BLOOMINGTON - Late-night thunderstorms did little damage in Central Illinois, weather officials said Thursday, but they added to already-high rainfall totals. | Lightning sparks house fire | Rainy 2009: By the numbers | Tornadoes kill 3 in Missouri

Tree limbs were the main casualties of storms that dropped a lot of rain and in some places 1-inch hail, National Weather Service meteorologist Ed Shimon said early Thursday. Trees were damaged in Clinton and Logan County, and road signs were displaced on U.S 51 about four miles south of Clinton, officials said.

Estimated winds topped 75 mph at Elkhart, he said.

Thursday's pleasant Twin City forecast - sunny with a high near 70 -came after a Wednesday full of tornado and flood watches and warnings from the NWS. Tornadoes were spotted in far western Illinois earlier Wednesday evening, and meteorologist Dan Kelly said officials are investigating a possible tornado near Shelbyville.

"The ground is so saturated, it's just running off," said Jim Angel, a climatologist with the Illinois Water Survey, earlier Wednesday. "It's not like it's going to help us in August when it's dry."

The ground is soaked because rainfall in the Twin Cities already is about 4 inches above average this year.

By the numbers

An unofficial station at Central Illinois Regional Airport, Bloomington, received about 2 inches of rain from 11 p.m. Tuesday to 4 a.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Lincoln.

The Vermilion River at Pontiac was at 10.39 feet at 6:45 a.m. and was expected to hit 13.1 feet by Friday afternoon. Flood stage is 14 feet.

And NWS meteorologist Chris Geelhart said the Twin City area could get another inch or more from a system that is expected Friday.

All that rain comes after an already wet first quarter of the year and on the heels of the second wettest year on record, said Angel. The Twin Cities received nearly 14 inches in January through April, he said. The average for those four months is 9.78 inches.

As for rainfall so far this month, an official weather service recording station five miles west of the airport recorded 3.6 inches for May, as of 6 a.m. Thursday, said Kelly.

May is the wettest month of the year, Angel said, with an average rainfall of 4.27 inches.

If the rain comes this weekend, the area could be close to that monthly total already. Angel said the eight- to 14-day forecast anticipates cool temperatures and more rain.

Ryan Denham, Tony Sapochetti and Kevin Barlow contributed to this story.

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Rain records

Following are the rainfall totals in inches for each month so far this year and the year-to-year average for that month:

Month…Total…Avg.

January…0.85…1.52

February…2.43…1.67

March…4.45…3.01

April…6.25…3.58

SOURCE: Illinois Water Survey