Above Average Temperatures for the West and Central Plains; Lake Effect Snow Continues

Well above average temperatures will prevail across the Plains and the West Coast this week, while a cold front will bring Arctic air to the South and East Coast Thursday and Friday. Lake effect snow is forecast downwind of the Great Lakes through Thursday along and behind the Arctic front, as well as mountain snow across the Southern Appalachians. Read More >

Shortly after 6 p.m. on 21 August 2002, an F1 tornado touched down in Muscatine County just north of Muscatine on Hwy 38. The tornado had about a 1.6 mile path destroying two sheds and causing roof damage to another shed and a farm house, in addition to scattered tree damage. The synoptic and mesoscale environment that day supported severe weather mainly in the mode of straight-line winds. A non-supercell tornado developed in a non-descending mode as a cell interacted with a convective boundary. The use of high resolution 8-bit velocity data was key to the decision to warn and helped provide a 4 minute lead time before the tornado was reported by a nearby amateur radio operator. See especially the radar data at 2311Z and 2316Z.

STORMDATA