Most of western Illinois is under a tornado watch until Sunday night, with “a couple of intense tornadoes” possible in the region.
The watch encompasses most of Illinois’ western borders with Iowa and Missouri, and includes nearly half of the state’s counties, with 47 total counties included in the watch.
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WATCH HEREAccording to the National Weather Service, the watch will run until 10 p.m. Sunday night.
A Tornado Watch is in effect for southeastern Iowa western and central Illinois, far western Kentucky, eastern Missouri until 10 PM CDT. Hazards to include tornadoes (a few of which may be strong), damaging wind, and hail. More info: https://t.co/QMmU4tCxt1 pic.twitter.com/hMBlX6NJvR
— NWS Storm Prediction Center (@NWSSPC) April 20, 2025
Among the communities included in the watch are Galesburg, Peoria, Springfield and Carbondale, according to the National Weather Service. Davenport, Iowa and St. Louis, Missouri are also included.
In addition to the threat of tornadoes, there are also chances of wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour in the area, with “likely damaging wind gusts” expected in severe storms that develop in the affected area.
Ping pong ball-size hail is also possible with the storms, according to the National Weather Service.
Closer to the Chicago area, it’s expected that showers and thunderstorms will return late Sunday and then into Monday morning, but those storms aren’t expected to be severe, according to the NBC 5 Storm Team.
Some storms could produce some gusty winds and some small hail, according to forecast models.
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