A warm front lifting into the region triggered scattered thundestorms early in the morning of February 4, 2008. There were many reports of pea size hail, that in some locations, covered the ground.
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.
A warm front lifting into the region triggered scattered thundestorms early in the morning of February 4, 2008. There were many reports of pea size hail, that in some locations, covered the ground. A couple of storms dropped large hail in Iowa and Illinois.
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 Feb 4, 3:27 AM CST, 3 hours 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
327 AM CST MON FEB 4 2008
.SYNOPSIS...
ANOTHER VERY BUSY MORNING AROUND THE WEATHER OFFICE...WITH PLENTY OF
ONGOING WEATHER TO BE CONCERNED WITH...AND THE ONCOMING WEATHER FOR
THE NEXT 48 HOURS TO ADD TO IT. THIS MORNING WE HAVE A WARM FRONT
DRAPED FROM A SURFACE LOW OVER EASTERN COLORADO....ACROSS KANSAS AND
INTO MISSOURI. THIS FRONT HAS BEEN MAKING SLOW NORTHWARD PROGRESS
OVERNIGHT...ESPECIALLY ACROSS KANSAS. NO GREAT SURPRISE THERE AS
THE SURFACE PRESSURE FALLS ARE AS GREAT AS 4MB/3HRS ACROSS NORTHERN
KANSAS. 850MB BOUNDARY IS DRAPED A LITTLE FARTHER NORTH...FROM
NEBRASKA ACROSS SOUTHERN IOWA AND INTO ILLINOIS. UPPER LEVELS
SHOWING A NICE VORT MAX EXITING OUT OF THE ROCKIES OVER
COLORADO...ENHANCING THE COLD CLOUD TOP THAT CAN BE OBSERVED OVER
NEBRASKA AND INTO SOUTH DAKOTA...MINNESOTA...AND IOWA. IT IS NO
WONDER THAT THERE ARE EXTENSIVE RADAR RETURNS OVER EASTERN NEBRASKA
AND INTO WESTERN IOWA...BUT THERE ARE FEW SURFACE REPORTS OF
ANYTHING MORE THAN FOG WITH THESE RETURNS.
&&
.SHORT TERM...TODAY AND TONIGHT...
MAIN CONCERN TODAY IS WITH THE SURFACE TEMPERATURES AND RESULTING
PRECIPITATION TYPE AS A WAVE OF PRECIPITATION MOVES ACROSS THE AREA
TODAY. LITTLE DOUBT FROM THE MODELS THAT THE CURRENT SWATH OF RADAR
RETURNS OVER EASTERN NEBRASKA IS ASSOCIATED WITH A WARM AIR
ADVECTION/ISENTROPIC LIFT SURGE THAT PASSES DIAGONALLY NORTHEAST
ACROSS IOWA AND INTO WISCONSIN BY EARLY AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES
ALOFT WILL BE WARMING TO ABOVE FREEZING WITH THIS BAND...SO WHERE
SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE BELOW FREEZING EXPECT AT LEAST A BRIEF
PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN. THIS EVENT SHOULD BE SHORT LIVED
THOUGH...AND WILL BE OVER BY 18Z. TEMPERATURES IN MANY LOCATIONS
ARE ALREADY APPROACHING FREEZING...AND ALL BUT THE NORTHWEST CORNER
SHOULD BE ABOVE FREEZING BY THE TIME THE RAIN BAND MOVES IN.
THUS...HAVE ISSUED A FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY FOR THIS MORNING FOR
LOCATIONS NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM SIGOURNEY TO DUBUQUE. THIS BEING
THE MAIN PRECIPITATION BAND OF THE DAY THOUGH...WE DROP BACK TO
SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS OR DRIZZLE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE DAY AND
TONIGHT. ...LE...
.LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH NEXT SUNDAY...
