Thunderstorm Wind, Dubuque
- When
- July 18, 5:00 PM CST
- Where
- Dubuque County, Bankston
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 42.517, -90.950
Trees down.
Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 18, 2002
14 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 14
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 18, 1:30 PM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 18, 1:30 PM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 230 PM CDT THU JUL 18 2002 ACTIVE PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH NEXT WEEK AS A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL TROUGHS AND WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARIES TRAVERSE THE AREA THROUGH NEXT WEEK. FRONT NOW OVER SOUTHERN MINNESOTA MOVING MUCH SLOWER THAN PROGGED...AND IS EXPECTED TO SAG INTO CENTRAL IOWA AND STALL. WITH THE REMNANTS OF THE BOUNDARY IN THE AREA THROUGH SATURDAY...WILL BE DIFFICULT TO RULE OUT PRECIP. AREAWIDE...BEST CHANCE WILL BE TONIGHT AS THE FRONT APPROACHES...WITH LOWER CHANCES THROUGH SATURDAY. HIGH MOISTURE AND CAPE AND LOW SHEAR SUGGEST POTENTIAL FOR WIND AND HAIL THE GREATEST THREAT TONIGHT AHEAD OF THE SURFACE FRONT. SURFACE FLOW WILL BE WEAK...SO CLOUDS WILL BE THE MAIN LIMITING FACTOR FOR TEMPS FRIDAY...WITH A QUICK WARMUP SATURDAY AS THE FRONT WASHES OUT AND SWLY LOW LEVEL FLOW RETURNS. EXPANDED POPS FOR SATURDAY DUE TO THE POTENTIAL FOR LINGERING BOUNDARIES. IN THE EXTENDED...NEXT WAVE STILL PROGGED FOR SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY...THEN WILL INTRODUCE POPS WEDNESDAY FOR THE NEXT ROUND. .DVN... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE. 33
The radar
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:01 UTC.
Event by event
14 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Jones
- When
- July 18, 5:22 PM CST
- Where
- Jones County, 2 mi N of Monticello
- Measured
- 57 kt (66 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 42.267, -91.200
Thunderstorm Wind, Jones
- When
- July 18, 5:25 PM CST
- Where
- Jones County, 5 mi NE of Monticello
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 42.283, -91.133
Car blown off Highway 151.
Thunderstorm Wind, Jones
- When
- July 18, 5:25 PM CST
- Where
- Jones County, 2 mi S of Monticello
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 42.200, -91.200
Several cars blown off road.
Thunderstorm Wind, Jones
- When
- July 18, 5:38 PM CST
- Where
- Jones County, 8 mi W of Monticello
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 42.233, -91.350
Farm buildings blown down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Jones
- When
- July 18, 5:45 PM CST
- Where
- Jones County, 2 mi W of Monticello
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 42.233, -91.233
Barn on County Road D-62 collapsed. The barn housed a tractor, self-loading wagon box and many antiques.
Thunderstorm Wind, Jones
- When
- July 18, 5:50 PM CST
- Where
- Jones County, Monticello
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 42.233, -91.200
Large tree knocked over on a camper at Central Park. Large branches also caused some damage to a pickup truck.
Thunderstorm Wind, Cedar
- When
- July 18, 6:30 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
- Where
- Cedar County, Tipton
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 41.767, -91.133
Numerous trees blown down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Linn
- When
- July 18, 6:45 PM CST
- Where
- Linn County, Ely
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- BROADCAST MEDIA
- Coordinates
- 41.867, -91.583
Trees down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Cedar
- When
- July 18, 6:48 PM CST
- Where
- Cedar County, Tipton
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 41.767, -91.133
According to some, many areas in Tipton resembled a war zone. Damaging winds of 70 mph knocked down or severely damaged more than 50 trees causing thousands of dollars in damage. Some city blocks lost 2 or 3 large trees, and there was damage to several homes. Also, trees fell on at least 4 vehicles and power was knocked out in some areas. Several streets including Highway 38 were blocked by downed trees. While damage was widespread, areas along 4th and 5th Streets were hit hardest. Some nuisance flooding was also reported around 5th and Plum Streets and Cedar and 10th Streets.
Thunderstorm Wind, Linn
- When
- July 18, 6:50 PM CST
- Where
- Linn County, Mt Vernon
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 41.917, -91.417
Numerous trees down in Mount Vernon and Palisades Kepler State Park. Downed trees on power lines produced power outages in Mount Vernon.
Thunderstorm Wind, Cedar
- When
- July 18, 7:05 PM CST
- Where
- Cedar County, West Branch
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.667, -91.350
Trees blown down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Cedar
- When
- July 18, 7:05 PM CST
- Where
- Cedar County, West Branch
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 41.667, -91.350
Trees and power lines blown down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Scott
- When
- July 18, 7:30 PM CST
- Where
- Scott County, Maysville
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 41.650, -90.733
Several trees blown down.
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
- Flash Flood in Oregon, July 18, 2002
- Flash Flood in Colorado, July 18, 2002
- Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in Indiana, July 18, 2002
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, July 18, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 18, 2002
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strikes in Michigan, July 18, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 18, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Florida, July 18, 2002
- Tornado in Minnesota, July 18, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, July 18, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 18, 2002
- Flash Flood in Missouri, July 18, 2002
More
Every storm in Iowa in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, 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: 5307205, 5307206, 5307207, 5307208, 5307209, 5307217, 5307218, 5307210, 5307211, 5307212, 5307213, 5307214, 5307215, 5307216.