Thunderstorm Wind in McLean County, Illinois

Downburst winds of 70 to 80 mph produced a wide swath of damage from Danvers southeastward into the southwest side of Bloomington. One of the hardest hit locations along this path was the Apollo Acres subdivision just north of Illinois Route 9, where 159 homes sustained damage. 139 of those homes had awnings or shingles damaged, while 19 suffered minor roof and window damage, and 1 home had one-third of its roof torn off. Total damage in Apollo Acres was around $1 million. Other significant damage occurred along the path of the storm, including numerous downed trees, trailers blown over, and several large metal buildings with doors blown in and roofs torn off. Total damage to 30 businesses along the path was estimated at around $2.5 million. One minor injury was reported, as a car was hit by a wind-blown trailer.

A vigorous upper-level disturbance interacting with an approaching cold front triggered scattered severe thunderstorms across north-central Illinois during the afternoon and early evening of August 9th. Most of the storms impacted locations along and north of a Peoria...to Bloomington...to Paris line. Downburst winds of 70 to 80 mph produced extensive damage across McLean County from near Danvers to just north of Heyworth. Other cells produced widespread wind damage across Champaign and Edgar counties. In addition to the wind damage, large hail up to the size of half dollars was reported north of Heyworth in McLean County.