A strong winter storm with an associated trop fold produced sustained winds of 26-33 knots (30-38 mph) with numerous gusts of 44-48 knots (51-55 mph) during the afternoon hours across eastern Iowa and the northern half of Illinois. The variability of the measured gusts can be attributed to differential heating during the afternoon hours.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 winter storm with an associated trop fold produced sustained winds of 26-33 knots (30-38 mph) with numerous gusts of 44-48 knots (51-55 mph) during the afternoon hours across eastern Iowa and the northern half of Illinois. The variability of the measured gusts can be attributed to differential heating during the afternoon hours. In Lee County Iowa, numerous tree limbs were downed across the county. A power pole was downed in West Point with a large tree down in Fort Madison. In southern Des Moines County about one half mile north of the Lee/Des Moines County line, the top of a 40 foot cedar tree was broken off at a residence along U.S. 61. The tree just missed hitting the residence.
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 Jan 24, 3:15 AM CST, 10 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 315 AM CST TUE JAN 24 2006 .SYNOPSIS... WINDS ARE THE CONCERN OF THE DAY WITH DEEP SURACE LOW TO THE NORTH AND BROAD TROUGH SWEEPING ACROSS THE PLAINS AND MIDWEST. 08Z MSAS ANALYSIS INDICATES 989MB LOW CENTERED JUST NORTH OF LAKE SUPERIOR... WITH SURFACE TROUGH EXTENDING ROUGHLY THROUGH KMSP TOWARD KOMA. SUBJECTIVE 12Z UPPER AIR ANALYSIS INDICATES 850MB WINDS OF 40KT IN THE WAKE OF THE TROUGH... THOUGH VAD WIND PROFILES AND PROFILER DATA INDICATE WINDS CLOSER TO 60KT AT 850MB ACROSS SD/MN. && .SHORT TERM...TODAY AND TONIGHT... HAVE ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY EFFECTIVE 15Z TUESDAY TO 00Z WEDNESDAY. BELIEVE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR ADVISORY-CRITERIA GUSTS PARTICULARLY WHERE CLEARING CAN HELP MIXING FOR A FEW HOURS EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON. STRONGER GRADIENT WILL BE TO THE NORTH... BUT SO WILL MORE CLOUDINESS... THUS EVENT SHOULD BE BORDERLINE ACROSS THE CWA GIVEN THE BALANCE BETWEEN THOSE FACTORS. A FEW FLURRIES OR VERY LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS MAY SPRING UP IN THE NORTHEAST BENEATH THE CLOUDS DEPENDING ON AMOUNT OF SATURATION IN LOW LEVELS AS SOME MARGINAL INSTABILITY WILL HELP PROVIDE LIFT. AREA WILL FINALLY BREAK THE INVERSION THIS AFTERNOON... ALLOWING MIXING ACROSS THE CWA TO ABOUT 850MB... WHERE WINDS ABOVE 50MPH WILL PASS OVER THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON. IN SHORT... MIXED LAYER SHOULD BE DEEP ENOUGH TO SUPPORT ADVISORY WIND CRITERIA WHERE ENOUGH DAYTIME SUNSHINE HELPS TO AID THAT MIXING. TEMPS TODAY WILL GO NON-DIURNAL WITH FRONTAL PASSAGE... RISING THROUGH THE MORNING BEFORE STARTING A SLOW DECLINE NEAR MIDDAY. WILL STICK NEAR GUIDANCE TEMPS TONIGHT WITH COLD AIR ADVECTION POST-FRONTAL. .LONG TERM...TOMORROW THROUGH MONDAY... HELD TEMPS TOMORROW ON THE LOW END OF GUIDANCE TO SLIGHTLY BELOW AS SURFACE HIGH PARKS OVERHEAD... WITH VIRTUALLY NO MIXING TO HELP TEMPS RECOVER DESPITE CLEARING THROUGH THE DAY. NEXT BOUT OF WARM AIR ADVECTION WILL BEGIN ON THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY