Severe Thunderstorms in the Southeast; Critical Fire Weather in the Northern Plains

Isolated severe storms with locally damaging wind gusts and hail are possible from the coastal Carolinas into the Florida Peninsula, and along the central Gulf Coast. Heavy rain may cause localized areas of flash flooding in the Gulf Coast. Gusty winds and dry conditions may produce elevated to critical fire weather across the northern/central Plains. Record heat is expected in the West. Read More >

Overview

Rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow fell across much of the region on Thursday, as a strong cold front pushed east into Illinois. Temperatures dropped sharply behind the cold front, with temperatures dropping 15 to 25 degrees in a few hours. Along and behind the front, a mix of rain and freezing rain fell during the late morning and early afternoon, causing a light glaze of ice on surfaces. This caused very slick conditions on area roads and sidewalks. Precipitation quickly changed to sleet and snow between 1 and 3 pm in the afternoon, with Cedar Rapids metro receiving up to a quarter of an inch of sleet. Snowfall accumulation less than 1 inch fell northwest of a line from Grinnell Iowa to Independence Iowa. Strong northwest winds between 15 and 25 mph were also common behind the front, with wind gusts up to 35 mph.

Photos & Video
Radar
Storm Reports
Environment

Photos & Video:


Blue Grass, IA (Christian Allen)	Blue Grass, IA (Christian Allen)	NWS Davenport (Tim Gross)

Radar:

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Storm Reports

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PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
400 PM CST THU JAN 11 2018

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1209 PM     FREEZING RAIN    LOWDEN                  41.86N 90.92W 
01/11/2018  E0.00 INCH       CEDAR              IA   CO-OP OBSERVER  

            MIX OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET. SIDEWALKS AND ROADS ARE 
            ICY. TEMPERATURE DROPPED FROM 49 TO 23 DEGREES BETWEEN 8 
            AM AND NOON.

1230 PM     FREEZING RAIN    1 W BETTENDORF          41.56N 90.49W 
01/11/2018  E0.10 INCH       SCOTT              IA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            CARS ARE ICING UP.

1231 PM     FREEZING RAIN    2 WNW DUBUQUE           42.52N 90.72W 
01/11/2018  E0.00 INCH       DUBUQUE            IA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            GLAZE OF ICE. SECONDARY ROADS ARE SLICK. ICE ON CARS, 
            LIMBS, AND POWER LINES.

1235 PM     FREEZING RAIN    BLUE GRASS              41.51N 90.76W 
01/11/2018  E0.10 INCH       SCOTT              IA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            AT LEAST A TENTH OF AN INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION ON TRUCK.


1236 PM     FREEZING RAIN    3 ENE CHARLIE HEATH MEM 40.60N 91.84W 
01/11/2018  M0.13 INCH       CLARK              MO   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            1/8 INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION ON LIMBS. SOME SLEET FALLING
            NOW AND ACCUMULATING ON ELEVATED SURFACES.

1240 PM     SLEET            3 NNW CEDAR RAPIDS      42.02N 91.70W 
01/11/2018  E0.00 INCH       LINN               IA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            SLEET BEGINNING TO ACCUMULATE. ROADS ARE TERRIBLE.

1245 PM     SLEET            1 SSE CEDAR RAPIDS      41.95N 91.66W 
01/11/2018  E0.00 INCH       LINN               IA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            MODERATE SLEET FALLING FOR THE LAST 15-20 MINUTES. ROADS 
            ARE EXTREMELY SLICK.

1250 PM     SLEET            1 SE VINTON             42.16N 92.02W 
01/11/2018  E0.00 INCH       BENTON             IA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            A HALF INCH OF ICY/WET SNOW AND SLEET HAS ACCUMULATED. 
            SLEET IS STILL FALLING. ROADS ARE DANGEROUS. 

0110 PM     SLEET            1 SSE CEDAR RAPIDS      41.95N 91.66W 
01/11/2018  U0.00 INCH       LINN               IA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            SLEET REDUCING VISIBILITY TO 1/4 MILE AT TIMES. MAJOR 
            ROADS ARE COMPLETELY COVERED...INCLUDING MT VERNON ROAD 
            AND HIGHWAY 13.

0114 PM     SLEET            MOLINE                  41.49N 90.49W 
01/11/2018  E0.00 INCH       ROCK ISLAND        IL   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            SLEET IS NOW MIXING IN WITH THE FREEZING RAIN.

0121 PM     FREEZING RAIN    2 WNW DUBUQUE           42.52N 90.73W 
01/11/2018  M0.06 INCH       DUBUQUE            IA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            0.06 INCHES ICE ACCUMULATION.

0125 PM     FREEZING RAIN    1 SSW CORDOVA           41.67N 90.33W 
01/11/2018  E0.10 INCH       ROCK ISLAND        IL   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            A TENTH OF AN INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION. PRECIPITATION 
            STARTING TO TRANSITION TO SLEET.

0158 PM     SLEET            1 SSE CEDAR RAPIDS      41.95N 91.66W 
01/11/2018  M0.30 INCH       LINN               IA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            0.3 OF AN INCH OF SLEET ACCUMULATION SO FAR.

0205 PM     FREEZING RAIN    1 ESE NORA              42.46N 89.93W 
01/11/2018  M0.10 INCH       JO DAVIESS         IL   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            ICE ACCUM MEASURED ON DECK...NOW SLEETING.

0302 PM     FREEZING RAIN    4 NNW DAVENPORT         41.61N 90.63W 
01/11/2018  M0.07 INCH       SCOTT              IA   NWS EMPLOYEE    

            TRACE OF SLEET FELL AS WELL.

0312 PM     SLEET            2 NNE CEDAR RAPIDS      42.01N 91.65W 
01/11/2018  E0.30 INCH       LINN               IA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0348 PM     SNOW             JESUP                   42.48N 92.07W 
01/11/2018  E1.0 INCH        BUCHANAN           IA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0348 PM     FREEZING RAIN    2 WNW DUBUQUE           42.52N 90.73W 
01/11/2018  E0.10 INCH       DUBUQUE            IA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            TOTAL ICE ACCUM.

Environment


Figure 7: 12z 1/11 DVN Sounding	Figure 8: 00z 1/12 DVN Sounding

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Severe Thunderstorms in the Southeast; Critical Fire Weather in the Northern Plains

Storm Summary January 11th