Thursday evening severe weather review

 

Thankfully we're waking up too much quieter conditions across the region today after a very busy weather day yesterday. After starting out with showers early on, we seen the warm front lift through which warmed up our temperatures nicely but did bring in a few rounds of strong to severe storms which not only caused some damage but also produced very heavy rainfall.

In terms of rainfall we got absolutely dumped on yesterday! Multiple locations across the state line seen upwards of 1.50" of rainfall while some areas approached nearly 2" of rainfall! This caused ponding and field flooding in many rural locations however the good news is that flash flooding stayed at a minimum.

When it comes to severe thunderstorm reports most of the region was able to dodge the strongest of the storms yesterday! However, a few stronger storms were still able to develop across the state line yesterday with damaging wind gusts as the most common severe weather report. Most reports came from a storm that tracked through White, Ogle and Lee counties which did produce damage on a few rural properties. A few other stronger storms impacted Carroll County and eventually made their way into Stephenson and Rock Counties where a few tornado warnings were eventually issued. Thankfully, there were no tornado reports across the region yesterday, but the National Weather Service will be out today assessing damage to determine if this damage was done due to a tornado or straight-line winds.

Because of all the rainfall we've seen the over the past few days, especially yesterday, a Flood Watch is in effect through Sunday morning as continued rainfall is expected today. Areas along the Kishwaukee River from Confluence with South Branch Kishwaukee River downstream to the Rock River will need to keep an eye on river levels the next few days as the river is only a few feet from flood stage.