. West of Bungay, several trees were blown down in a diverging pattern. On County Rd 1800 N, southeast of Bungay, a large section of roofing was removed from a farm building with a side wall fallen over and an irrigation system was damaged.

Wider weather episode

A robust squall line swept through the I-64 corridor of Southern Illinois during the early afternoon hours on the 1st. Numerous wind damage reports were received, primarily in Wayne, Hamilton, and White Counties with many trees and powerlines damaged along with several farm structures. Utility data indicated that roughly half of Wayne County lost power with this storm line. MLCAPE values were approximately 3000 J/kg, DCAPE around 1000 J/kg, and effective bulk shear was 30 kts. Scattered showers and storms continued through the evening and overnight as a cold front moved through during the night, with storm activity in the later convection remaining sub-severe in Southern Illinois.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.1549, -88.4634)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1209193. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.