ST. LOUIS — People in the Metro East in Illinois near the St. Louis area may have heard a tornado siren Tuesday morning, but it was a regular test of the siren.
There were strong storms in Clay and Effingham counties of Illinois to the north and east, but the storms were never tornadic.
Illinois counties test the sirens at 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday of each month.
Clay County was under a flash flooding warning. This is the only county in the St. Louis coverage area under a weather warning. Other Illinois counties, including Coles, Moultrie, Shelby, Cumberland and Effingham did have severe weather.
Below are the rainfall estimates for Clay Co. Illinois from Monday night through Tuesday afternoon: The southern portion of the county in the reds and purple color, likely had over 8 inches of rainfall. The National Weather Service issued a "Considerable Flash Flood Warning" early Tuesday. Along Highway 50 from Flora to Clay City is where the heaviest rainfall occurred in the county. Over a foot of rainfall was reported by the National Weather Service in Jasper Co. Illinois, just east of Effingham Co.
