Flash Flood — Franklin, Illinois

2025-07-19 · near Benton, Franklin, Illinois

Event narrative

Multiple roads were flooded in Benton with stormwater drainage systems overloaded. Some structures were impacted. Radar estimated hourly rainfall amounts for Benton peaked at just over 1.

Wider weather episode

As high pressure slowly crept northward towards the Quad State region, ridging remained over the middle Mississippi River Valley. A slow-moving MCS moved through the northeastern half of the Quad State midday to near sunset. CAPE rose to 1000-2000J/kg in northern portions of Southern Illinois with effective bulk shear around 30kts. Extremely high moisture content with precipitable water values of 2.25in resulted in torrential rainfall rates along and near the I-64 corridor. Several areas reported flash flooding, especially northern Wayne County which had radar estimated totals of up to half a foot in northwestern portions of the county and sandbags deployed in Cisne. Flash flooding was also reported in Hamilton, Franklin, and Williamson counties. Albion reported 3.12in of rainfall within four hours.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.0031, -88.9245)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1305166. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.