Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2024

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 30, NWS Quad Cities, IA

March 4, 2024Stephenson County, Illinois

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 4, 2024, 9:41 PM CST for Stephenson County, Illinois. It was in force for 24 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 4, 2024, 9:41 PM CST (03:41 UTC)
Expired
Mar 4, 2024, 10:05 PM CST
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Storm-based polygon
Hail
1.0 in
Wind
50.0 mph

County Stephenson County, IL

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:45 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 107 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2024-03-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2024-03-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 171 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
829 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
171 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
304 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Quad Cities, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Mar 4, 5:46 PM CST, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

  • Widespread rain showers are forecast to develop late this afternoon into this evening along and behind a strong cold front with scattered thunderstorms to the east of the front. A few of these storms may become severe.
  • There is a marginal or level 1 out of 5 risk of severe weather this afternoon into the early evening.
  • A strong cold front will move across the region this evening with temperatures dropping from 75 degrees ahead of the front to 45 degrees behind the front.
  • Rain chances will return Thursday into Friday.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 4, 5:46 PM CST, 3 hours 55 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
546 PM CST Mon Mar 4 2024

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Widespread rain showers are forecast to develop late this
  afternoon into this evening along and behind a strong cold
  front with scattered thunderstorms to the east of the front. A
  few of these storms may become severe.

- There is a marginal or level 1 out of 5 risk of severe
  weather this afternoon into the early evening.

- A strong cold front will move across the region this evening
  with temperatures dropping from 75 degrees ahead of the front
  to 45 degrees behind the front.

- Rain chances will return Thursday into Friday.

&&

.SHORT TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY/...
Issued at 208 PM CST Mon Mar 4 2024

A stalled frontal boundary stretches from near Freeport to Iowa
City to Ottumwa to KLWD. North of the boundary winds were
northerly with winds out of the south creating convergence along
the front. Dewpoints along and south of the boundary have surged
into the upper 50s to lower 60s across the area with
temperatures generally  in the upper 60s to the mid 70s farther
to the south. Satellite shows continued towering cumulus growth
near the frontal boundary.

Scattered thunderstorms have developed east of the frontal
boundary with scattered showers behind it. Expect scattered
showers to become widespread this evening as the low level jet
increases with upglide over the front.  A few thunderstorms
along and west of the boundary may become severe with large hail
the main threat but as the front moves away and the cooler air
moves the severe threat will come to an end. 0 to 6 km shear is
parallel to the front so storms will not move off of the
boundary. In the warm sector southeast of the front, expect
scattered thunderstorms into the early evening. A storm or two
may become severe with large hail the main threat. Storms near
the boundary will have an increase helicity to work with causing
them to spin resulting in a low tornado threat through early
this evening.

Rain will come to an end from northwest to southeast tonight
with the cold front exiting the area by midnight and the better
lift shifting to the east. Clouds are forecast to linger into
the morning but low temperatures will be noticeably cooler with
low temperatures ranging from the lower 30s in Buchanan County
to the mid 40s in northwest Illinois south of I-80.

&&

.LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/...
Issued at 208 PM CST Mon Mar 4 2024

Wednesday: With the passage of the cold front cooler weather is
expected but still above normal for early March. We will be
between systems so dry for a couple of days. Highs will be in
the lower to mid 50s and lows in the 30s.

Thursday through Friday: A rather large/deep trough moves into the
central United States. Seems that the ECMWF has come around to the
GFS depicting a wetter/slower solution with widespread rain
expected, especially Thursday night and Friday. Rainfall amounts
look to be generally in the 1/2 to 1 inch range at most locations.
This pretty much matches the Day 4-5 WPC QPF amounts. NBM has
highs in the mid to upper 50s Thursday and upper 40s to mid 50s
on Friday.

This weekend: New data coming in shows the storm system pushing well
off to our east so we should be dry again. There is a shot of cooler
air in the wake of this system with h8 temps of -6C. Highs should
be in the mid 40s to lower 50s with lows bottoming out in the
20s.

&&

.AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z WEDNESDAY/...
Issued at 539 PM CST Mon Mar 4 2024

The cold front has sagged to east of KMLI at 23z and is near
KBRL at 00 UTC. Scattered thunderstorms are near KBRL and will
be in the vicinity for the next couple of hours as the front
moves through. Expecting widespread showers and scattered
thunderstorms to develop at all TAF sites through 06 UTC and
slowly exit the area from west to east after that. MVFR to IFR
ceilings and visibilities are possible at all TAF sites where
precipitation occurs. Expect MVFR ceilings to continue through
the period with ceilings lifting after 18 UTC on Tuesday but
confidence on the exact timing is low at this time.

&&

.CLIMATE...
Issued at 300 AM CST Mon Mar 4 2024

Record High Temperatures:

March 4:
KBRL: 72/1992
KMLI: 71/1992

&&

.DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IA...None.
IL...None.
MO...None.

&&

SHORT TERM...Cousins
LONG TERM...Cousins
AVIATION...Cousins
CLIMATE...Speck/Uttech
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 4, 9:16 PM CST, 25 minutes before
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 4, 8:09 PM CST, 1 hour 32 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report...Corrected
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
809 PM CST Mon Mar 4 2024

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

0804 PM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     Nekoma                  41.17N 90.18W
03/04/2024                   Henry              IL   Emergency Mngr

            4 to 5 inch tree limbs down. Also, dime size
            hail.

&&

RP Kinney
Local storm report, Mar 4, 8:36 PM CST, 1 hour 5 minutes before
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Local storm report, Mar 4, 8:37 PM CST, 1 hour 4 minutes before
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Local storm report, Mar 4, 8:45 PM CST, 56 minutes before
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Local storm report, Mar 4, 8:49 PM CST, 52 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Mar 4, 9:26 PM CST, 15 minutes before
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The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 4, 6:37 PM CSTSpecial Weather StatementDVNDes Moines83 min
Mar 4, 7:37 PM CSTSpecial Weather StatementDVNJackson53 min
Mar 4, 8:36 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Jones24 min
Mar 4, 8:07 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBureau, Henry38 min
Mar 4, 8:26 PM CSTTornado WarningDVNBureau, Henry31 min
Mar 4, 8:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBureau, Putnam24 min
Mar 4, 9:26 PM CSTSpecial Weather StatementDVNStephenson49 min
Mar 4, 10:49 PM CSTSpecial Weather StatementDVNHancock41 min
Mar 4, 11:27 PM CSTSpecial Weather StatementDVNHenderson, Warren48 min
Mar 5, 2:20 AM CSTSpecial Weather StatementDVNPutnam55 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 2024Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2024

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.