An upper level disturbance moved across northern Missouri into western Illinois triggering showers and thunderstorms during the late afternoon and evening of April 24. One storm produced three quarter inch hail in Buchanan County Iowa.
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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 moved across northern Missouri into western Illinois triggering showers and thunderstorms during the late afternoon and evening of April 24. One storm produced three quarter inch hail in Buchanan County Iowa.
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 Apr 24, 2:01 PM CST, 6 hours 27 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 301 PM CDT FRI APR 24 2009 .SYNOPSIS... EASTERN PACIFIC RIDGE/WEST COAST TROUGH/EASTERN U.S. RIDGE EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH AT LEAST THE NEXT 7 DAYS. THIS PUTS OUR REGION IN A WARM AND WET SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. COLD FRONT WILL SAG INTO THE DVN CWA ON SATURDAY AND PUSH SOUTHEAST OF THE CWA. THEN RETURNING WARM FRONT ON SUNDAY AS SEASONABLY STRONG LOW PRESSURE MOVES FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST. THIS WILL SEND A COLD FRONT SOUTHEAST INTO THE REGION AGAIN BY MONDAY. THIS FRONTAL ACTION COMBINED WITH A JUICY AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS SHOULD PROVIDE SEVERAL ROUNDS OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS WEEKEND INTO MONDAY. ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM TO IMPACT THE REGION LATE NEXT WEEK WITH MORE THUNDERSTORMS. && .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT AND SATURDAY... STRONG COLD FRONT CURRENTLY FROM NW WI TO NW KS SEPARATING WINTER FROM SUMMER. NEAR RECORD HIGHS IN THE 80S IN THE DVN CWA WHILE IT HAS BEEN SNOWING IN PARTS OF THE DAKOTAS. PLENTY OF GULF MOISTURE FLOWING NORTHWARD WITH SURFACE DEWPOINTS WELL INTO THE 60S AS FAR NORTH AS NORTHERN MO. CURRENT MSAS DATA SHOWS LIFTED INDEX OF -8 IN NORTHERN IA. LARGE CIRRUS SHIELD...INDICATIVE OF INCREASINGLY MOIST ATMOSPHERE...SPREADING INTO THE DVN CWA FROM THE SOUTH. VISIBLE SATELLITE ALSO SUGGESTS A BAND OF ACCAS ACROSS NORTHERN MO. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD FIRE LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING ALONG THE FRONT...WITH THESE STORMS MOVING INTO THE NW CWA LATE THIS EVENING AND INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. STRONG DEEP SHEAR AND SURFACE DEWPOINTS AROUND 60 SHOULD SUPPORT POTENTIAL FOR SUSTAINED UPDRAFTS/SUPERCELLS. WITH WET BULB ZERO HEIGHT PROGGED AT AROUND 9-10K FT...FREEZING LEVEL AT 12K FT AND WATER VAPOR/FORECAST SOUNDINGS IN OUR NW CWA SHOWING DRY AIR AT MID LEVELS...HAIL PRODUCTION LOOKS IDEAL WITH STONES BIGGER THAN ONE INCH LIKELY. ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND THREAT ALSO EXISTS BUT HAIL THE MAIN THREAT. SPC HAS THE AREA NW OF A DUBUQUE/SIGOURNEY LINE IN A SLIGHT RISK. WILL MENTION POTENTIAL IN THE GRIDS/ZFP. SEVERE THREAT SHOULD DIMINISH LATER TONIGHT. ECMWF HAS COLD FRONT ARRIVING IN OUR NW CWA BY SATURDAY MORNING. SATURDAY...COLD FRONT SHOULD MAKE SLOW BUT STEADY PROGRESS ACROSS THE REGION PUSHING INTO CENTRAL IL AND NORTHERN MO LATE IN THE DAY. THE FRONT SHOULD BE STALLING IF NOT ALREADY MOVING BACK NORTHWARD SATURDAY EVENING. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE LIKELY ON SATURDAY OVER MUCH OF THE REGION BOTH AHEAD AND BEHIND THE FRONT. POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ESPECIALLY IN OUR EASTERN AND SOUTHERN CWA IN THE AFTERNOON...AHEAD OF THE FRONT. SPC HAS SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE FOR THOSE AREAS FOR DAMAGING WIND AND HAIL. WITH CLOUDS AND RAIN AROUND TEMPS WILL NOT BE AS WARM. ..HAASE.. .LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH NEXT FRIDAY... THE ACTIVE AND WET PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD OF THE FORECAST. WE ARE LOOKING AT PRECIPITATION CONTINUING INTO MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...AND THEN AGAIN LATER IN THE WEEK FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE AS THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED WITH EACH EVENT. WE MAY ALSO SEE OUR FIRST EPISODES OF SEVERE WEATHER. THE MODEL PREFERENCE IS GENERALLY A BLEND OF THE GFS/ECMWF/UKMET...ALL OF WHICH ARE IN RELATIVELY GOOD AGREEMENT INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE NAM REMAINS THE OUTLIER AS COMPARED TO THE OTHER MODELS...ESPECIALLY THIS WEEKEND AS ITS MORE AMPLIFIED UPPER LEVEL PATTERN CAUSES THE SURFACE LOW TO TRACK MUCH FARTHER TO THE WEST...ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR US SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. SATURDAY EVENING THE COLD FRONT DISCUSSED IN THE SHORT TERM SECTION CONTINUES TO SAG SOUTH A LITTLE...BUT STALLS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN FRINGES OF THE FORECAST AREA SATURDAY NIGHT...BEFORE PUSHING BACK NORTH AS A WARM FRONT AFTER MIDNIGHT. GOOD DEEP WARM MOISTURE...SOUTH 850MB WINDS OF 30-40 KTS SHOULD MANAGE TO KEEP CONVECTION FESTERING ALONG THE BOUNDARY MOST OF THE NIGHT...DESPITE BEING OTHERWISE FAIRLY FAR FROM THE STRONGER UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS AND THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW BEING FAIRLY PARALLEL TO THE BOUNDARY. SUNDAY THE WARM FRONT CONTINUES TO PUSH NORTH AND SHOULD BE NORTH OF THE CWA BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON...ENDING POPS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WARM FRONT. HOWEVER... THE SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BE RIPPLING