Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Kankakee, Ford, and Iroquois Counties: Tennis Ball Size Hail Expected
This alert is no longer in effect.
NOAA issued it on April 6, 2026, 4 months ago. Warnings of this kind stay in effect for hours to a few days, so this page is a historical record of what was issued, not a current warning. For conditions where you are right now, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).
Areazine synthesizes this NWS weather alert directly from NOAA's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.
The National Weather Service has issued an immediate Severe Thunderstorm Warning for parts of Illinois, warning of 60 mph winds and tennis ball-sized hail.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Severe Thunderstorm Warning
- Affected area
- Northeastern and East Central Illinois
- Issued
- April 6, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Chicago IL
Storm notices can cover different combinations of wind, hail, lightning, and rainfall. Use the original notice for the hazards and boundaries attached to this specific record.
Record status: historical. It was issued 4 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Northeastern and East Central Illinois.
Alert Details
The National Weather Service in Chicago has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for portions of northeastern and east central Illinois. The alert was triggered by radar-indicated severe weather moving east at 30 mph.
Affected Areas
The warning specifically impacts the following regions:
- Southwestern Kankakee County in northeastern Illinois
- North central Ford County in east central Illinois
- Northwestern Iroquois County in east central Illinois
Specific locations in the path of the storm include Herscher, Clifton, Limestone, Bonfield, Buckingham, Cabery, Kempton, Reddick, Stelle, Irwin, and Union Hill.
What You Should Do
For your protection, move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building immediately. Residents are advised to stay indoors as people and animals outdoors will be at risk of injury. Expect significant hail damage to roofs, siding, windows, and vehicles, as well as wind damage to trees and structures.
Note: A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 11:00 PM CDT for northeastern and east central Illinois.
Expected Conditions
- Hail: Tennis ball size hail (2.50 inches) is expected.
- Wind: Gusts up to 60 mph.
- Timing: At 5:19 PM CDT, the storm was located 8 miles north of Cullom, or 9 miles southeast of Dwight, moving east.
Timeline
The warning is effective immediately as of 5:19 PM CDT and is set to expire at 6:00 PM CDT on March 10.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
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