(OLNEY/NEWTON) With no rain measured over the weekend for most of our downstate area, that likely will change over the next 48 hours as a back door cold front will move into Illinois by later tonight. The unsettled weather pattern will result in several chances of rain or thunderstorms today and tonight, through tomorrow and tomorrow night, with maybe some heavy rainfall possible. As we dry out Wednesday with a high pressure moving into the Midwest, cooler air returns on a west/northwesterly wind flow, all to be followed by some warmer air into the weekend, but maybe some more rain chances. Stay tuned for weather updates and monitor a NOAA Weather Alert Radio for more forecast details.
(LINCOLN) Looking back at our downstate area weather from this past Friday with the National Weather Service calling for severe weather conditions. By mid-afternoon, there were regional thunderstorms that pretty much followed a track along a line of Interstate 70, with six tornado warnings and two severe thunderstorm warnings issued, mostly all for the counties of Clay, Effingham, Jasper, Richland, Crawford, and Lawrence. With funnel clouds unofficially reported in Crawford County, near Robinson & Palestine, there were multiple reports of quarter-size to golf ball-size hail in Effingham, Jasper, Cumberland, & Crawford Counties. Wind gusts were reported in the 30 to 50 miles-per-hour range with rainfall totals between one and two inches. While there were some power outages in the respective areas and some wind and tree damage to property, authorities report no serious injuries.