)A surface boundary was in place, extending from southern Wisconsin into southwest Iowa. A moist and very unstable atmosphere interacted with the boundary to produce a line of powerful thunderstorms that raced across eastern Iowa and western Illinois during the afternoon and early evening hours.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS DVN wrote it up.
Event Summary for 8/02/01: (For additional details, see individual entries for the date.)A surface boundary was in place, extending from southern Wisconsin into southwest Iowa. A moist and very unstable atmosphere interacted with the boundary to produce a line of powerful thunderstorms that raced across eastern Iowa and western Illinois during the afternoon and early evening hours. The primary threat was severe straight-line winds. There was one isolated report of nickel-sized hail in Henry County. Numerous funnel clouds developed along the leading edge of the line, but there were no touchdowns reported.
The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Aug 2, 1:15 PM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 215 PM CDT THU AUG 2 2001 CURRENT DATA SHOWS FRONT HAS ESSENTIALLY WASHED OUT OVER THE CWA WITH JUST NUMEROUS OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES PRESENT. THIS WILL DRIVE THE IMMEDIATE SHORT TERM IN TERMS OF CONVECTION. CURRENT TSRA COMPLEX IS MAINTAINING A STEADY STATE DUE TO A RICH ENVIRONMENT OF MOISTURE/HEAT. 12Z MODELS SLIGHT MINNESOTA HIGH EASTWARD WHILE UPPER RIDGE RETROGRESS INTO THE PLAINS. ONCE REACHING THE PLAINS RIDGE AXIS REMAINS IN PLACE INTO THE EXTENDED PERIOD. MODELS DROP DEW POINTS OFF QUICKLY BUT AM HAVING TROUBLE BELIEVING THIS WILL HAPPEN AS QUICKLY AS MODELS SUGGEST. AREAS THAT DID RECEIVE SIGNIFICANT PRECIP IN NORTHERN PART OF CWA HAVE A FAIRLY GOOD CHANCE OF SEEING SOME FOG DEVELOPMENT TONIGHT/EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. CURRENT TEMPS/DEW POINTS ARE BARELY GETTING TO ADVISORY CRITERIA SO WILL ALLOW ADVISORY TO DROP WITH NEW PACKAGE BUT MENTION HEAT INDICES IN BODY OF ZONES. TEMP WISE...GUIDANCE IS SIMILAR ON MINS BUT FAN/MAV ARE COOLER ON MAXES. WARMER FWC MAXES LOOK BETTER. HEAT INDICES TO REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA FOR FRIDAY AS WELL BUT WILL MENTION IN ZONES. EXTENDED nWISE...RIDGE TO REMAIN IN PLACE WITH NOT MUCH CHANCE OF RAIN. DEW POINTS MAY DROP A LITTLE BIT BUT NOT MUCH. .DVN... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
212 PM CDT THU AUG 02 2001
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION..k..
0155 PM 1 SW OXFORD JCT IA FUNNEL CLOUD
08/02/01 JONES REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
221 PM CDT THU AUG 02 2001
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0140 PM NORWAY IA .25 INCH HAIL
08/02/01 BENTON REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
224 PM CDT THU AUG 02 2001
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION..6..
0201 PM CEDAR RAPIDS IA 48 MPH TSTM GUST
08/02/01 LINN REPORTED BY MEDIA.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
333 PM CDT THU AUG 02 2001
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0329 PM BETTENDORF IA FUNNEL CLOUD
08/02/01 SCOTT REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER. EVENT DURATION
5 MINUTES.HPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
349 PM CDT THU AUG 02 2001
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION..u..
0335 PM 1 N BUFFALO IA 70 MPH TSTM GUST
08/02/01 SCOTT PUSHED A CAR INTO A DITCH.The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 16 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:11 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck the roof area of a home, and the resulting fire caused extensive damage. No one was home at the time of the fire, and there were no directly-related injuries. One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion.
Thunderstorm winds blew down large tree limbs, which blocked the driveways of two homes.
Nickel-sized hail reported by emergency management.
Thunderstorm winds downed utility poles. Reported by a trained spotter.
Thunderstorm winds downed trees and utility poles in the Hamilton and Carthage areas.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, August 2001
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5265841, 5265842, 5265906, 5265907, 5265908.