An upper level disturbance combined with a strong low level jet and a near tropical atmosphere to produce a severe MCS across southern Minnesota. The MCS was in its decaying stage by the time it reached northeast Iowa and northern Illinois.
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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 upper level disturbance combined with a strong low level jet and a near tropical atmosphere to produce a severe MCS across southern Minnesota. The MCS was in its decaying stage by the time it reached northeast Iowa and northern Illinois. However, a few storms managed to produce localized downbursts that downed trees.
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 Jul 19, 3:30 PM CST, 9 hours 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 430 PM CDT WED JUL 19 2006 .DISCUSSION... ROUND ONE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS JUST EXITING THE EASTERN CWA LATE THIS AFTERNOON LEAVING BEHIND AN IMPRESSIVE OUTFLOW. MODIFIED AIR BEHIND MCS HAS REINFORCED WARM FRONT FROM NW IA THROUGH DSM TO NEAR BRL. EXTREMELY UNSTABLE AIR POISED SOUTH OF THE FRONT WITH UPPER 90S OF UPPER 70S TO LOW 80 DEWPOINTS...YIELDING CAPES OVER 5500J/KG. LOOKING FOR ROUND 2 TO GET GOING IN NW IA NEXT 3 TO 4 HOURS AHEAD OF WEAK SURFACE LOW OVER ERN NE. WHEN CONVECTION GOES IT SHOULD TRACK ALONG FRONT WITH STRONG CAP OVER SW IA PREVENTING MUCH SOUTHWARD PROPAGATION. WENT WITH LIKELY POPS OVER NE 2/3RDS UNTIL JUST PAST MID NIGHT WITH SEVERE WORDING FOR WIND/HAIL. PAST TONIGHT WILL KEEP LOW CHANCE POPS GOING MAINLY SOUTH UNTIL SATURDAY MORNING WITH BOUNDARY STALLING JUST TO THE SOUTH. STRONG NW FLOW DEVELOPS OVER REGION SATURDAY PUSHING HEAT AND HUMDITY WELL SOUTH FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. FLOW FLATTENS AGAIN BY MID WEEK ALLOWING WARM FRONT TO HEAD BACK NORTH. HAVE RETAINED LOW CHANCE POPS FOR TUESDAY. KEPT SIGNIFICANT POPS OUT OF FCST FOR WEDNESDAY WITH WARM SECTOR PROGGED OVER US. && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE. && DLF
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 825 PM CDT WED JUL 19 2006 IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-201000- 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- 825 PM CDT WED JUL 19 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...TONIGHT THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS PLACED PORTIONS OF THE AREA IN A MODERATE RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT. THE MODERATE RISK AREA IS MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM WASHINGTON TO THE QUAD CITIES TO STERLING-ROCK FALLS. A SLIGHT RISK ENCOMPASSES MUCH OF THE REST OF THE OUTLOOK AREA. THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THIS EVENING OVER NORTHEAST IOWA AND NORTHWEST ILLINOIS. THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY LATER THIS EVENING INTO THE EARLY MORNING...WHILE ALSO DEVELOPING FURTHER WESTWARD...AS A LOW LEVEL JET INCREASES. THE AIRMASS NEAR THE SURFACE HAS STABILIZED DUE TO THE STORMS WHICH MOVED THROUGH LATE THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON...THUS THE STORMS WILL BE ELEVATED RESULTING IN THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT BEING LARGE HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY MORE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO FLARE UP ON THURSDAY SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM CARTHAGE...TO PRINCETON ILLINOIS. BUT THE BEST CHANCE OF SEVERE STORMS WILL BE TO THE SOUTHEAST ACROSS CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT ESPECIALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF THE INTERSTATE 80 CORRIDOR. MCCLURE
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:25 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees and limbs down across the city. One tree fell on a house causing minor damage. Several trees were downed in Miller-Riverview Park and the arboretum.
water ponding on parking lots & low lying areas.
large section of a tree down at the corner of Maple & Second streets.
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, July 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: 5526599, 5526600, 5526601.