Hail 5, to possibly 6 inches reported near Kankakee, Illinois, midway between Chicago and Champaign-Urbana. If verified, would set the state record. (on March 10 no less)
11.03.2026 13:15
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Hail 5, to possibly 6 inches reported near Kankakee, Illinois, midway between Chicago and Champaign-Urbana. If verified, would set the state record. (on March 10 no less)
Split radar image, reflectivity and storm relative velocity, from the Lincoln IL radar showing a possible tornado
After a long evening at work, I was hoping to be able to sleep instead of still watching the radar.
We just started this last year, so we don’t have a lot of data to work with yet, but results are promising. The addition of mesoscale analysis, either locally or experts providing guidance remotely, also is a great help.
Perhaps even more importantly, the NWS must develop specialists whose sole role is the issuance of warnings and near term (0-3 hour) forecasts of severe storms.
Regarding this point in your commentary, our office has begun following a process made successful by the Birmingham office, in having a designated team of experts for expected tornadic events. They get extra training, and the goal is to have an expert working any event with a 2% TOR risk in place.
Had one hanging at our office for many years.
I’ve seen this more often with social media posts vs. direct phone calls, but have run into this on occasion.
Current conditions at Bloomington IL, showing a southeast wind at 130 mph
Doesn’t seem that breezy outside right now.
Excessive Rainfall Outlook for March 4th
Excessive Rainfall Outlook for March 5th
For an area in extreme drought, being highlighted in the excessive rainfall outlooks is a rare occurrence.
The NWS Storm Prediction Center's severe weather outlooks will be changing slightly next week.
Meteorologists Evan Bentley and Liz Leitman, our experts at SPC, provide an update about the new conditional intensity outlook.
I have a little skepticism about Des Moines having normal highs in the 70s in February.
Most of IL is in drought. Tell us how this is impacting you by submitting a Condition Monitoring Observer Report at droughtimpacts.unl.edu/Tools/Condit.... The reports are used by the US Drought Monitor and @ilclimatologist.bsky.social to better understand what is happening around the state #ilwx
Observation details: Sunny and 54 degrees, wind south at 16 mph
Normally I don’t wait this long to get my outdoor Christmas decorations down, but a two-week work trip followed by extra cold weather worked against me.
News headline: Bloomington increases water conservation request as drought persists
Felt awkward reading this while flushing my water line due to a local water main break.
Picture of NOAA facility in Kansas City containing the NWS Central Region HQ, NWS Training Center, and Aviation Weather Center.
My work home away from home for the next 10 days. I am filling in at our Regional Operations Center in Kansas City. No forecast duties, as I will be an “Emergency Response Specialist.” First time I’ve worked outside of an Illinois NWS office since 1993.
Central Illinois feeling left out in the “blue box” department. 🙂
Picture of Doppler radar with red/purple shaded clouds overhead
Sunrise at the end of my midnight shift.
Central Illinois snowfall forecast, with a large area of 6+ inches expected over the north half of Illinois
The only up sides to this amount of snow are 1) I am off work tomorrow, and 2) I have kids old enough to help shovel.
Following the ongoing winter storm across the Upper Midwest, another storm system is forecast to impact parts of the Midwest and Great Lakes with wintry weather this weekend. Keep an eye on the forecast and check weather.gov for more information. ❄️
A third level backup has also been added over the last couple years, with my office (Lincoln IL) paired with Sioux Falls. Idea for this was to avoid comms issues that could impact the two regular backups, by using a more distant site.
I used to be scared of thunderstorms, and my mom suggested getting a book on them from the library. She felt if I knew more about them, I wouldn’t be as scared of them. Earliest weather memory I have is of a severe thunderstorm in Milwaukee when I was about 5, which produced a funnel cloud nearby.
Aurora picture at 11 pm CST
Aurora picture at 4:20 am CST
How it started / how it’s going. First photo at 11 pm, the other at 4:20 am. One of the few benefits of the midnight shift.
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 polar-orbiting satellite made an extremely fortuitous pass over Hurricane Melissa right before it made landfall in Jamaica to provide these stunning images of one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in history
According to NHC, #Melissa made landfall along the SW coast of Jamaica at 1700 UTC.
1-minute #GOES19/#GOESEast Visible and Infrared images with plots of GLM Flash Points showed prolific lightning activity within the inner eyewall of Category 5 Hurricane #Melissa as it approaches the SW coast of Jamaica. Low-altitude mesovortices persist within the eye.
With a central pressure down to 896mb as of 9am EDT, #Melissa has joined the elite sub-900mb group of Atlantic hurricanes... it is now one of just seven:
Wilma 2005: 882mb
Gilbert 1988: 888mb
Labor Day 1935: 892mb
Rita 2005: 895mb
Milton 2024: 895mb
Melissa 2025: 896mb
Allen 1980: 899mb
My children have not seen me watch a lot of baseball, so 4 days in a row of games is making them nervous. At least they’re not fighting for the TV. 🙂 Go Brewers!
It hit without warning?
Are all #Mariners games this stressful?
Photo of tomatoes and blackberries from my garden
Today’s harvest from the garden. Lots of fresh sauces in the future, and blackberry cobbler is currently in the oven.
View of balloon at 6:30 pm, using a light pole for reference
Lincoln IL weather balloon was still visible at an altitude of 24,000 feet this evening. Low sun angle and light winds aloft helping out.