THE TUE/WED TIME FRAME WILL BE VERY INTERESTING. ALL MODELS
CURRENTLY HAVE A MODERATELY STRONG WINTER STORM PROGGED TO AFFECT
THE MIDWEST. SNOWFALL FROM SUN TO HAVE A NEGATIVE RADIATIVE IMPACT
AND KEEP A DEEPER LAYER OF COLD AIR OVER THE AREA. THIS COLD LAYER
MIGHT NUDGE THE TUE/WED SYSTEM A BIT FURTHER SOUTH. HOWEVER...THE
DEEPER SNOW FIELD IS NOT OVERLY WIDE SO THE NEGATIVE RADIATIVE
FEEDBACK AND WAA MAY CANCEL EACH OTHER OUT. SAID SYSTEM LIKELY TO
ARRIVE JUST A BIT SLOWER THAN PROGGED BY MODELS. MODELS DO INDICATE
A SHOT OF WAA PRECIP LATE TUE MORNING/AFTERNOON FOLLOWED BY THE MAIN
SYSTEM PRECIP TUE NIGHT/WED MORNING. IF THE MOISTURE AVAILABILITY IN
THE VARIOUS MODELS IS CLOSE TO THE EVENTUAL TRUTH...WIDESPREAD
SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL WILL BE SEEN. THUS WILL RAISE HEADLINES FOR A
WINTER STORM WATCH FROM 18Z TUE TO 18Z WED. AMOUNTS ARE STILL AN
UNKNOWN BUT WILL TRY TO GIVE A BEST GUESS IN THE WSW. GIVEN WHAT IS
CURRENTLY INDICATED ON WV IMAGERY...THIS SYSTEM MIGHT BE A BIT
STRONGER THAN WHAT THE MODELS ARE SUGGESTING ESPECIALLY SINCE THE
MAIN ENERGY IS JUST COMING ON SHORE. SUBSEQUENT MODEL RUNS WILL BE
QUITE INTERESTING AND LIKELY WETTER. ADJUSTMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO
COOL DOWN MAX TEMPS TUE-WED GIVEN NEW AND EXPECTED SNOWFALL.
MADE NO CHANGES TO THURSDAY ON. MODELS INDICATE YET ANOTHER SYSTEM
IN THE THURSDAY/THURSDAY NIGHT TIME FRAME WHICH WILL LIKELY BRING
MORE SNOW. OVERALL DYNAMIC PATTERN LOOKS TO REMAIN ACTIVE WITH THE
POTENTIAL FOR ONE OR MORE CLIPPER SYSTEMS FURTHER OUT. ...08...
&&
.AVIATION...
PREDOMINATELY IFR OR LIFR THROUGH PERIOD WITH VSBYS 3 MILE OR LESS
IN FOG AND CIGS 1000 FEET OR LESS. KCID AND KDBQ AT RISK OF
FREEZING RAIN UNTIL 18Z THIS MORNING WITH ICING OF A TENTH OF AN
INCH OR TWO POSSIBLE. SOME IMPROVEMENT TO MVFR CONDITIONS POSSIBLE
AFTER 00Z THIS EVENING IF ENOUGH DRY AIR CAN BE DRAWN INTO
SYSTEM...BUT CANNOT COUNT ON THIS. ...LE...
&&
.DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IA...WINTER STORM WATCH FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY
MORNING FOR BENTON-BUCHANAN-CEDAR-CLINTON-DELAWARE-DES
MOINES-DUBUQUE-HENRY IA-IOWA-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-
JONES-KEOKUK-LEE-LINN-LOUISA-MUSCATINE-SCOTT-VAN BUREN-
WASHINGTON.
FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY UNTIL NOON CST TODAY FOR BENTON-BUCHANAN-
DELAWARE-DUBUQUE-IOWA-JOHNSON-JONES-KEOKUK-LINN.
IL...WINTER STORM WATCH FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY
MORNING FOR BUREAU-CARROLL-HANCOCK-HENDERSON-HENRY IL-JO
DAVIESS-MCDONOUGH-MERCER-PUTNAM-ROCK ISLAND-STEPHENSON-
WARREN-WHITESIDE.
MO...WINTER STORM WATCH FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY
MORNING FOR CLARK-SCOTLAND.
