Flood in Saline County, Illinois

A strong thunderstorm produced torrential rainfall (1-1.5 in 30 minutes) over Eldorado around 1200CST, resulting in street flooding throughout town. Light to moderate rain continued for much of the afternoon, but flood waters were able to recede by 1400CST.

A 500mb trough extended from Quebec southwest to the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers around midday and pushed slowly eastward through the afternoon. At the surface, a weak surface low tried to lift northeast through west Kentucky, as surface high pressure built slowly southeast across southern Illinois. The greatest instability was a bit elevated with MUCAPE values of 1000-2000J/kg, which resulted in effective shear of 25-30kts. Numerous thunderstorms developed over southern Illinois in the late morning and moved quickly eastward through the early afternoon. With precipitable water values around 1.25, the main concern with the storms was brief heavy rain. However, one stronger storm produced heavy rainfall sufficient to result in some street flooding in Eldorado.