National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Severe Thunderstorms and Heavy Rainfall Across the Central Plains and Central Appalachians

Severe thunderstorms producing damaging winds, heavy rainfall, hail and possibly a few tornadoes will continue through tonight across portions of Kansas and Oklahoma. Heavy rainfall will persist across the Central Appalachians through tonight, potentially leading to areas of flooding. The severe weather and heavy rainfall threat will shift into the lower Great Lakes on Wednesday. Read More >

Overview

Several thunderstorms developed across much of eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois on the afternoon and early evening of February 8, 2024. Many of these storms had pea to dime size hail. The strongest storms occurred in Jackson County, IA and Jo Daviess, Stephenson, and Putnam counties in IL. Quarter to ping pong ball size fell with the storms in Jackson, Jo Daviess, and Stephenson counties, with the larger hailstones reported near Freeport, IL. A brief tornado developed just south of the Quad Cities County Warning Area in Marshall county and moved into Putnam county. A stronger tornado developed in Wisconsin (NWS Milwaukee recap).

In addition to the storms, record warmth occurred with widespread highs in the 60s and strong gradient winds gusting 35-50 mph.

Image
Event Infographic (Link to Image)
Image Image Image
Severe Weather Setup Infographic (Link to Image) Record Highs / Warm Lows February 8th Wind Advisory Area (brown)
nws logo Media use of NWS Web News Stories is encouraged!
Please acknowledge the NWS as the source of any news information accessed from this site.
nws logo