National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Severe Thunderstorms Possible in the South Central U.S.; Wildfire Smoke Impacts in the North Central U.S.; Severe Space Weather

Scattered severe thunderstorms may bring large hail and isolated damaging winds this weekend over parts of the south central U.S. Smoke from Canadian wildfires will bring air quality issues to parts of the north central U.S. this weekend. Moderate to Severe geomagnetic storm conditions will remain possible into early Monday following a strong coronal mass ejection from the sun. Read More >

Overview

A strong storm system impacted the forecast area on March 14, resulting in a multitude of hazards seen through the afternoon and evening. Through the late morning and afternoon hours, the storm system created quite the strong wind field throughout much of the Midwest, resulting in widespread strong winds gusting upwards to 40-55 mph through the day. These very strong winds combined with dry antecedent conditions led to a very high fire danger area-wide, prompting a Red Flag Warning. Several fires resulted from these conditions, with gusty winds aiding the spread of the fires.

Not only did we have an active start to the day with winds and fire weather conditions in place, but the system also brought a line of showers and severe thunderstorms through the area that evening. While lightning activity remained on the low-end, convection that developed was able to mix down the strong winds aloft, causing damaging winds to occur at the surface. This resulted in widespread 60-80 mph winds, with some locations that saw over 80 mph. With such strong winds, numerous power outages were noted throughout the area. These winds also resulted in damage to trees, structures, and power poles/lines. In Johnson County Iowa, lightning struck in a field of timber, resulting in a fire that the strong winds spread for about 25 acres. We also confirmed one EF-0 tornado that occurred just northeast of Wilton, IA. The tornado occurred between 8:49-8:51 PM Friday evening, with estimated peak winds of 85 mph and a path length of 1.9 miles.

 

 

Event Recap

Event Recap

 

Tornado Event

Severe Thunderstorm Recap Slide Estimated Maximum Wind Gusts (Courtesy NWS Chicago) Wilton, Iowa EF0 Tornado (Full Public Information Statement)

 

Other NWS Event Summaries: Chicago IL, Lincoln IL, Des Moines IA

 

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 Quad Cities, IA/IL Past Events Page

nws logo