UPDATED 7:04 a.m. 4/27/26

Lincoln, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The Springfield area — and most of the rest of the state, for that matter — could either be in for a lot of severe weather Monday, or not much at all.

That’s according to Meteorologist John Bumgardner at the National Weather Service (NWS) in Lincoln.  At least two-thirds of Illinois is in an “Enhanced” risk for severe weather Monday.  Storms will start Monday morning, and Bumgardner says whether a second round of storms expected to hit during the late-afternoon and early-evening hours is severe, remains to be seen, as computer models tend to disagree.

“In one of those (computer model) outcomes, we don’t really have so much in the way of severe weather in the evening,” said Bumgardner.  “The other one, it’s pretty significant.  That’s why we’re still in the level 3 of 5 — enhanced.  The Storm Prediction Center has not upped the outlook at this point.”

In other words, Bumgardner says, the later the morning round of storms sticks around, the less likely there will be for the energy needed to make a second round of storms.  If they do become severe, it’s expected that wind gusts in excess of 60 miles per hour, and large hail would be possible.  However, EF-3 tornadoes would also be possible.

Bumgardner says one thing with Monday’s weather is likely, and that’s a lot of rain.

“Some of our models are showing three to four inches or more in localized pockets.  But, most locations are not going to see near that much,” Bumgardner said, suggesting one to two inches is more likely.

Stay with Newstalk 93.9 and AM 1240 WTAX for more weather details throughout Monday.  Weather watches and warnings can also be found on the Weather page of CapitolCityNow.com when they’re issued.