7 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 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 19, 1:44 AM CST, 2 hours 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 244 AM CDT FRI JUL 19 2002 NON-HYDROSTATIC PROCESSES DOMINATING WHICH THE MODELS DO NOT HANDLE AT ALL. MODEL FORCING DOES NOT MATCH WHERE CURRENT PRECIPITATION ON REGIONAL RADARS INDICATE...SO MODEL CONFIDENCE IS VERY LOW. SATELLITE TRENDS/RUC INDICATE THAT REDEVELOP SHOULD OCCUR BEFORE SUNRISE AND AFFECT THE CWFA DURING THE DAY. OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES SHOULD PUSH FRONT FAR ENOUGH SOUTH THAT MOST OF CWFA SHOULD REMAIN DRY TONIGHT/SATURDAY. WARM FRONT MOVES BACK NORTH SATURDAY NIGHT. STRENGTH OF FRONT SUGGESTS THAT SOMETHING SHOULD HAPPEN WITH THE FRONT. SUNDAY IS THE WILD CARD. CURRENT FORECAST TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED. SOUTH-SOUTHWEST FLOW AT THE SURFACE WITH AVN INDICATING H85 TEMPS OF 23-24. THIS COMBINED WITH DEW POINTS LIKELY IN THE MID 70S INDICATE VERY HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS. ADDITIONALLY RIGHT REAR QUAD OF UPPER JET IN PLACE WITH APPROACHING FRONT AND STRONG FORCING. LIKELY TO SEE A SIGNIFICANT SVR EVENT LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON/NIGHT WITH EXTREME WINDS FROM TSRA VERY POSSIBLE. FWC/MAV OVERALL SIMILAR WITH EXCEPTION OF POPS. WILL MAKE CHANGES AS APPEAR NEEDED. COORDINATE WITH DSM...LSE...CHI...ILX...AND STL. .DVN... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE. 86
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
137 AM CDT FRI JUL 19 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0748 PM TIPTON IA WIND DAMAGE
07/18/02 CEDAR REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT
OFFICIAL.
SEVERAL
TREES DOWN AND CARS
DAMAGED.
0805 PM WEST BRANCH IA WIND DAMAGE
07/18/02 CEDAR REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT
OFFICIAL.
TREES AND
POWER LINES DOWN.IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007-009- 015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-201000- SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 509 AM CDT FRI JUL 19 2002 ...ACTIVE WEATHER WITH DANGEROUS HEAT AND STORMS ON SUNDAY... A THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA THIS MORNING AS A COOL FRONT SLOWLY MOVES SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION. SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE FROM THE STORMS THIS MORNING BUT NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED. AS THE FRONT SAGS SOUTH DURING THE AFTERNOON...QUIET AND SOMEWHAT LESS HUMID CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED. QUIET CONDITIONS ARE THEN EXPECTED TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. SATURDAY NIGHT A WARM FRONT IS FORECAST TO MOVE BACK NORTH THROUGH THE AREA. LIFT PROVIDED BY THIS FRONT ALONG WITH PLENTIFUL MOISTURE SHOULD ALLOW SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. AT THIS TIME THE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE...BUT SOME STORMS MAY APPROACH SEVERE LIMITS. ON SUNDAY...A DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION DEVELOPS WITH HEAT AND THEN STORMS. SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL BRING VERY HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS INTO THE REGION. TEMPERATURES IN THE MID TO UPPER 90S ARE EXPECTED WITH DEW POINTS IN THE MID 70S. THIS COMBINATION OF HEAT AND HUMIDITY WILL PUSH HEAT INDICES INTO THE 105 TO 115 DEGREE RANGE...OR HIGHER. A STRONG COLD FRONT IS FORECAST TO COLLIDE WITH THE EXTREME HEAT AND HUMIDITY LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND SUNDAY NIGHT. A FAVORABLE UPPER JET POSITION AND LOW LEVEL JET WILL ALLOW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. CURRENT INFORMATION SUGGESTS THAT A SQUALL LINE SHOULD DEVELOP ALONG OR JUST AHEAD OF THE FRONT...WITH VERY HIGH WINDS...HAIL...AND HEAVY RAIN THE MAIN THREATS. THIS SITUATION MUST BE MONITORED VERY CLOSELY...AS THERE IS A POTENTIAL THAT VERY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP WITH WINDS IN EXCESS OF 80 MPH. EMERGENCY MANAGERS ARE STRONGLY URGED TO LISTEN TO LATER FORECASTS REGARDING THE DANGEROUS HEAT AND STORMS EXPECTED SUNDAY. SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT...AND LIKELY SUNDAY NIGHT. 86
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:29 UTC.
7 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Power lines, trees and limbs blown down. About 30 houses suffered either minor or major damage.
Several secondary roads covered with high water north of Highway 30.
Walnut Creek overflowed its banks.
Sible Creek overflowed its banks.
Little Bear Creek overflowed its banks and flooded portions of town. Rainfall amounts of 5 to 6 inches were reported in Martelle and from Olin to Wyoming .
Yankee River overflowed its banks flooding some pasture.
Roadside park flooded.
Nearly 20 homes had water in the basement. Rainfall totals ranged from 3 to 6 inches.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, July 2002
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: 5307283, 5307219, 5307220, 5307221, 5307222, 5307223, 5307282, 5307284.