Flash Flood — Coles, Illinois

2018-04-03 · near Mattoon, Coles, Illinois

Event narrative

A steady, but moderate to heavy rain, moved into the southern parts of Coles County shortly after 7 am CDT. Thunderstorms caused the rain to intensify between 9:00 and 10:00 am CDT, when nearly 2.00 inches of rain was measured. Total rainfall ranged from 4.00 to 6.00 inches in about a nine hour period. Flash flooding rapidly developed in Mattoon, Charleston and other surrounding areas, where numerous streets were flooded and had to be closed. Illinois Route 16 was closed in several spots as well as parts of I-57 between milepost 184 and 192. Five houses in Mattoon were flooded, resulting in the evacuation of 11 people, where the water was 3 to 5 feet deep, mainly due to the flooding of Kickapoo Creek. Numerous water rescues were also conducted by local officials for people trapped in vehicles. Lakeland College just south of Mattoon cancelled classes due to all of the road closures from the flooding.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure tracking across central Illinois triggered a line of fast-moving thunderstorms during the afternoon of April 3rd. The storms primarily impacted locations south of the I-72 corridor, with one cell embedded within the line producing an EF-1 tornado in southern Effingham County. Thunderstorms earlier in the day dropped locally heavy rainfall of 3-5 inches across portions of Coles County, including 3.76 in Charelston. Due to excessive rainfall rates over a short period of time, flash flooding occurred in the Charleston-Mattoon area. Numerous roads were closed due to high water, including IL-16 between Mattoon and Charleston. Several homes had to be evacuated and water rescues took place in a neighborhood on the south side of Mattoon.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.5173, -88.4508)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 753773. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.