Weather

Residents experiencing outages, property damage, flooding, tree damage, or service disruptions are encouraged to self-report to assist countywide response efforts.

Officials representing McLean County, Bloomington and Normal said “the system worked” by implementing an all-hands effort during Friday’s powerful thunderstorms.

Bloomington-Normal residents were assessing the damage and starting to clean up Saturday from a powerful storm that walloped McLean County the night before, leading to damage at the Rivian auto plant and knocking out power for thousands. There appeared to be no serious injuries.

The City of Bloomington had strongly recommended residents and citizens take measures to cut back on water use, but recent rain brought lake levels up more than 3 feet.

Quarter-sized? Golfball-sized? Softball? Bigger? Severe March storms dumped record-breaking hail on Kankakee. And now it's official.

Bloomington-Normal and Greater Peoria again avoided the worst of a spring storm system that moved through the area Sunday. A winter weather advisory remains in effect until 1 p.m. Monday.

As spring storm season kicks in for Central Illinois, McLean County agencies have a new tool in place to notify residents of emergencies via their cell phones.

The National Weather Service is warning of an enhanced risk of tornados and other severe weather on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning throughout Central Illinois.

State climatologist Trent Ford with the Illinois State Water Survey said the last six months are the driest August-to-January period on record for the Twin Cities at 7.1 inches of precipitation, according to climate records dating back to 1893.

The Unit 5 school district has canceled school for Monday, Jan. 26, because of expected frigid temperatures. Bloomington's District 87 will do an e-learning day.