Rainfalls varied from more than two inches to none at all from the heavy thunderstorms that pushed through part of South Central Illinois on Thursday afternoon.
The National Weather Service issued several severe thunderstorm warnings due to the threat of rains and radar-detected winds of 70 miles per hour along the I-70 corridor down to northern Marion County. Small hail was also reported in various locations including Kinmundy, Alma, Farina, east of Centralia, south of Salem, and in the Kell area.
A tree came down at Monroe and Second Street in Kinmundy behind the Kinmundy Bank and fell through a power line and breaking a pole near 2nd and Jefferson as well as damaging wiring on another four poles. Kinmundy-Alma Fire Chief Kevin Day says the resulting power outage left the southside and downtown area of Kinmundy without power from around 1:45 Thursday afternoon until 9:30 Thursday night. The fire department also helped clear St. Peter Road a mile north of Kinmundy where several large limbs had fallen into the roadway.
Rainfall totals greatly. Two inches of rain was reported in Farina and 1.75 inches in St. Peter. 1.5 inches of rain was reported in both the Patoka and Vernon area. The official rain reading at the Salem Water Plant was 1.2 inches. The Centralia Water Plant recorded 58/100ths of an inch of rain. However, just south of Centralia, there were just a few drops of rain. 1.3 inches of rain was reported in Flora. 43-hundredths of an inch was recorded in Kell. 7-tenths of an inch in Junction City. WJBD Facebook fans reported no rain at all in Carlyle, Nashville, Irvington, Hoyleton, and Mt. Vernon.
Storm clouds moving over Sandoval Thursday afternoon. Photo by Joe Niederhofer.
Unusual cloud formation with the severe thunderstorm that passed over Kinmundy Thursday afternoon. Photo by Jonathon Bursott.
