Name: Damaging Winds in Missouri, March 9, 2002
Start: 2002-03-09T01:45
End: 2002-03-09T01:45
Location: Missouri

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 happened

The episode as NWS DVN wrote it up.

A strong arctic front extended from Central Wisconsin into Northwest Missouri early Friday morning. Temperatures across the front at 6 A.M. Friday ranged from the middle 20s in the far Northwest Iowa to the middle and upper 50s in Northeast Missouri. Much colder air was poised to the north of the region with temperatures in the single digits and teens in the Northern Plains. This arctic front and the large temperature gradient across it combined with a vigorous upper level disturbance ejecting from the Southwestern United States to ignite severe thunderstorms. Initial development occurred from Central Iowa into North Central Missouri late Friday afternoon and evening. These storms then evolved into a squall line, which raced eastward through much of Northeast Missouri during the overnight and early morning on Saturday, producing several reports of wind damage.

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 Mar 9, 1:14 AM CST, 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 9, 1:14 AM CST, 31 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
114 AM CST SAT MAR 9 2002

VIGOURUS SPRING STORM MOVING THROUGH THIS MORNING PRODUCING SEVERE
WEATHER THIS MORNING...THEN WINDY CONDITIONS TODAY WITH BRIEF SHOT
OF WINTERY PRECIP THROWN IN. WITH ON-GOING SEVERE WEATHER AND
POTENTIAL FOR IFPS PACKAGE PROBLEMS LEFT OVER FROM DAYSHIFT...WILL
KEEP DISCUSSION BRIEF AND THUS HAVE ISSUED EARLY.

ENTIRE CWFA IN WARM SECTOR WITH DEEP SURFACE LOW OVER CENTRAL IA AT
06Z. FEW STRONG TSRA EARLIER IN WARM SECTOR...BUT MAIN CONCERN IS
HIGH WINDS WITH IMPRESSIVE LINE OF SEVERE STORMS WITH HIGH WINDS
BOWING FROM LOW TO CENTRAL MO ANTICIPATED TO RACE INTO W CENTRAL AND
NW IL ZONES BY FORECAST ISSUANCE. SEVERE POTENTIAL WILL EXIST AHEAD
OF THIS LINE AND WILL WAIT UNTIL LAST MINUTE FOR WORDING AND BREAKUP
OF EASTERN ZONES. FAST CHANGE OVER TO SNOW BEHIND TSRA WILL
TRANSLATE EASTWARD WITH FRONT AND COULD SEE SOME 1 INCH
ACCUMULATIONS IN MORNING... ESPECIALLY ACROSS NORTH WHERE WRAP
AROUND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH 18Z.

00Z MODELS LOOK TOO FAST AND TOO WEAK WITH SURFACE LOW...BUT ALL IN
GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH LOW SHIFTING TO CENTRAL WI BY 12Z WITH COLD
FRONT THROUGH W CENTRAL IL. THIS MOVEMENT BACKED UP BY MSAS 3 HR
PRESSURE FALL TRENDS. CURRENT WIND ADVISORY FOR ENTIRE CWFA LOOKS
GOOD WITH MOS GUIDANCE INDICATING 30 TO 40 KT WINDS FOR CID AT 18Z
WITH TIGHT PRESS GRADIENT AND STRONG CAA OVER ENTIRE AREA. ARCTIC
AIRMASS PULLED IN BEHIND LOW WILL WARRANT MORNING HIGH TEMPERATURE
WORDING WITH FALLING TEMPS THROUGH DAY.

AFTER TODAY...SLIGHTLY NEGATIVE UPPER TROUGH MOVES TO GREAT LAKES
TONIGHT...FOLLOWED BY ZONAL TO SLIGHTLY RIDGING FLOW ALOFT THROUGH
EARLY. NEXT SHORTWAVE AND NEXT COLD FRONT TO BRING SNOW CHANCES
MONDAY AFTERNOON. DO NOT ANTICIPATE MUCH CHANGE IN REMAINDER OF
EXTENDED WITH NEXT PRECIP CHANCES THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.

.DVN...WIND ADVISORY SATURDAY.
IA...IAZ040>42-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099.
IL...ILZ001-002-007-009-015>018-024>026-034-035.
MO...MOZ009-010.

DLS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 9, 1:15 AM CST, 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
115 AM CST SAT MAR 09 2002

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

0105 AM    VICTOR                    IA   60 MPH TSTM GUST
03/09/02   IOWA                           REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 185 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:43 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Scotland

When: March 9, 1:45 AM CST
Where: Scotland County, 11 mi SE of Memphis
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.350, -92.017

Machine shed damaged.

Thunderstorm Wind, Clark

When: March 9, 1:45 AM CST
Where: Clark County, Wyaconda
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.400, -91.917

Trees down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Clark

When: March 9, 1:45 AM CST
Where: Clark County, 5 mi E of Wayland
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 40.400, -91.483

Top of grain bin blown off.

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 Missouri in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Missouri, March 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: 5284167, 5284168, 5284169.