Dangerous Heat in the Central and Eastern U.S.; Critical Fire Weather in the Great Basin and Southwest

Dangerous, record-breaking heat will intensify across most of the central and eastern U.S this week. Heat indices will likely exceed 100 degrees. Heat is likely to continue across the eastern U.S. through the Independence Day holiday weekend. Critical fire weather conditions will continue Tuesday across portions of the Four Corners and Great Basin, as dry conditions and gusty winds persist. Read More >

Overview

A strong low pressure system tracked from southwest Iowa to north central Iowa Saturday afternoon. Storms developed, moved across a warm front, and four tornadoes touched down over eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois.

A few other storms brought small hail and damaging wind to portions of the region Saturday night.

00z 03/29 Surface Analysis - Weather Prediction Center

Tornado
Radar
Storm Reports
Environment

Tornadoes:

Tornado - 2.5 NNW Jesup, IA
Buchanan County

Date	03/28/2020
Time (Local)	6:15 - 6:25 pm CDT
EF Rating	Ef-1
Est. Peak Winds	90 mph
Path Length	7.4 mi
Max Width	50 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0 / 0
Summary: A tornado touched down north of Jesup and moved northeast and caused damage to outbuildings, a barn, and uprooted trees at a farmstead.

Track Map

Tornado - 5 SW Tampico, IL
Whiteside County

Date	03/28/2020
Time (Local)	08:20 - 08:22 pm CDT
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	90 mph
Path Length	2.2 mi
Max Width	20 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0 / 0
Summary: An EF-1 tornado caused outbuilding damage and uprooted frees at a farmstead. The tornado flipped a farm irrigator before lifting.

Track Map

Tornado - Cambridge, IL
Henry County

Date	03/28/2020
Time (Local)	7:43 - 7:44 pm CDT
EF Rating	EF-U
Est. Peak Winds	NA
Path Length	1.1 mi
Max Width	NA
Injuries/Deaths	0 / 0
Summary: Spotter reports and photos confirm a brief tornado southwest of Cambridge. There was no observable damage from which to assign an EF-scale rating. As a result, an EF-U rating was given.

Track Map

Tornado - Sherrill, IA
Dubuque County

Date	03/28/2020
Time (Local)	825 - 831 pm CDT
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	110 mph
Path Length	4.2 mi
Max Width	50 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0 / 0
Summary: An EF-1 tornado developed southeast of Sherrill and moved northeast causing significant damage to outbuildings and uprooting trees at several farmsteads.

Track Map

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Radar

Interactive Radar Loop

Storm Reports - Preliminary

Interactive Storm Report Map	SPC Storm Reports

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
949 PM CDT SAT MAR 28 2020

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

0440 PM     LIGHTNING        COLCHESTER              40.46N 90.68W
03/28/2020                   MCDONOUGH          IL   EMERGENCY MNGR   

            TREE DAMAGE DUE TO LIGHTNING. 

0745 PM     TORNADO          1 W CAMBRIDGE           41.30N 90.21W
03/28/2020                   HENRY              IL   PUBLIC           

            PUBLIC REPORT RELAYED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

0500 PM     HEAVY RAIN       CARTHAGE                40.41N 91.13W
03/28/2020  M1.00 INCH       HANCOCK            IL   TRAINED SPOTTER  

            RAIN CAME FAST AND HEAVY. 

0400 PM     HAIL             1 N BETTENDORF          41.58N 90.48W
03/28/2020  E0.70 INCH       SCOTT              IA   PUBLIC           

             

0352 PM     HAIL             1 NE BETTENDORF         41.58N 90.46W
03/28/2020  M0.75 INCH       SCOTT              IA   TRAINED SPOTTER  

            . 

0347 PM     HAIL             1 W BETTENDORF          41.56N 90.49W
03/28/2020  E0.70 INCH       SCOTT              IA   TRAINED SPOTTER  

            . 

0752 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     1 NNE MONTICELLO        42.25N 91.18W
03/28/2020                   JONES              IA   TRAINED SPOTTER  

             

0825 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 NNW SHERRILL          42.62N 90.79W
03/28/2020                   DUBUQUE            IA   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE 

            TIME ESTIMATED. FARM WINDOWS BLOWN OUT, 
            OUTBUILDINGS DAMAGED, TREES AND POWER LINES 
            DOWNED. 

0802 PM     TSTM WND GST     1 ESE FARLEY            42.44N 90.99W
03/28/2020  M68 MPH          DUBUQUE            IA   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE 

            RELAYED BY EMERGENCY MANAGER. 

0629 PM     TORNADO          3 NNE LITTLETON         42.58N 91.98W
03/28/2020                   BUCHANAN           IA   EMERGENCY MNGR   

            LARGE TORNADO ON THE GROUND DOING DAMAGE. 

0628 PM     HAIL             2 SE OTTERVILLE         42.50N 91.92W
03/28/2020  E1.75 INCH       BUCHANAN           IA   TRAINED SPOTTER  

            NOW SEEING PEA SIZE HAIL. 

0618 PM     TORNADO          1 SSW FAIRBANK          42.63N 92.06W
03/28/2020                   BUCHANAN           IA   EMERGENCY MNGR   

            ON GROUND NEAR BAXTER AVE AND V56 RD.

Environment

SPC Event Summary - March 28th, 2020


Figure 1: DVN 18z 03/28 Sounding	Figure 2: DVN 00z 03/29 Sounding	Figure 3: SPC MCD #251


Figure 4: SPC MCD #256	Figure 5: SPC MCD #257	Figure 6: MSLP + Surface Wind


Figure 7: MSLP and Dewpoint	Figure 8: 0-3 km lapse rate and 0-3 km MLCAPE

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Dangerous Heat in the Central and Eastern U.S.; Critical Fire Weather in the Great Basin and Southwest

Event Summary: March 28th, 2020