An MCS moving through Iowa initiated isolated severe thunderstorms along its outflow boundary during the early afternoon hours. The intense line of storms on the south end of the MCS bowed out as it reached southeast Iowa and raced into west central Illinois and far northeast Missouri.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
An MCS moving through Iowa initiated isolated severe thunderstorms along its outflow boundary during the early afternoon hours. The intense line of storms on the south end of the MCS bowed out as it reached southeast Iowa and raced into west central Illinois and far northeast Missouri.
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 Sep 8, 2:20 AM CST, 10 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 320 AM CDT THU SEP 8 2005 .SYNOPSIS... WEAK COOL ADVECTION CONTINUES OVER THE CWA EARLY THIS MORNING...AS HIGH PRESSURE HAS SETTLED SOUTH INTO THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES. ON THE HEELS OF THE HIGH...VIGOROUS WARM ADVECTION THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...WITH OTHER STORMS ARCHING NORTHWEST INTO CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. AT THIS TIME...THE LEAD MCS IS BOWING SOUTHEAST TOWARDS AN INSTABILITY GRADIENT THAT EXTENDS INTO WEST CENTRAL IOWA. WE HAVE BEEN WATCHING THIS GRADIENT FOR MOVEMENT IN THE LAST SEVERAL HOURS AND FIND NONE. STILL WITH THE CURRENT MCS GAINING SIZE AND STRENGTH...WE MAY HAVE TO CARRY POPS FOR THE STRATIFORM RAIN REGION IN THE WEST EVEN THOUGH UPDRAFTS MAY NOT BE SUPPORTED IN THIS CWA. && .SHORT TERM (TODAY AND TONIGHT)... MCS EVOLUTION WILL DOMINATE THIS MORNINGS FORECAST...AS INCREASING CLOUDS AND POTENTIAL RAIN/EMBEDDED THUNDER AFFECT THE WEST. THE WARM FRONT APPEARS NOW TO REMAIN SOUTH OF THE AREA THROUGH THE DAY...WHICH IS BEST SHOWN IN THE NAM SOLUTION. IN ADDITION...THE NAM BRINGS A SECOND WAVE DOWN ALONG THE FRONT LATER TODAY (THIS IS LIKELY THE CAUSE FOR THE BAND OF STORMS INTO NORTH DAKOTA). WILL HAVE THE HIGHEST AND MOST WIDESPREAD POPS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS THE MAIN SHORT WAVE PASSES THROUGH THE AREA. TEMPERATURES WILL BE HELD LOWER DUE TO LIGHT NORTHEAST FLOW AND CLOUDS NORTH WHERE TEMPS MAY HOLD IN THE 70S...FARTHER SOUTH...LOWER TO MID 80S APPEAR TO BE THE RULE UNDER PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES THIS MORNING AND LIGHT SOUTHEAST FLOW. SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL WILL DEPEND ON MESOSCALE FEATURES AND THE AMOUNT OF HEATING WE CAN GET AHEAD OF THE DEBRIS CLOUDS FROM THE SOUTH DAKOTA STORMS. WILL NOT GEAR UP TOO MUCH FOR THIS...BUT IF WE CAN DEVELOP CAPES OVER 1500...THERE SEEMS TO BE ENOUGH SUPPORT FOR LOWER END WINDS GUSTS AND POSSIBLY SOME LARGE HAIL. AFTER STORMS ROLL EAST OF THE AREA MID EVENING WEST AND AROUND MIDNIGHT EAST...WINDS WILL BECOME MORE SOUTHERLY BY SUNRISE. FOG POTENTIAL MAY NEED TO BE WATCHED SHOULD THE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND STORMS ORGANIZE AND PRODUCE MORE WIDESPREAD PCPN. 06Z NAM IS GOING ALONG THOSE LINES...AND IF OBSERVATIONAL DATA SUPPORTS IT...WE MAY UPDATE TO RAISE POPS AFTER THE INITIAL ISSUANCE. ..ERVIN.. && .LONG TERM (FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY)... MODEL