Midwest Overview - May 8-14, 2003

Severe weather continued on a record pace. The weather pattern favorable for severe weather persisted into the second week of May.  The weather on May 7 was rather quiet in the Midwest compared to past days. A few severe storms were reported, including a weak tornado in central Illinois near Colfax in McLean County.  On Thursday, May 8 a low pressure center was located in in Kansas with a warm front extending across Missouri into southern Illinois.  Much of Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois in were in severe thunderstorm and tornado watches during the day. Storms developed during the afternoon and tornadoes plowed through some of the same areas in Missouri that were hit on May 4th, south of the Kansas City area in Linn County in Kansas and in Bates, Cass and Johnson counties in Missouri.  Fortunately, there were no deaths and only a few injuries.  Thunderstorms spread east into eastern Missouri and central southern Illinois during the late afternoon and evening hours. Most of the severe weather reported at this point was damaging winds and large hail.  

Yet another low pressure system dropped into the central plains on Friday.  watches were posted across the Midwest, and severe thunderstorms erupted along the warm frontal boundary. Two and a half inch hail was reported near Morton, IL Friday evening.  Storms continued through the night in west-central and southern Illinois, with one storm spawning a weak tornado near Springfield, IL.  The overnight storms continued on east the morning of Saturday, May 10, and tornado watches were extended through Indiana and Ohio.  Several tornadoes were reported in Indiana during the late morning hours, producing only minor damage.

By Saturday afternoon May 10 much of the Midwest was placed in a high risk of severe weather by SPC as yet another low pressure system intensified over the central plains.  By late afternoon severe storms began firing over western Missouri and Iowa.  The most intense thunderstorms occurred in the warm air in the vicinity of the low pressure system, which targeted western and northern Illinois, central and southeastern Iowa, and southern Wisconsin. Most of the tornadoes reported were in this region. In Illinois, an F3 tornado slammed into South Pekin in Tazewell County, causing extensive damage but only minor injuries and no deaths. The tornado demolished up to 10 square blocks and left up to 200 people homeless. The tornado also hit Morton, northeast of Pekin, causing extensive damage to the village and two injuries.

By Sunday the intense low pressure system was spinning over central Wisconsin with a cold front trailing through western Ohio, western Kentucky, and on southwest to northern Louisiana (Figure 1). Thunderstorms continue ahead of the cold front, bringing severe weather and flooding rains to Ohio and Kentucky. Flooding was reported along low-lying areas of the Scioto River in central Ohio. Sustained high winds generated by the low pressure system buffeted northern Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, causing downed trees and power lines. 219,000 ComEd customers in northern Illinois lost service beginning Saturday night, and by Sunday evening 48,000 customers were still without power. Winds Sunday gusted to more than 50 mph, creating delays at O'Hare International and Midway Airports, and the wind reportedly blew several windows out of the 30th floor of a building in downtown Chicago. A 64 mph gust was reported and a water intake faciltity about 2 miles out in Lake Michigan.  Trees were reported down and power was out for about 5,000 customers in central Michigan. Twelve thousand people were reported without power in central Ohio due to the high winds.

More severe weather finished out the week as severe storms broke out ahead of a low pressure system moving southeast out of Minnesota on May 14.  Storms erupted over Iowa and Illinois during the afternoon and evening.  The primary severe weather threat was large hail with a number of reports of 1 3/4 inch hail in Iowa. As the storms intensified over Illinois a number of small, weak tornadoes touched down in east-central Illinois during the late afternoon and evening hours, but produced little damage.  

The Storm Prediction Center counted a record-breaking 434 tornadoes through the first 10 days of May, braking the old record set in May 199 when 188 tornadoes touched down during the same period. The most tornadoes for the month of May was previously 391, set in May 1995.  The most tornadoes recorded in any month was 399 in June 1992.