AS CLOSED LOW IN THE SOUTHWEST OPENS AND EJECTS ACROSS THE HIGH PLAINS AND TOWARD THE UPPER GREAT LAKES. GUIDANCE TONIGHT PUSHED TEMPS ON THURSDAY INTO THE UPPER 40S TO LOW 50S ON THURSDAY... AND PUSHED TEMPS UP INTO THE UPPER 40S TO FOLLOW SUIT. CWA SHOULD BE SET IN THE SOUTHERLY TO SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALONGSIDE THE ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW... THOUGH THE SYSTEM WILL MISS THE CWA TO THE WEST WITH ANY CHANCE OF PRECIP. PULLED POPS OUT OF FRIDAY AS SYSTEM WILL BE TOO FAR WEST TO AFFECT THE CWA. MADE NO CHANGES BEYOND FRIDAY... THOUGH NOTED THAT MODEL AGREEMENT IS NOT TOO SHABBY FOR A STRONG SOUTHERN STREAM LOW WITH GOOD GULF MOISUTRE FEED PASSING NEAR OR JUST SOUTHEAST OF THE CWA ON SUNDAY. SYSTEM WOULD LIKELY BEGIN AS ALL RAIN ON SUNDAY AND CHANGE TO SNOW IN THE WRAPAROUND PRECIP BEHIND THE LOW ON LATE SUNDAY EVENING INTO MONDAY. AS SYSTEM IS STILL FIVE DAYS AWAY... GOING GRIDS LOOK GOOD FOR NOW. && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...WIND ADVISORY FOR ALL COUNTIES FROM 9:00 AM CST THROUGH 6:00 PM CST. IL...WIND ADVISORY FOR ALL COUNTIES FROM 9:00 AM CST THROUGH 6:00 PM CST. MO...WIND ADVISORY FOR ALL COUNTIES FROM 9:00 AM CST THROUGH 6:00 PM CST. && MAYES
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 510 AM CST TUE JAN 24 2006 IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-251115- BUCHANAN-DELAWARE-DUBUQUE-BENTON-LINN-JONES-JACKSON-IOWA-JOHNSON- CEDAR-CLINTON-MUSCATINE-SCOTT-KEOKUK-WASHINGTON-LOUISA-JEFFERSON- HENRY IA-DES MOINES-VAN BUREN-LEE-JO DAVIESS-STEPHENSON-CARROLL- WHITESIDE-ROCK ISLAND-HENRY IL-BUREAU-PUTNAM-MERCER-HENDERSON- WARREN-HANCOCK-MCDONOUGH-SCOTLAND-CLARK- 510 AM CST TUE JAN 24 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS...NORTHWEST ILLINOIS...WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST CENTRAL IOWA...NORTHEAST IOWA...SOUTHEAST IOWA AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM 9:00 AM UNTIL 6:00 PM ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA. A STRONG SURFACE LOW IN NORTHERN ONTARIO IS PRODUCING A TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE AREA. IN ADDITION... STRONG WINDS ALOFT WILL BE MIXED DOWN TO THE GROUND AS SUNSHINE HELPS THE LOWER LEVELS BECOME MORE UNSTABLE THROUGH THE DAY. THE RISK FOR STRONGEST WINDS WILL OCCUR WHERE THE SUN CAN SHINE THE LONGEST. SUSTAINED NORTHWESTERLY WINDS WILL EXCEED 30 MPH TODAY... WITH GUSTS OVER 45 MPH POSSIBLE. MOTORISTS WITH HIGH PROFILE OR LIGHT VEHICLES SHOULD USE CAUTION... AND LOOSE ITEMS OUTSIDE SHOULD BE SECURED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A STORM SYSTEM IS LIKELY TO IMPACT THE AREA ON SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. PRECIPITATION SHOULD BEGIN AS RAIN ON SUNDAY AND MAY TURN TO SNOW LATER ON SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. AT THIS TIME... IT IS TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE THE RISK OF WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. MAYES
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 strong wind, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
AWOS/RWIS sites
KAWG AWOS
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, January 2006
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: 5486325, 5486326, 5486324.