(OLNEY/NEWTON) After some very stormy weather in our listening area yesterday afternoon and last night, we’re back to quiet conditions for our downstate area today through Saturday with our next chance of rain and maybe some thunderstorm activity Sunday afternoon. A little cooler air will also prevail in our forecast today through tonight with higher humidity levels returning for the weekend ahead. Monitor a NOAA Weather Alert Radio for future weather information.
(NEWTON/OLNEY) Meanwhile, our downstate area weather over the past 24 hours was very destructive. While some thunderstorm activity occurred in the early-to-mid afternoon hours, including some heavy amounts of rain in spotty areas, the bulk of the nasty weather occurred between 6:30 last night and 12:30 early this morning. The National Weather Service issued a total of eleven (11) weather warnings, including four (4) tornado warnings and seven (7) for dangerous thunderstorms. Although not yet officially confirmed by the National Weather Service, there were at least four tornado sightings with significant damage reported in Effingham, Montrose, and elsewhere in the counties of Effingham, Jasper, Cumberland, Crawford, and Clark as most of the dangerous weather was mostly between U.S. Route 50 to the south to just north of Interstate 70 to the north. While some injuries were initially reported, there are multiple reports of damages to buildings and homes, several power outages with blown down utility poles and trees, plus heavy rainfall reports of between two (2) and six (6) inches in the area. The National Weather Service will have crews out later today to investigate the region.