A strong low level jet developed thunderstorms in western Iowa that moved rapidly east. Strong mid level winds allowed a wake low to develop that brought sustained winds of 35 to 45 mph for 15 minutes with gusts to 60 mph to parts of eastern Iowa.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 low level jet developed thunderstorms in western Iowa that moved rapidly east. Strong mid level winds allowed a wake low to develop that brought sustained winds of 35 to 45 mph for 15 minutes with gusts to 60 mph to parts of eastern Iowa. A Centurion Aircraft was flipped over at the Cedar Rapids Airport (KCID) where a gust to 49 knots (56 mph) was recorded along with damage to buildings. As the wake low passed just south of the Cedar Rapids Airport, a pressure difference of 5.8 mb (0.17 inches) was observed between KCID and KIOW (Iowa City Airport). Just south of Oxford Junction, a private weather company recorded a 2 mb (0.06 inch) pressure drop in 5 minutes as the wake low approached. The area affected was Southern Linn, Southern Jones, far Northern Cedar, and Southern Jackson counties. Numerous 8 inch tree limbs and power lines were down in Cedar Rapids. Across Southern Jones and Northern Cedar counties, numerous reports of tree limbs and power lines down were reported in or near Martelle, Olin, Wyoming, Oxford Junction, Mechanicsville, Stanwood, and Clarence. In Maquoketa, a 12 foot tree limb just missed a house and a garage.
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 Jun 10, 2:30 AM CST, 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 330 AM CDT TUE JUN 10 2003 SURFACE LOW PRESSUE WAS CENTERED OVER NW IOWA AT 07Z WITH COLD FRONT EXTENDING THROUGH EASTERN NE AND CENTRAL KS. WARM FRONT EXTENDED SOUTHEAST FROM THE LOW INTO SE IA. NICE CONVECTIVE COMPLEX MOVING ESE THROUGH S CENTRAL AND SE IA AND NRN MO EARLY THIS MORNING. LINE OF STRONG TSRA BEHAVING THEMSELVES SO FAR THIS MORNING WITH UPSTREAM ASOS/AWOS REPORTS WITHIN THE LAST HOUR SHOWING GUSTS AROUND 40MPH. TIMING SUGGESTS LINE OF STORMS WILL BE OVER MS RIVER BY 0930Z AND EXITING SERN CWA AROUND 12Z. STORMS ARE MOVING INTO MORE STABLE AIRMASS WITH TEMPS IN THE MID 60S AND UPPER 50 DEWPOINTS OVER WEST CENTRA IL...THUS SEVERE POTENTIAL SHOULD CONTINUE TO DIMINISH. SE IA AND NEARBY AREAS OF MO/IL SHOULD GET A GOOD DRENCHING THOUGH. KDMX 88D PCPN ESTIMATES SHOWING 1 TO 1.5 INCHES OVER THEIR SERN CWA...AND WOULD EXPECT SIMILAR AMOUNTS SOUTH OF I80. MODELS ARE HAVING TROUBLE RESOLVING SYNOPTIC SITUATION THROUGH THE PERIOD. EVEN IN THE SHORT TERM THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES. MODELS VERIFIED POORLY AT 06Z ON THEIR 6HR FCSTS OF THE SURFACE LOW POSITION AND STRENGTH. THE GFS WAS BY FAR THE WORST SHOWING A DEEPER LOW OVER SWRN MN. THE ETA/NGM WERE ALSO TOO FAR NORTH WITH THE LOW BUT NOT AS BAD AS THE GFS. IN THE SHORT TERM WILL THROW OUT THE GFS SOLUTION SINCE IT MOVES THE LOW OFF TO THE EAST MUCH FASTER THAN THE OTHER MODELS. WILL GO CLOSER TO THE ETA SOLUTION...POSITIONING COLD FRONT/TROUGH OVER NW CWA BY 18Z. WILL HAVE TO MONITOR CURRENT CONVECTION AND MAKE LAST MINUTE TWEEKS TO THE GRIDS. GOING FORECAST LOOKS IN GOOD ORDER FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH CHANCE POPS NW AND LIKELY SE WHERE CONDITIONS WILL BE MOVE FAVORABLE FOR CONVECTION LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THERE MAY BE A MINIMAL SEVERE THREAT OVER THE SOUTHEAST CWA WITH CAPES EXPECTED TO BE AROUND 1500 J/KG. AFTER THIS EVENING...QUESTION IS WHERE THE FRONT WILL STALL OUT. GFS/UKMET CONTINUE TO DRIVE FRONT INTO CENTRAL MO WHILE ETA/NGM KEEP JUST SOUTH OF THE IA/MO BORDER. BASED ON WNW MID LEVEL FLOW AND STRONG PRESSURE RISES BEHIND FRONT EARLY THIS MORNING...WILL CONTINUE TO LEAN TOWARD THE GFS/UKMETS SOUTHERN SOLUTION AND LEAVE FORECAST DRY FOR WEDNESDAY AND EARLY THURSDAY. NE SURFACE FLOW OVER CWA WILL KEEP TEMPS MORE IN LINE WITH COOLER MAV GUIDANCE. MODELS SHOW FRONT CREEPING BACK NORTH LATE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS A WEAK SHORT APPROACHES FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS AND WILL KEEP CURRENT FORECAST INTACT...WITH BEST POPS SOUTH NEAR THE BOUNDARY. RAINS OVER SOUTHERN CWA THIS MORNING AND THREAT OF MORE RAIN THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING WILL PRIME SOILS FOR A POSSIBLE HEAVY RAIN EVENT LATE THIS WEEK. GFS/UKMET BOTH SHOW A WAVE MOVING ALONG BOUNDARY FRIDAY...SUGGESTING POTENTIAL FOR A HEAVY RAIN AND WILL UPDATE ESF ISSUED MONDAY. DVN... