National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Severe Thunderstorms and Flooding from the Southern Plains to the Great Lakes; Record Heat in the East

Widely scattered severe thunderstorms may produce damaging winds, hail, and flash flooding from the southern Plains into the lower Great Lakes. Elevated to locally critical fire weather conditions will persist across portions of the Southwest and Southern High Plains due to gusty winds and dry conditions. An early-season heatwave will challenge temperature records across the eastern U.S.. Read More >

Overview

A widespread tornado outbreak occurred Friday, March 31, 2023 involving nearly 150 tornadoes across the country. This included 29 tornadoes in the NWS Quad Cities County Warning Area (CWA), with eleven (11) reported injuries, and no fatalities.  This was one of the nation's largest tornado outbreaks in terms of total number of tornadoes, and was the largest tornado outbreak in the NWS Quad Cities CWA on record (since 1950). The strongest tornado developed southwest of Keota, IA and moved northeast towards Wellman before finally dissipating in far southwestern Johnson county.  It was rated EF4 with maximum sustained winds estimated around 170 mph. This was the strongest tornado in the NWS Quad Cities CWA since 1995.

 

 

March 31, 2023 Story Map
Click for event Story Map. Background photo courtesy of A.Wehrle.