Name: Damaging Wind in Illinois, July 20, 2002
Start: 2002-07-20T16:43
End: 2002-07-20T16:43
Location: Illinois

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What forecasters said that day

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 Jul 20, 1:52 PM CST, 2 hours 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 1:52 PM CST, 2 hours 51 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
252 PM CDT SAT JUL 20 2002

...HIGH HEAT AND HUMIDITY MAIN CONCERNS THROUGH SUNDAY...

WARM FRONT AT MIDDAY WAS FROM FAR N CENTRAL IA CURVING SE THROUGH
DBQ INTO N CENTRAL IL. CONVECTION NOW TRYING TO FIRE ALONG
CONVERGENCE OF OUTFLOW FROM MN MCS OVER NORTHERN ZONES JUST SOUTH OF
SURFACE FRONT WHERE CAP IS WEAKEST. DEWPOINTS WIDESPREAD IN MID 70S
WITH A FEW ASOS LOCATIONS FLIRTING WITH LEGITIMATE 80 DEG READINGS
WITH AIR TEMPS IN LOW 90S PUSHING HEAT INDEX INTO ADVISORY CRITERIA
OF 105 IN A FEW LOCATIONS. INITIAL CHALLENGE IS SHORT TERM TSRA
POTENTIAL FOR NORTH...THEN HOW HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WILL BE
TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY.

GUIDANCE QPF HAS BEEN POINTING TOWARD WIDESPREAD CONVECTION ACROSS
EASTERN IA/NW IL ALL DAY...WHICH IS JUST NOW TRYING TO GET STARTED.
QUESTION IS HOW MUCH CAP WILL SUPPRESS CONVECTION AS OUTFLOW MOVES
SOUTH INTO HIGHLY UNSTABLE BOUNDARY LAYER WITH LAPS SB CAPES OVER 6K
J/KG. WILL CONTINUE SLIGHT CHANCES FOR NORTHEAST HALF CWA THIS
EVENING. HOW LONG PAST SUNSET CONVECTION CONTINUES IS QUESTIONABLE
WITH ONLY WEAK BOUNDARIES FOR CONVERGENCE AND UNIMPRESSIVE WIND
SHEAR SO WILL KEEP EVENING WORDING FOR NOW. GUIDANCE LOWS IN MID 70S
LOOK REASONABLE AND DEWPOINTS DO NOT DROP MUCH. DO THINK HEAT INDEX
VALUES WILL DROP BELOW 80 DEG MINS BEFORE SUNRISE AND THUS HOLD OFF
ON ADVISORY WORDING FOR TONIGHT.

HEAT ADVISORY IS NECESSARY FOR SUNDAY WITH TEMPERATURES WELL INTO
MID 90S AND POSSIBLE UPPER 90S IN FAR W-NW ZONES CLOSER TO H85 WARM
POCKET OVER NEB THAT DRIFTS NE ON SUNDAY. DEWPOINTS WILL BE SIMILAR
IF NOT A LITTLE LOWER THAN TODAY DUE TO DEEPER MIXING INTO SLIGHTLY
DRIER AIR ALOFT WITH SW FLOW AND SLIGHTLY LESS SURFACE MOISTURE
POOLING WITH FRONT FURTHER NORTH. SHOULD SEE HEAT INDEX VALUES
APPROACHING 110 IN AFTERNOON.

ALL MODELS DRIVE A COLD FRONT INTO CWFA LATE SUNDAY NIGHT/EARLY
MONDAY AS SHORTWAVE CURRENTLY MOVING ACROSS SW CANADA WI PUSHES
THROUGH. HAVE LIMITED LIKELY POPS SUNDAY NIGHT TO NW WITH SCATTERED
IN SE...AND THEN LIKELY ENTIRE AREA FOR MONDAY AS FRONT DRIVES
THROUGH. HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES IN WITH DRIER NRLY SURFACE FLOW AND
NW FLOW ALOFT TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY TO LIMIT HIGHS TO 80S MONDAY
AND MAINLY IN LOWER TO MID 80S TUESDAY AND WED. MEDIUM RANGE
GUIDANCE BRINGS WEAK SHORTWAVE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY FOR TSRA
CHANCES...THEN STRONGER WAVE FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. GUIDANCE
TEMPERATURES LOOKED REASONABLE WITH LATE WEEK WARMING TREND.

.DVN...
IA...HEAT ADVISORY SUNDAY.
IL...HEAT ADVISORY SUNDAY.
MO...HEAT ADVISORY SUNDAY.

DLS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 20, 4:35 PM CST, 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
535 PM CDT SAT JUL 20 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0530 PM    CLINTON                   IA   1.75 INCH HAIL
07/20/02   CLINTON                        REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGEMENT.

0530 PM    FULTON                    IL   .5 INCH HAIL
07/20/02   WHITESIDE                      REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGEMENT.

0532 PM    CLINTON                   IA   50 MPH TSTM GUST
07/20/02   CLINTON                        REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 36 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:41 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Whiteside

When: July 20, 4:43 PM CST
Where: Whiteside County, Albany
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.783, -90.217

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Illinois in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Illinois, July 2002

Sources

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: 5307122.