Flash Flood — Union, Illinois

2019-06-16 · near Cobden, Union, Illinois

Event narrative

Severe flash flooding impacted Union County. There were two water rescues in the county. One car stalled in high water on Mount Glen Road near Cobden. First responders were able to rescue the driver, a young female. The second water rescue involved a vehicle in the Trail of Tears State Forest near Ware. The vehicle was swept off State Forest Road where it crosses Clear Creek. Two people were in the vehicle at the time it was swept off the road. The male involved was able to escape. The body of the other person in the vehicle, a female in her late 50's, was found deceased the following morning less than a mile downstream from the vehicle. Elsewhere in the area, one lane of Highway 146 near the intersection of Highway 3 was flooded. A trained spotter reported 4.0 inches of rainfall in 24 hours three miles east of Ware. The public reported 4.5 inches of rain in 24 hours at Cobden.

Wider weather episode

As strong solar heating destabilized the atmosphere, numerous clusters of intense thunderstorms blossomed from southeast Missouri to southwest Indiana. The main impact associated with these storms was flash flooding. Several locations picked up torrential rainfall amounts over a short time period. Over four inches of rain occurred in Union County, prompting water rescues from vehicles. Damaging winds up to around 60 mph occurred with a few of the storms as well. The environment was characterized by moderate to strong instability and moderate wind shear. Effective bulk wind shear values of 25 to 40 knots were observed. The storms developed east of a weak low pressure center over Missouri.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.5300, -89.2500)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 829480. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.