TOWARDS THE AREA...AND BY LATE AFTERNOON THERE IS A RISK OF MORE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE AREA FROM THE WEST AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. HERE WE ARE IN A RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER...DEPENDING ON THE TIMING OF THE COLD FRONT AND ASSOCIATED STORMS. WE ARE IN THE DAY3 SPC SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK. STORMS ON SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT WILL ALSO HAVE A SEVERE STORM RISK...BUT NOT AS GREAT AS ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SUNDAY NIGHT WE GET A LOT OF CONVECTION ALONG THE BOUNDARY AS IT MOVES THROUGH...WITH SOME LINGERING SEVERE RISK DEPENDING ON THE EVENTUAL TIMING. TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE PERIOD TO BE MUCH WARMER THAN NORMAL...WITH NEAR SUMMER LIKE DEWPOINTS AND TEMPERATURES. MONDAY THE COLD FRONT SHOULD BE JUST EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA BY MORNING...BUT POST FRONTAL PRECIPITATION SHOULD KEEP SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AREA INTO TUESDAY MORNING AS THE FRONT ONLY MAKES VERY SLOW PROGRESS TO THE EAST. HAVE KEPT TEMPERATURES NEAR NORMAL...THOUGH THE NEARBY BOUNDARY AND PRECIPITATION WITH IT COULD CAUSE SOME FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT SHIFTS IN THIS FORECAST. TUESDAY IT DOES APPEAR THAT WE WILL BEGIN A BREAK IN THE PRECIPITATION CHANCES...WITH THE BOUNDARY SAGGING SOUTH INTO THE OHIO VALLEY AND UPPER LEVEL RIDGING BUILDING INTO THE AREA. THIS QUIET WEATHER DOES NOT LAST LONG HOWEVER...WITH THE MODELS DEPICTING A STRONG UPPER LEVEL CUT OFF LOW WHICH DIGS SOUTH ALONG THE WEST COAST AND DEEPENS EARLY IN THE WEEK...AND THEN SPINS OUR DIRECTION. WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE THIS FEATURE SLOW DOWN...AS IT IS VERY LARGE AND GETS CUT OFF BY EARLY WEDNESDAY. FOR NOW THE MODELS ARE BRINGING PRECIPITATION BACK TO THE FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY AS THE WARM AIR ADVECTION WING AND WARM FRONT MOVES NORTH ACROSS THE AREA...AND THEN THE SURFACE LOW RIPPLES ALONG THE LINGERING BOUNDARY FOR MORE PRECIPITATION FOR FRIDAY. THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN ARE A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY...AND PERHAPS EVEN A ROUND OF SEVERE STORMS. MODELS HAVE DIVERGED SOMEWHAT BY THIS POINT...BUT STILL SIMILAR ENOUGH TO BE FAIRLY CONFIDENT IN THIS FORECAST. THE GFS IS SLOWER TO BRING OUT THE UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM THAN THE ECMWF...BUT STILL BRINGS PRECIPITATION INTO THE FORECAST AREA AROUND THE SAME TIMES. TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE PERIOD TO BE TRICKY WITH THE BOUNDARY LINGERING ABOUT...LIKELY WITH 70S TO THE SOUTH AND ONLY 50S AND LOW 60S TO THE NORTH. ..LE.. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS KMLI/KBRL THROUGH TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD ARRIVE AT KCID/KDBQ LATE THIS EVENING AND INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. OCNL MVFR CIGS/VIS IN -TSRA. CDFNT ARRIVING EASTERN IA TOWARDS SATURDAY MORNING WITH WIND SHIFT TO THE NW TO N AT ABOUT 13Z AT KCID/KDBQ AND KMLI AT ABOUT 16Z...AND KBRL IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE LIKELY SATURDAY OVER MUCH OF EASTERN IA. ..HAASE.. && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE. && HAASE/LE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 1112 AM CDT FRI APR 24 2009 IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-251000- 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- 1112 AM CDT FRI APR 24 2009 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...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT TONIGHT...THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT AND AFFECT AN AREA WEST OF A LINE FROM DUBUQUE TO SIGOURNEY. THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS FOR THAT AREA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND...AS A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT STALLS ACROSS THE AREA. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY REACH SEVERE LEVELS. THE PRIMARY RISKS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. HOWEVER A FEW ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE... ESPECIALLY IN THE LATE AFTERNOON TO EARLY EVENING HOURS ON SUNDAY WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. SEVERAL ROUNDS OF HEAVY RAIN ARE ANTICIPATED OVER THE WEEKEND AND INTO MONDAY. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE EXPECTED BY MONDAY. A FEW LOCATIONS THAT EXPERIENCE REPEATED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY OR TRAINING STORMS COULD EVEN RECEIVE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OVER 3 INCHES. THIS HEAVY RAINFALL HAS THE POTENTIAL TO RESULT IN LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING AND ALSO MINOR TO MODERATE RIVER FLOODING. INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS SHOULD STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES AND LATER FORECASTS CONCERNING THIS POTENTIALLY STORMY WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON. SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE TONIGHT THROUGH THE WEEKEND. HAASE
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 156 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:27 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Three-quarter inch hail fell for about 2 minutes in Jesup, IA around 930 pm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, April 2009
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: 157389.