wxbear73

Click here for the latest information from KWQC-TV

Tornadoes, Heavy Rain, High Winds And Hail Hit The QCA With A Vengeance

Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes hit the Quad City region on Friday afternoon. The storms included high winds, heavy rain and large hail.

Tornadoes touched down in several places including Grand View and Muscatine. Damage in those areas is reported to be extensive. Numerous home, vehicles and businesses were damaged.

In Muscatine the Toyota dealership and Wal-Mart were just two businesses which sustained considerable damage. The garden center at the Wal-Mart was destroyed and a semi making deliveries was laid on its side by the heavy winds.

Several vehicles at the Toyota dealership were severely damaged. Many business signs in the Muscatine area were destroyed and there was significant blowing debris throughout the region.

Many homes were completely demolished. At this time there have been several injuries reported although no serious injuries have been confirmed.

There have been unconfirmed reports that an older woman in the Fruitland area was literally pickup out of her chair and hurled across the room. The woman may have received a head injury.

There are many businesses in the Muscatine and Grand View areas that are closed and many events are cancelled.

Police are asking that you stay away from the storm damaged area. There is considerable damage and danger in the area and police and fire need to be able to concentrate their efforts on assisting those directly affected by the storm.

 

The National Weather Service in Springfield has issued a Flash Flood Watch for Sangamon County, including the city of Springfield, until 6PM CT. Due to yesterday's nearly 1" rainfall, and snow melt over the past few days, a release has occurred at Spaulding Dam. Additional flood gates may need to be opened if the situation worsens. The nearest town below the dam is Springfield, which is 1/10 mile below the dam. The time from dam break to flash flooding is approximately 1 minute. Dam safety experts are on the scene and will issue additional statements as the situation develops. A Flash Flood warning may be required if additional water releases need to occur. If you live in a flood prone area below Spaulding Dam, prepare to move to higher ground immediately should a warning be issued. This is a potentially dangerous and life threatening situation and you should be prepared now to take action if needed.

Stay tuned to the Central Illinois Weather Network for the latest weather information.

OK twice in one year...it's blizzard time here again. At least 6 inches of snow on the ground as I type this, it is still coming down, and it is blowing and drifting like crazy. Our car is encased in a solid sheet of ice and there is little hope of going anywhere anytime soon. Perhaps daylight will shed some light on how bad things are but right now it appears that most roads are snow covered, slick, and hazardous. We currently have 6.6 inches of snow on the ground and that was a fun time measuring. Drifts over 2 feet in some places. East/West roads appear to be the worst right now with winds gusting over 30 MPH from the Northeast. Looks like a Blizzard Warning until midnight tonight across most of Central Illinois.

The thing that amazes me is that it is after 6:00 AM in the morning, we are under a Bliizard Warning in this town and there is no information that I can find anywhere on the city's website or the handful of local media provider websites about either a city of Springfield snow emergency, or ANY local busienss closings. Seems the bottom dollar must be more important than employee safety around these parts. Damn does Cingular not ever close their Springfield Call Center for anything? They expected all employees to report to work at 5:30 AM the morning after the twin tornadoes of last March, even when some of them were still stuck in their houses, or in a movie theater like we were. Doesn't even look like Wells Fargo has had the sense enough to close their call center operations yet. Why not be prudent and preventive like Indianapolis and other cities that realize what to do in a winter emergency? The city declared a pre-emptive snow emergency last night, closed schools, shut down normal city operations, and advised employers to let non-essential workers stay home. What is wrong with Springfield? Why risk the safety of your employees by forcing them to come to work in such dangerous conditions? Does anyone have a clue?

NWUS53 KILX 190232
LSRILX

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
932 PM CDT FRI AUG 18 2006

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0920 PM TSTM WND GST 3 E ALEXANDER 39.72N 89.99W
08/18/2006 E60 MPH MORGAN IL TRAINED SPOTTER

TRAINED SPOTTER...ON INTERSTATE 72 AT THE SANGAMON MORGAN
COUNTY LINE...REPORTED 50 TO 60 MPH WINDS BLOWING SMALL
TREE LIMBS ACROSS THE INTERSTATE. REPORT FROM SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER OBSERVER NETWORK.


PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
929 PM CDT FRI AUG 18 2006
.TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON....DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS..
0920 PM TSTM WND GST 3 W NEW BERLIN 39.73N 89.97W 08/18/2006 E60.00 MPH SANGAMON IL TRAINED SPOTTER TRAINED SPOTTER...ON INTERSTATE 72 AT THE SANGAMON MORGAN COUNTY LINE...REPORTED 50 TO 60 MPH WINDS BLOWING SMALL TREE LIMBS ACROSS THE INTERSTATE. REPORT FROM SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OBSERVER NETWORK.

I'm happy to report that it sounds like pornocub made it through the storms of this evening in St. Louis unscathed. A confirmed tornado touchdown occurred along I-270 on the South Side this evening, and there was also a confirmed touchdown in Springfield.

The tornadic storm that moved through Springfield just before 6PM this evening plowed through the St. Louis metro area around 7:30 this evening. A St. Louis Cardinals game was in progress at the time. An 84 MPH wind gust was reported downtown, and spectators who took refuge in the hallways and corridors of the new Busch Stadium were subjected to debris such as trash cans and newspaper machines blowing around and those in the stands were nearly blinded by clouds of dust blowing up from the field.

Part of one of the terminals at Lambert Field was damaged and the roof landed on I-70. At least 2 tractor trailers were overturned on the 370 bridge. The mayor of St. Louis reports at least 3 building collapses, including the rear portion of a building that was under renovation that fell onto the Eads Bridge downtown. There have been several injuries, and nearly half a million people are reported without power across the region.

In Springfield, nearly half the town is currently still without power from this evening's storms. Tomorrow will bring near century mark temperatures and hopefully power can be restored to both St. Louis and Springfield before then. Scattered severe storms may also be possible again in the late afternoon hours.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Live mobile storm-tracking unit report regarding flash flooding, hail, and cold air funnels across Central Illinois late this afternoon.

VoicePost 280K 2:56

(no transcription available)

As of 3:55 PM CDT, numerous severe thunderstorms were occurring across East Central MO and Southern and Central IL. This is a very rapidly developing and dangerous situation. Rotation is being detected in several of these cells, and the atmosphere remains very unstable and humid across the entire Ohio and Mississippi Valley this afternoon. Very large hail and some tornadoes are possible across the St. Louis Metro Area during the next several hours, and also across and south of the I-72, I-70 and I-64 corridors in Central and Southern Illinois. Citties would include Effingham, Springfield, Mt. Vernon, and Decatur.

Additional severe storms are occurring across the Southern half of Indiana at this time and the cities of Bloomington, Terre Haute, Vincennes, and New Albany could experience severe weather throughout the evening, again with the possibility of large hail and tornadoes.

Stay tuned to the Central Illinois Weather Network and weathermansworld.com for the latest severe weather information as it develops.

VoicePost 337K 3:32

(no transcription available)

Live update as of 3:20 PM from the CIWN Storm Tracking Center. Multiple tornado warnings in effect across East Central Illinois currently. Stay tuned for the latest information from CIWN.

In the past couple of hours, an intense cluster of supercells has formed in southeastern Iowa with multiple tornado warnings currently in effect across the area from Waterloo southeast through Cedar Rapids and approaching Moline, IL. These storms are continuing to rapidly develop and move east and southeastward. A Tornado Watch has now been issued for areas north of Peoria in Central and Northern Illinois as these storms begin to cross the IA/IL border. Currently StormLab is tracking at least a dozen mesocyclones within this expanding cluster of storm cells. Hail is estimated at up to 3.5 inches and there have been numerous TVS signatures. With the rapid warming of the atmosphere this afternoon and evening (temperatures currently remain near 80 across the region) and very high dewpoints, this may be a very active night weather wise across the northern half of Illinois and eventually moving into northern Indiana.

Stay tuned and stay safe!!!