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE. DLF
IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-101000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 335 PM CDT MON JUN 9 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN IOWA... NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND TUESDAY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER MUCH OF THE AREA LATE TONIGHT. THE GREATEST THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE AFTER MIDNIGHT...WITH THE PRIMARY SEVERE THREAT BEING DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. THERE IS A LOW RISK OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING OVER THE PLAINS WILL MOVE EAST INTO SOUTHERN MINNESOTA BY TUESDAY MORNING. A COLD FRONT WILL EXTEND SOUTH OF THE LOW ACROSS CENTRAL IOWA. MOIST...UNSTABLE AIR RUSHING NORTHWARD AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT...AND AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING OUT OF THE PLAINS...WILL TRIGGER DEVELOPMENT OF A THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX OVER EASTERN NEBRASKA AND NORTHWEST IOWA THIS EVENING. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE EAST...REACHING THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AFTER MIDNIGHT IN THE FORM OF A SQUALL LINE. IF THESE STORMS MAINTAIN THEIR INTENSITY DURING THE NIGHT...DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF EASTERN IOWA...NORTHWEST ILLINOIS AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP NEAR A COLD FRONT LOCATED JUST ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL AS THEY MOVE THROUGH NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS DURING THE AFTERNOON. AFTER A MID WEEK BREAK IN THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY...THUNDERSTORMS WILL AGAIN THREATEN REGION LATE IN THE WEEK. WAVES OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING ALONG A STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY OVER MISSOURI AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...WILL PROVIDE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. THERE WILL BE RISK OF HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING LATE THIS WEEK ALONG THIS STALLED FRONT. THE AREA MOST AT RISK OF SEEING FLOODING AT THIS TIME APPEARS TO BE SOUTHEAST IOWA...WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS EVENING OVER EASTERN IOWA AND OVER MUCH OF THE AREA AFTER MIDNIGHT. ACTIVATION OF SPOTTER NETWORKS ALONG AND EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER...MAY ALSO BE REQUIRED TUESDAY AFTERNOON. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING URL: HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DVN ERVIN
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
316 AM CDT TUE JUN 10 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0314 AM IOWA IA 45 MPH TSTM GUST
06/10/03 REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL
ALONG INTERSTATE 80.
0314 AM AMANA IA 2 TO 3 INCH DIAMETER
06/10/03 IOWA LIMBS BLOWN DOWN.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
KCID ASOS measured 49 knots
Damage in Mechanicsville, Stanwood, and Clarence
Measured 1 S Oxford Jct
12 foot limb just missed a house in Maquoketa
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, June 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: 5367731, 5367732, 5367733, 5367734.