How much rain fell in southwestern Illinois since Thursday?

Lexi Cortes
·2 min read
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Between 2 and 3 inches of rain fell over the past two days in southwestern Illinois, including in Cahokia Heights, where a neighborhood street flooded.

The first wave of rain started Thursday evening. A second round hit the region on Friday.

Meteorologist Jared Maples said the National Weather Service’s St. Louis office recorded the following rainfall totals by town:

  • Chester and Ruma in Randolph County: 3.5 to 3.75 inches

  • Cahokia Heights and East St. Louis in St. Clair County: just under 2.9 inches

  • Edwardsville, Granite City, Highland and Troy in Madison County: 2.25 to 2.75 inches

  • Belleville, Mascoutah and St. Libory in St. Clair County: 2.5 inches

  • St. Louis Lambert International Airport: just under 2.5 inches

Residents who live on Piat Place and 62nd Street in the former Centreville area of Cahokia Heights reported stormwater flooding their streets to city officials on Friday morning, according to Equity Legal Services lawyer Nicole Nelson.

She is representing Cahokia Heights residents in a pair of lawsuits over chronic flooding and sewage backups, along with Kalila Jackson from the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council and lawyers from the environmental law nonprofit Earthjustice.

The residents asked the city to help by pumping water out of their neighborhood like it did after another storm March 3. City workers responded to the area on Friday.

Maples said the heaviest rainfall hit southeastern Missouri, where the total exceeded 4 inches. National Weather Service St. Louis estimates show a stretch of southern Illinois between Mt. Vernon and Carbondale might have also gotten over 4 inches of rain, according to Maples.

Is more rain in the forecast?

The next couple of waves will bring light rain to the St. Louis region in the coming days.

Some rain is expected Saturday night, but “just enough to wet the ground,” according to Maples. “Most people won’t even notice,” he said.

Slightly more rain is in the forecast for Sunday and Monday evenings: less than a quarter of an inch each night.

Maples said the longest period of dry weather will likely be Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday. By Thursday, more rain could be headed for the region.

Showers and thunderstorms are possible late Thursday into Friday, but Maples noted forecasters will have more certainty about the timing next week.