AGREEMENT IS GOOD FOR BENIGN WEATHER TO DOMINATE THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK... WITH A TROUGH DIGGING IN TO THE WEST AND A FRONT APPROACHING THE AREA MIDWEEK. WILL LEAN ON A MODEL BLEND FOR THE PERIOD. ANY LINGERING PRECIP AND CLOUDS SHOULD EXIT THE AREA ON FRIDAY... LEAVING A WARM AND CLEARING DAY OVER THE CWA. PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTENS ON SATURDAY AND SHOULD FORCE STRONG WINDS AND GOOD MIXING... AND WITH 850MB TEMPS 20-22C... EXPECT SATURDAY TO BE BREEZY AND QUITE WARM. UPPED MAX TEMPS AGAIN INTO THE UPPER 80S TO LOW 90S ACROSS THE AREA. SUNDAY WILL BE LESS WINDY BUT WARM AGAIN WITH 850MB TEMPS REMAINING NEAR 20C AND ADEQUATE MIXING. UPPED MAX TEMPS FOR SUNDAY AS WELL. NEXT SYSTEM TO AFFECT THE AREA WILL APPROACH ON TUES/WED AS STRONG UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH DIGS INTO THE ROCKIES. SURFACE LOW LIFTING NORTHEASTWARD AHEAD OF TROUGH IS PROGGED TO PUSH A COLD FRONT THROUGH THE AREA ON WED. TREND ON THESE SYSTEMS HAS BEEN FOR THEM TO MOVE MORE SLOWLY WITH WEAKER FRONTS THAN MODEL PROGS AT THIS RANGE... BUT BAROCLINICITY WITH THIS SYSTEM LOOKS STRONGER THAN OTHERS (AS IT SHOULD GIVEN SEASONAL CHANGES). HAVE INCREASED POPS IN NORTHWEST TO CHANCES ON WED WITH SOME CONFIDENCE IN SEEING PRECIP AHEAD OF THE TROUGH TO THE WEST. ..MAYES.. && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE. && ERVIN/MAYES
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 1200 PM CDT THU SEP 8 2005 IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-091000- BENTON IA-BUCHANAN IA-BUREAU IL-CARROLL IL-CEDAR IA-CLARK MO-CLINTON IA-DELAWARE IA-DES MOINES IA-DUBUQUE IA-HANCOCK IL-HENDERSON IL-HENRY IA-HENRY IL-IOWA IA-JACKSON IA-JEFFERSON IA-JO DAVIESS IL-JOHNSON IA- JONES IA-KEOKUK IA-LEE IA-LINN IA-LOUISA IA-MCDONOUGH IL-MERCER IL- MUSCATINE IA-PUTNAM IL-ROCK ISLAND IL-SCOTLAND MO-SCOTT IA- STEPHENSON IL-VAN BUREN IA-WARREN IL-WASHINGTON IA-WHITESIDE IL- 1200 PM CDT THU SEP 8 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL IOWA...SOUTHEAST IOWA...NORTHWEST ILLINOIS...NORTHEAST MISSOURI... NORTHEAST IOWA...WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX OVER NORTHWEST IOWA WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AFTERNOON HEATING WILL ALLOW FOR SOME OF THE STORMS TO REACH SEVERE LEVELS INTO THE MID EVENING HOURS. THE GREATEST RISK WILL BE LARGE HAIL...POSSIBLY UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS AND DAMAGING WINDS OF 60 TO POSSIBLY 70 MPH. AN ISOLATED BRIEF TORNADO IS ALSO POSSIBLE. THE LOCATIONS MOST AT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE ALONG AND ESPECIALLY SOUTH OF A VINTON IOWA TO CEDAR RAPIDS TO GREATER QUAD CITIES TO HENNEPIN ILLINOIS LINE BETWEEN 2 PM AND 10 PM THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE SOUTH OF A VINTON IOWA TO QUAD CITIES TO HENNEPIN ILLINOIS AXIS...MAINLY BETWEEN 2 AND 10 PM. PLEASE RELAY ANY NEAR SEVERE TO SEVERE REPORTS TO THE NOAA NWS OFFICE IN THE QUAD CITIES. NICHOLS
