Event summary for 4/7/01: (For additional details, see individual entries for the date)A very strong low pressure center tracked N/NE from Nebraska through Minnesota. The tight pressure gradient produced by the surface low, along with daytime heating, created very strong winds across eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois through much of the day, beginning around 8 am and ending around sunset.
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 4/7/01: (For additional details, see individual entries for the date)A very strong low pressure center tracked N/NE from Nebraska through Minnesota. The tight pressure gradient produced by the surface low, along with daytime heating, created very strong winds across eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois through much of the day, beginning around 8 am and ending around sunset. A southwest wind was sustained at 30 to 35 mph, with gusts from 50 to 55 mph. There were a few isolated wind gusts of 58 to 60 mph across eastern Iowa (see individual reports above), but most of the area remained below High Wind Warning criteria, which is sustained speeds of at least 40 mph (34 knots) for an extended period of time, or a gust to at least 58 mph (50 knots). Wind damage and power outages were widespread throughout the area, as high winds blew trees down on power lines, or snapped the power poles themselves. According to newspaper accounts, an estimated 20-thousand people lost power across eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois. Numerous trees and power lines were downed, and shingles and siding were blown off buildings and homes. The high winds blew a power line down at a rural Johnson county home, which led to a fire that destroyed the structure. A downed power line also caused a fire that damaged a funeral home in Buchanan county. Law enforcement in eastern Iowa reported two accidents resulting from the high winds. There were no injuries.
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 Apr 7, 1:28 PM CST, 27 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 228 PM CDT SAT APR 7 2001 INTENSE CYCLONE OVER NORTHERN MINNESOTA TO PULL INTO CANADA TONIGHT AND ALLOW GRADIENT WINDS TO SLACKEN. MODELS OVERALL CONSISTENT IN BRINGING IN HIGH PRESSURE TONIGHT ALLOWING QUIET CONDITIONS. CURRENT DATA AND MODELS INDICATE WINDS TO DIMINISH OVERNIGHT NIGHT. HOWEVER STILL FEEL SUSTAINED 30 MPH WINDS STILL LIKELY SO WILL EXTEND WIND ADVISORY INTO THE EVENING HOURS...BUT NO LATER THAN 00Z OR 01Z. ATTENTION THEN TURNS TO NEXT SYSTEM ALREADY ON SHORE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. SYSTEM EJECTS RAPIDLY NORTHEAST SUNDAY WITH A GOOD LLJ TRANSPORTING MOISTURE NORTHWARD. CONVECTION TO FIRE LATE IN THE AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE OVERNIGHT...PROBABLY EVOLVING INTO AN MCS PER SPC DISC. ALSO AGREE THAT SEVERE THREAT IS THERE AS WELL. QUIET CONDITIONS THEN LOOK ON ORDER FOR A FEW DAYS BEFORE IT TURNS ACTIVE AGAIN IN THE EXTENDED. TEMP WISE...GIVEN WHAT HAS OCCURRED TODAY THE WARMER MAV WOULD APPEAR THE WAY TO GO FOR AT LEAST SUNDAY. EXTENDED...ANOTHER STRONG SYSTEM COMES THROUGH AND AFFECTS THE AREA WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY TIME PERIOD. POTENTIAL FOR SOME HEAVY RAIN AGAIN WITH STRONG ISENTROPIC LIFT OVER THE WARM FRONT WEDNESDAY. PRECIP TO BE VERY EARLY DURING ON THURSDAY...IF AT ALL. MORE IMPORTANTLY IS DRY SLOT TO MOVE OVER THE AREA. MODELS SUGGEST THIS SYSTEM NOT AS STRONG AS CURRENT SYSTEM...BUT IT WILL BE WINDY. DRY CONDITIONS FRIDAY/SATURDAY. COORDINATED WITH DSM..LSE...CHI...ILX...AND STL. .DVN... IA...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH 8 PM THIS EVENING ENTIRE AREA. IL...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH 8 PM THIS EVENING ENTIRE AREA. MO...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH 8 PM THIKS EVENING MOZ009-010. SCHULTZ
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1228 PM CDT SAT APR 07 2001
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1023 AM COUNTY WIDE IA NON TSTM WINDS
04/07/01 BENTON ESTIMATED 55 TO 60 MPH.
REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER.
1140 AM PEOSTA IA NON SVR WIND DAMAGE
04/07/01 DUBUQUE PIECE OF SIDING OFF
BUILDING AND ON CAR. 2
MOBILE BASKETBALL HOOPS
BLOWN OVER. REPORTED BY
STORM SPOTTER.
1212 PM PEOSTA IA NON TSTM WINDS
04/07/01 DUBUQUE ESTIMATED 50 TO 60 MPH
GUSTS THAT ARE NEAR
CONTINUOUS. REPORTED BY
STORM SPOTTER.
1212 PM PEOSTA IA 5 NON SVR WIND DAMAGE
04/07/01 DUBUQUE SOME SHINGLES PEELED
OFF ROOFS. REPORTED BY
STORM SPOTTER.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
235 PM CDT SAT APR 07 2001
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1022 AM INDEPENDENCE IA NON SVR WIND DAMAGE
04/07/01 BUCHANAN TREE BLOWN INTO
TRANSFORMER...FIRE
STARTED. REPORTED BY
COUNTY OFFICIAL.
1130 AM MANCHESTER IA NON SVR WIND DAMAGE
04/07/01 DELAWARE NUMEROUS REPORTS OF
SHINGLES AND SIDING
BLOWN OFF BUILDINGS.
REPORTED BY COUNTY
OFFICIAL.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Non-thunderstorm gradient wind gust of 59 mph measured by AWOS equipment at Clinton Municipal Airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, April 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: 5243442.