What a night! POWERFUL THUNDERSTORMS unleashed downpours and hail over a swath of northern and central Illinois overnight.
Topping the rainfall tallies in the immediate Chicago area was the COCRAHS report of 1.89″ in Palatine. Steve Kahn of our WGN weather team and veteran NWS-Chicago forecaster of 40+ years reported 1.88″ in Arlington Heights even as city totals at the airports came in at just 0.44″ at O’Hare and a mere 0.03″ at Midway Airport, reports Frank Wachowski.
The photos of the overnight storms so many of you have shared with me (and which I’m posting here) are spectacular.
Our National Weather Service-Chicago staff is reporting the Sunday night storms produced nearly 9,000 cloud to ground lightning strokes between 8pm and 2am—NO SURPRISE to anyone who was up or awakened by the storms and the thunder they produced.
And it wasn’t just the lightning which was eye-catching. Large hail bombarded sections of the Chicago area—most notably in the Fox Valley near Geneva where quarter-sized hailstones occurred, some larger!–and in Des Plaines where Nancy Chapes sends along shots of huge hailstone, clearing golfball size at least.
The lightning punctuated downpours downstate were formidable. My WGN meteorological colleague Mark Carroll has broken out the heavier rainfalls–both in the Chicago area and downstate. For a full listing of COCRAHS rainfall observations, check out the COCRAHS website.
IL-MCL-29 Ellsworth 2.5 W 3.05 McLeanIL-SG-65 Williamsville 0.4 ESE 2.81 SangamonIL-MCL-56 Bloomington 3.9 ESE 2.36 McLeanIL-MCL-64 Normal 1.2 ESE 2.21 McLeanIL-SH-3 Mode 3.7 NW 2.20 ShelbyIL-CP-143 Champaign 0.3 NNE 2.16 ChampaignIL-MG-14 Jacksonville 2.6 SE 2.14 MorganIL-SG-4 Riverton 1.9 W 2.14 SangamonIL-CP-111 Champaign 0.6 NNE 2.13 ChampaignIL-CP-64 Champaign 2.4 SSE 2.13 ChampaignIL-SG-66 Springfield 2.2 SE 2.10 SangamonIL-MCD-6 Macomb 3.8 NW 2.10 McDonoughIL-CN-15 Pana 0.9 NW 2.08 ChristianIL-CP-130 Mahomet 1.8 ENE 2.04 ChampaignIL-CP-89 Champaign 0.3 ESE 2.04 ChampaignIL-CP-103 Champaign 0.3 NNW 2.00 ChampaignIL-CK-325 Mount Prospect 1.3 SSE 1.89 CookIL-CK-294 Palatine 1.4 NNE 1.27 CookIL-KK-28 Chebanse 0.4 NNE 1.08 KankakeeIL-KN-127 Geneva 0.6 SSE 1.07 KaneIL-KK-39 Herscher 3.3 E 1.07 KankakeeIL-CK-75 Elk Grove Village 2.2 WSW 1.03 CookIL-CK-371 Evanston 1.2 S 1.02 CookIL-CK-367 Mount Prospect 0.2 NNE 0.99 CookIL-CK-321 Evanston 0.9 S 0.99 CookIL-CK-326 Morton Grove 1.2 WNW 0.95 CookIL-MCH-43 Algonquin 0.7 N 0.94 McHenryIL-DP-132 Wheaton 2.0 NNE 0.93 Du PageIL-CK-53 Glencoe 0.1 NW 0.93 CookIL-CK-346 Palatine 1.2 NW 0.92 CookIL-DP-161 Wheaton 1.2 NNW 0.91 Du Page