A strong fall storm system moved across the Upper Midwest during the day. Between 0900 CST and 1500 CST the surface low deepened at about 1 mb per hour.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
A strong fall storm system moved across the Upper Midwest during the day. Between 0900 CST and 1500 CST the surface low deepened at about 1 mb per hour. The strongest winds across Eastern Iowa and Northern Illinois coincided with the surface geostrophic maximum winds and a tropospheric fold that reached down to about 450 Mb. During the high wind event, about 15,000 people were without power and at least 4 radio stations (WXLP, KBEA, KBOB, and KORB) were known to be off the air. In Bettendorf, Iowa, part of the wall at Bowe Manufacturing collapsed around 1500 CST. Fortunately the building was evacuated and police closed down U.S. 67 before the failure occurred. Many observing sites recorded peak wind gusts in the 52 to 56 mph range (45 to 49 knots) with sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph (26 to 35 knots). Maximum measured winds were 53 knots (61 mph) by KWQC TV in Davenport, Iowa and 54 knots (62 mph) in Pearl City, Illinois. At Lock and Dam 11 in Dubuque, Iowa, wind equipment there carried a sustained wind of 49 knots (56 mph) at 1630 CST for about 5 to 10 minutes. Given the magnitude of the event, known damage appeared to be minimal. This may be due to the fact that most trees had already shed their leaves for the coming winter.
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 Nov 12, 3:00 AM CST, 10 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 300 AM CST WED NOV 12 2003 EVERYTHING COMING TOGETHER FOR A HIGH END WIND ADVISORY EVENT FOR THE ENTIRE CWA TODAY...AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM(NOW OVER SOUTHWEST MN)SCOOTS TOWARD THE NORTHERN TIP OF LK MICHIGAN BOMBING OUT ALONG THE WAY. MSAS AND SFC OBS INDICATING LARGE PRESSURE RISES ACRS THE NORTHWEST HIGH PLAINS...AS LARGE HIGH PRESSURE COLD DOME IS STARTING TO SPILL DOWN ACRS THE PLAINS AND WILL TAKE AIM AT THE MID MS RVR VALLEY BY THIS EVENING. COMBINATION OF TIGHT PACKING OF LLVL PRESSURE GRADIENT/HIGH IMBALANCE ACRS THE AREA BETWEEN THE TWO PRESSURE SYSTEMS...H85 JET INCREASING TO 50+ KTS ACRS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON...1000-H85 MB LAPSE RATES INCREASING TO OVER 8.5 C/KM AND LARGE SUBSIDENCE MOTIONS AIDING DOWNWARD MOMENTUM TRANSFER MAKE FOR POTENTIAL OF NOT BEING FAR AWAY FROM WARNING CRITERIA. MORE OPTIMUM DEEPER LAYER GRADIENT ALIGNMENT SUGGESTS PEAK GUSTS/DOWNWARD MOMENTUM TRANSFER TO OCCUR DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON OR THIS EVENING ACRS MOST OF THE AREA. EXPECTED WRAP AROUND CLOUD COVER THIS EVENING WILL ALSO HELP THWART ANY DECOUPLING ATTEMPT BY THE ATMOSPHERE...BUT EXTENT OF GRADIENT WOULD OVERRIDE THIS ANYWAY. WILL MAKE ADVISORY FIT THE ENTIRE CWA IN A GENERAL WAY BY MAKING IT FROM LATE MORNING THROUGH AT LEAST 10 PM THIS EVENING...EVEN THOUGH ADVISORY CRITERIA WONT BE MET ACRS THE FAR EAST UNTIL EARLY AFTERNOON. BEFORE THE WINDS COME UP...WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH/EXTEND DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN CURRENT AREA UNTIL 8 AM...ALTHOUGH STILL EXPECT WESTERN FRINGES OF THIS ADVISORY AREA AND AREAS CURRENTLY OUT OF ADVISORY TO IMPROVE VSBYS BY 6 AM OR SO...AS SOUTH BREEZE INCREASES TO THE SOUTHEAST OF DEEPENING MN CLIPPER. TEMPERATURES MORE OF AN AFTER THOUGHT...BUT HIGHS ACRS THE WEST WILL BE THIS MORNING...AND MIDDAY/EARLY AFTERNOON ACRS THE FAR EAST WITH VALUES GENERALLY IN THE LOW TO MID 50S. IMPRESSIVE H85 COLD ADVECTION TO BE UNDERWAY IN MOST OF THE CWA BY 18-19Z...WITH PREFERRED UKMET/NGM H85 TEMPS CRASHING TO AROUND -6 OR -7 C ACRS THE WEST HALF BY 00Z THU. CRITICAL THICKNESSES ALSO TAKE THE PLUNGE INTO ALL FROZEN REALM BY THIS EVENING...AND WOULD THINK STRONG CAA WOULD MILK OUT SOME FLURRIES OUT OF LLVL LMRHS/WRAP AROUND STRATUS BY LATE AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING...BEFORE INTENSE NVA AND SUBSIDENCE SCOURS OUT CLOUDS LATER TONIGHT. && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...DENSE FOG ADVISORY EARLY THIS MORNING FOR FAR EASTERN IOWA. WIND ADVISORY FROM LATE MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING. IL...DENSE FOG ADVISORY EARLY THIS MORNING. WIND ADVISORY FROM LATE MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING. MO...DENSE FOG ADVISORY EARLY THIS MORNING. WIND ADVISORY FROM LATE MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING. && 12
IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-130847- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED FOR WIND CHILLS TONIGHT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 548 AM CST WED NOV 12 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN IOWA... NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT LOCALLY DENSE FOG WILL BEGIN TO LIFT BETWEEN 6 AMD 7 AM IN EASTERN IOWA AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI...AND BETWEEN 7 AM AND 8 AM IN NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...AS WINDS PICK UP ACROSS THE AREA. FOG MAY LINGER LOCALLY UNTIL 9 AM IN ILLINOIS. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP THROUGH THE AREA THIS MORNING. AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE...WINDS WILL PICK UP QUICKLY...DUE TO THE STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN THE LOW PRESSURE CENTER OVER LAKE SUPERIOR AND A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS. WEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 25 TO 35 MPH IN EASTERN IOWA AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI BY LATE MORNING...AND MIDDAY IN NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...WITH GUSTS INCREASING TO 45 MPH. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL LIKELY BE IN THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING...WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH IN SOME AREAS. WINDS WILL BEGIN TO DIMINISH BY MID EVENING...FALLING BELOW THE WIND ADVISORY THRESHOLD ...OF 30 MPH SUSTAINED...BY 10 PM. SKIES WILL CLEAR OVERNIGHT...WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING INTO THE 20S. WITH WINDS STILL AT 15 TO 20 MPH AROUND DAWN...WIND CHILLS WILL BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS IN CEDAR RAPIDS AND DUBUQUE...AROUND 10 FROM IOWA CITY TO THE QUAD CITIES TO CLINTON...AND IN THE TEENS IN BURLINGTON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. REA
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, November 2003
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: 5329188, 5329189, 5329185, 5329186, 5329187.