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 114 PM CDT THU SEP 8 2005 IAZ051>053-063>068-076>078-087>089-098>099- ILZ009-015>018-024>026-034>035- MOZ009>010-090000- BENTON IA-CEDAR IA-CLINTON IA-DES MOINES IA-HENRY IA- IOWA IA-JEFFERSON IA-JOHNSON IA-JONES IA-KEOKUK IA- LEE IA-LINN IA-LOUISA IA-MUSCATINE IA-SCOTT IA- VAN BUREN IA-WASHINGTON IA-BUREAU IL-HANCOCK IL- HENDERSON IL-HENRY IL-MCDONOUGH IL-MERCER IL-PUTNAM IL- ROCK ISLAND IL-WARREN IL-WHITESIDE IL-CLARK MO- SCOTLAND MO- THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 775 IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS IN ILLINOIS THIS WATCH INCLUDES 10 COUNTIES IN NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS BUREAU PUTNAM IN NORTHWEST ILLINOIS HENRY MERCER ROCK ISLAND WHITESIDE IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS HANCOCK HENDERSON MCDONOUGH WARREN IN IOWA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 17 COUNTIES IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA BENTON CEDAR CLINTON IOWA JOHNSON JONES LINN MUSCATINE SCOTT IN SOUTHEAST IOWA DES MOINES HENRY JEFFERSON KEOKUK LEE LOUISA VAN BUREN WASHINGTON IN MISSOURI THIS WATCH INCLUDES 2 COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST MISSOURI CLARK SCOTLAND THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...ALEDO...ANAMOSA...BETTENDORF... BURLINGTON...CARTHAGE...CEDAR RAPIDS...CLINTON...DAVENPORT... FAIRFIELD...FORT MADISON...HENNEPIN...IOWA CITY...KAHOKA... KEOSAUQUA...KEWANEE...MACOMB...MARENGO...MEMPHIS...MOLINE... MONMOUTH...MOUNT PLEASANT...MUSCATINE...OQUAWKA...PRINCETON... ROCK FALLS...ROCK ISLAND...SIGOURNEY...STERLING...TIPTON... VINTON...WAPELLO AND WASHINGTON.
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 138 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:06 UTC.
12 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 2 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
also heavy rain between Pekin and Packwood.
6 inch diameter limbs down
Nickel to golfball sized hail
Branches down along with pea sized hail and water ponding on roads
0.70 inch of rain in 25 minutes
Telephone pole snapped with numerous 2 inch diameter limbs down. Time estimated based on radar.
6-10 inch diameter trees down with numerous large branches down.
Numerous large limbs and trees were downed. Also, a corn field was flattened on 300th Street just east of Highway 27.
From co-op observer. A porch was damaged in Argyle. A semi truck with an empty trailer stopped on highway 27 just before the storm hit and had its trailer blown over.
Law enforcement estimated wind gusts at 50 to 60 mph.
Numerous branches down
From KEOK AWOS. KEOK measured a 56 knot (64mph) wind from 1500-1502 CST before power was lost. KDVN 88D radar data would suggest that severe winds continued for another 8 minutes before ending.
Numerous trees and branches down. KBUR radio measured a peak gust at their station of 41 knots (47 mph). There is also a report of a measured gust of 52 knots (60 mph) on Adams street in Burlington.
Numerous 2 to 4 inch diameter branches down throughout the city. A ham radio operator lost his antenna.
Water 6 inches deep on some streets in downtown.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, September 2005
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: 5479010, 5479068, 5479069, 5479070, 5479071, 5479072, 5479073, 5479074, 5479078, 5479075, 5479076, 5479077, 5479079, 5479080, 5479081, 5479082.