&&
LE/08HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 500 AM CST MON FEB 4 2008 IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-051100- 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- 500 AM CST MON FEB 4 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 RAIN WILL DEVELOP AND MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS EASTERN IOWA TODAY. WHERE TEMPERATURES ARE BELOW FREEZING...IT WILL BE FREEZING RAIN. THIS FREEZING RAIN IS EXPECTED TO MAINLY AFFECT LOCATIONS NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM SIGOURNEY TO DUBUQUE IOWA. IT WILL CAUSE A GLAZE OF ICE TO FORM... ESPECIALLY ON ELEVATED OR EXPOSED SURFACES. AROUND A TENTH OF AN INCH OF ICE IS POSSIBLE WHERE THIS FREEZING RAIN FALLS. IN ADDITION...FOG HAS DEVELOPED FOR LOCATIONS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80...WITH VISIBILITIES REDUCED TO AROUND A HALF MILE. SOME LOCATIONS HAVE VISIBILITIES OF ONLY A QUARTER MILE. THIS FOG IS NOT EXPECTED TO IMPROVE UNTIL WINDS INCREASE LATER THIS MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM LOOKS TO AFFECT THE AREA TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE WIDESPREAD SIGNIFICANT SNOW AMOUNTS. CURRENT INFORMATION SUGGESTS THAT THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL FALL TUESDAY NIGHT. WINDS WILL ALSO INCREASE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY WHICH SHOULD CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING. EMERGENCY MANAGERS...SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS...AND HIGHWAY DEPARTMENTS SHOULD LISTEN TO LATER FORECASTS REGARDING THIS STORM. YET ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE AREA ON THURSDAY. ALTHOUGH NOT AS STRONG AS THE STORM TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY...IT IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE SOME ACCUMULATING SNOW THURSDAY INTO THURSDAY NIGHT. LOOKING AT FRIDAY AND BEYOND...THE ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE. CURRENT INFORMATION SUGGESTS THAT AN ALBERTA CLIPPER STORM SYSTEM MAY AFFECT THE REGION OVER THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
552 AM CST MON FEB 04 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0552 AM SNOW LADORA 41.76N 92.19W
02/04/2008 M2.0 INCH IOWA IA CO-OP OBSERVER
&&
MIKEZPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
555 AM CST MON FEB 04 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0555 AM SNOW MEMPHIS 40.46N 92.17W
02/04/2008 M3.0 INCH SCOTLAND MO CO-OP OBSERVER
&&
MIKEZSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 602 AM CST MON FEB 4 2008 IAZ076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ025-026-034-035-MOZ009-010-041415- KEOKUK-WASHINGTON-LOUISA-JEFFERSON-HENRY IA-DES MOINES-VAN BUREN- LEE-HENDERSON-WARREN-HANCOCK-MCDONOUGH-SCOTLAND-CLARK- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SIGOURNEY...WASHINGTON...WAPELLO... FAIRFIELD...MOUNT PLEASANT...BURLINGTON...KEOSAUQUA.... FORT MADISON...OQUAWKA...MONMOUTH...CARTHAGE...MACOMB...MEMPHIS... KAHOKA 602 AM CST MON FEB 4 2008 ...PATCHY DENSE FOG AND FREEZING FOG THIS MORNING... A VERY MOIST LOW LEVEL ATMOSPHERE...COMBINED WITH LIGHT WINDS AND THE APPROACH OF A WARM FRONT HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOG THIS MORNING. TEMPERATURES ARE NEAR OR JUST ABOVE FREEZING...CAUSING THE FOG TO DEPOSIT A GLAZE OF ICE ON ELEVATED AND EXPOSED SURFACES. THIS HAS CREATED SLICK AND HAZARDOUS SPOTS ON AREA ROADS AND SIDEWALKS. MANY LOCATIONS ALSO HAVE VISIBILITIES REDUCED TO AROUND A HALF MILE...WHICH SHOULD CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS. THERE WILL BE AREAS WHERE THE FOG IS QUITE DENSE...WITH VISIBILITIES OF A QUARTER MILE OR LESS. BY MID MORNING...SOME IMPROVEMENT IN VISIBILITY IS EXPECTED...ESPECIALLY AS WINDS INCREASE OUT OF THE EAST TODAY.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
629 AM CST MON FEB 04 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0625 AM SNOW 2 N NEW WINDSOR 41.23N 90.45W
02/04/2008 M6.0 INCH MERCER IL TRAINED SPOTTER
LIGHT FREEZING RAIN FALLING AT THIS TIME.
&&
MIKEZPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
634 AM CST MON FEB 04 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0530 AM SNOW ALEDO 41.20N 90.75W
02/04/2008 M2.5 INCH MERCER IL CO-OP OBSERVER
&&
MIKEZPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
648 AM CST MON FEB 04 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0646 AM SNOW W NORWAY 41.90N 91.93W
02/04/2008 M2.7 INCH BENTON IA TRAINED SPOTTER
FREEZING RAIN CURRENTLY FALLING BETWEEN THE TOWN OF
NORWAY AND AMANA.
&&
MIKEZThe Des Moines radar (KDMX), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:58 UTC.
2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter measured hail the size of nickels. The storm also produced lots of lightning.
A trained spotter reported nickel to quarter size hail.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, February 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: 82141, 82142.