Eastern Iowa was between systems on September 20, with a stationary front draped across southern Wisconsin into southern Minnesota and a low pressure system moving very slowly across central Missouri into southern Illinois. Showers and isolated thunderstorms occurred across western Illinois into southeast Iowa, with one storm reaching severe criteria over the town of Stronghurst, IL.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
Eastern Iowa was between systems on September 20, with a stationary front draped across southern Wisconsin into southern Minnesota and a low pressure system moving very slowly across central Missouri into southern Illinois. Showers and isolated thunderstorms occurred across western Illinois into southeast Iowa, with one storm reaching severe criteria over the town of Stronghurst, IL. Hail up to the size of a nickel and 68 mph winds were reported between 320 pm and 340 pm.
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 20, 1:43 PM CST, 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 243 PM CDT SAT SEP 20 2008 .SYNOPSIS... SPRAWLING HIGH PRESSURE IS LOCATED IN THE MIDWEST TODAY...WITH LIGHT WINDS FOUND OVER NEARLY ALL OF THE PLAINS AND CORNBELT. A BACKDOOR COLD FRONT IS FOUND OVER THE NORTHERN GREAT LAKES...WITH SHARPLY COLDER AIR OVER CANADA. OTHERWISE...THE AIRMASS OVER THE MIDWEST IS SEASONALLY WARM...WITH PLENTY OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...FROM DEWPOINTS IN THE LOWER 60S. AN UPPER LOW...THROUGH VERY WEAK...IS STILL LOCATED OVER MO AND AR...AND IS NOW DRIFTING NORTHWARD SLOWLY. ISOLATED STORMS HAVE FIRED ON THE EDGE OF THIS LOWS INFLUENCE...REACHING AS CLOSE AS STARK COUNTY ILLINOIS. THE CAPE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR STORMS...BUT CONVERGENCE IS JUST ABOUT NIL. && .SHORT TERM... LIGHT WINDS FROM THE SOUTH THIS EVENING WILL BECOME SOUTHEAST OVERNIGHT. WITH THIN CIRRUS AND SOME MID CLOUDS TONIGHT...LOWS SHOULD GET DOWN TO LEVELS SEEN LAST NIGHT...GENERALLY MID TO UPPER 50S. SOME SHALLOW FOG IS POSSIBLE..BUT WITH CLOUDS EXPECTED TO BUILD TOWARDS SUNRISE...WE WILL LEAVE THIS OUT OF THE GRIDS. SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS AND STORMS MAY CONTINUE TO POP UP IN THE SOUTH...AND ALSO THE EXTREME...NORTH CLOSER TO THE BACKDOOR FRONT. TOMORROW...WE WILL SEE DEEPER MOISTURE BUILD IN EARLY ON...AND MODELS SHOW ENOUGH FORCING ON THE NORTHERN EDGE OF THE UPPER LOW FOR SOME SHOWERS AND STORMS OVER THE AT LEAST THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE CWA. WE WILL CONTINUE THE LOW POPS...GIVEN LACK OF A FOCUSING MECHANISM. HOWEVER...WITH SLOW MOVEMENT TO STORMS LIKE WE ARE SEEING TODAY...SOME VERY ISOLATED LOCATIONS MAY SEE AN INCH OR MORE OF RAINFALL. HIGHS SHOULD BE COOLER WITH MORE CLOUDS AROUND...WITH GENERALLY THE MID TO UPPER 70S. ...ERVIN... .LONG TERM...SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH NEXT SATURDAY... WILL CARRY SMALL POP SUNDAY EVENING WITH WEAKENING UPPER LOW THAT DRIFTS INTO MO/IL REGION AND THEN APPARENTLY FIZZLES. AFTER THAT IT LOOKS DRY UNTIL ABOUT MID WEEK WHEN A WEAKENING COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE DVN CWA BUT THEN LIFTS BACK TO THE NORTH BY THURSDAY. THE ECMWF SWEEPS A MODERATELY STRONG COLD FRONT THROUGH ON SATURDAY BUT THE GFS IS MUCH WEAKER. FOR NOW WILL GO WITH COMPROMISE AND SEE HOW THIS PLAYS OUT OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. WILL KEEP SMALL POPS FOR NOW FOR MID WEEK DUE TO WEAKENING FRONT WITH AVAILABLE MOISTURE AND TIMING STILL IN QUESTION. MAINLY A ZONAL FLOW ALOFT FOR MUCH OF THIS UPCOMING WEEK WITH TEMPERATURES REMAINING ABOVE NORMAL DESPITE THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX ARRIVING THIS MONDAY. && && .AVIATION... WEAK HIGH PRESSURE SHOULD KEEP WINDS LIGHT TONIGHT AND TOMORROW...GENERALLY FROM THE SOUTHEAST. SKIES WILL BE PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY THROUGH SUNDAY...WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY AT MOLINE AND BURLINGTON DURING THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON WITH PEAK HEATING INSTABILITY. SOME LATE NIGHT AND EARLY MORNING IFR FOG IS LIKELY...BUT CLOUDS SHOULD KEEP THIS A TEMPORARY FACTOR AT ALL SITES. ...ERVIN... && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE. && ERVIN/HAASE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 445 AM CDT SAT SEP 20 2008 IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-210945- 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- 445 AM CDT SAT SEP 20 2008 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 THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON. THESE WILL BE MAINLY SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 34 IN SOUTHEAST IOWA AND WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 20 IN EASTERN IOWA. ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY ISOLATED TO SCATTERED NON-SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE SUNDAY AFTERNOON OVER SOUTHEAST IOWA...WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI. THERE IS ALSO A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS LATE TUESDAY INTO THURSDAY AS A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE OUTLOOK AREA AND EVENTUALLY STALLS BEFORE RETURNING NORTH AS A WARM FRONT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:22 UTC.
4 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Penny-sized hail fell 1 mile southwest of Stronghurst, IL at 323 pm September 20.
Penny-sized hail fell in Stronghurst, IL at 327 pm September 20.
Penny-sized hail fell 1 mile west southwest of Stronghurst, IL at 329 pm September 20.
Nickel-sized hail fell in Stronghurst, IL at 335 pm September 20.
A wind gust measuring 68 mph blew down a small tree in Stronghurst, IL at 335 pm September 20.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, September 2008
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: 130493, 130494, 130495, 130496, 130497.