Thunderstorms developed along a cold front and moved across portions of northeast Iowa in the morning hours of June 4th. Lightning from the thunderstorms struck a barn and started it on fire in rural Mitchell County.
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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 ARX wrote it up.
Thunderstorms developed along a cold front and moved across portions of northeast Iowa in the morning hours of June 4th. Lightning from the thunderstorms struck a barn and started it on fire in rural Mitchell County.
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 La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 4, 1:45 AM CST, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 245 AM CDT FRI JUN 4 2010 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT FORECAST CONCERNS CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON THE PCPN CHANCES. MASS OF SHOWERS WITH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WAS TRACKING EASTWARD ACROSS THE REGION EARLY THIS MORNING. A SHORTWAVE A LOFT...ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT...RIDGE OF WARM/MOIST ISENTROPIC AIR...AND THE NOSE OF THE LOW LEVEL JET/MOISTURE TRANSPORT...WERE ALL HAVING A HAND IN THIS PRECIPITATION. IT WILL BE A WET EARLY MORNING FOR MUCH OF THE LOCAL AREA AS A RESULT. CURRENT TIMING ON THE PCPN WOULD MOVE IT EAST OF SOUTHEAST MN/NORTHEAST IA BY 9-10 AM...AND THEN EAST OF MOST OF THE REST OF THE FORECAST AREA TOWARD NOON. THE BOUNDARY AND SHORTWAVE COULD LINGER CHANCES FOR THE FAR NORTH THIS AFTERNOON...BUT THE BULK OF THE PCPN WILL HAVE SHIFTED TO THE EAST. HOWEVER...THE COLD FRONT WILL BE IN A WEST-EAST ORIENTATION FROM SOUTHERN IA ACROSS NORTHERN ILL. INSTABILITY WILL BUILD IN THE WARM SECTOR AND ALONG THE FRONT...LEADING TO MORE DEVELOPMENT AROUND THE BOUNDARY LATER THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING. COULD BE SOME SEVERE WEATHER. HOWEVER...THE FRONT SHOULD BE FAR ENOUGH SOUTH WHERE THIS ACTIVITY WILL NOT IMPACT THE LOCAL AREA. WITH THE FRONT CAUGHT UP IN THE ZONAL FLOW A LOFT...NOT MUCH IMPETUS FOR IT TO MOVE...AND ITS EXPECTED TO BE LINGERING OVER SOUTHERN IA/NORTHERN ILL TONIGHT THROUGH MUCH OF SAT. THE LOW LEVEL JET AND MOISTURE TRANSPORT WILL FOCUS INTO THE BOUNDARY AGAIN TONIGHT...LEADING TO ANOTHER CLUSTER OF STORMS DEVELOPING OVER IA...MOVING EAST INTO NORTHERN ILL. THIS COULD IMPACT SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. HOWEVER...THE GFS AND NAM POINT TO A SHORTWAVE TROUGH DROPPING ACROSS THE REGION SAT AFTERNOON/EVENING...WITH ANOTHER BIT OF ENERGY SPINNING OVER THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY ON SUNDAY. THESE FEATURES WILL HELP KICK THE FRONT TO THE SOUTHEAST...BUT ALSO BRING MORE PCPN CHANCES. SFC DEWPOINTS STAY RELATIVELY LOW FOR SAT/SUN...MOSTLY LOW/MID 50S...AND INSTABILITY WILL STAY RELATIVELY LOW THROUGH THE WEEKEND ALSO. DON/T EXPECT A SEVERE THREAT AT THE MOMENT AS A RESULT. OVERALL...PCPN CHANCES WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE WEEKEND...ALTHOUGH SHOULD BE LOWEST...BETTER CHANCES FOR DRY CONDITIONS...ON SUNDAY. HIGH TEMPERATURES LOOK TO STAY NEAR OR BELOW NORMAL. .LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY MODELS STILL SHOW FAIRLY ZONAL FLOW A LOFT THROUGH THE PERIOD...BUT POINT TO SOME RIDGING DEVELOPING OVER THE PLAINS TOWARD THE END OF THE NEW WORK...MORE AMPLIFIED IN THE GFS COMPARED TO THE ECMWF. BITS OF SHORTWAVE ENERGY WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK THROUGH THIS FLOW...BRINGING OCCASIONAL SHOWER/STORM CHANCES. THE WHEN/WHERE CONTINUES TO BE PROBLEMATIC...AS THE MODELS HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME WORKING OUT THESE SMALLER DETAILS. CONFIDENCE...THEREFORE... CONTINUES LOW IN TIMING FOR PCPN CHANCES IN THE LATER PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST. TEMPERATURES LOOK FAIRLY SEASONABLE...PERHAPS A BIT COOL AT TIMES FOR EARLY JUNE. && .AVIATION... A SFC LOW AND MID LEVEL TROUGH/SHORTWAVE WILL CONTINUE MOVING EAST ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING. FORCING/LIFT AHEAD OF THESE FEATURES WILL PRODUCE RAIN AND LOWERED CIGS ACROSS THE TAF SITES THIS MORNING...THRU ABOUT 12Z AT KRST AND ABOUT 15Z AT KLSE. INSTABILITY REMAINS QUITE LIMITED ACROSS THE AREA...WITH TSRA EXPECTED TO BE ISOLATED IN COVERAGE AND BRIEF AT ANY ONE LOCATION IF THEY OCCUR. WILL LIMIT MENTION IN TAFS TO CB FOR NOW. WITH BULK OF THE FORCING/LIFT FOR THE RAIN ABOVE 850MB...MOST CIGS WILL BE VFR...WITH MVFR CIGS/VSBYS IN THE HEAVIER RAIN/SHRA. WITH PASSAGE OF THE MID LEVEL SHORTWAVE THIS MORNING...DRIER MID LEVEL AIR WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA WITH VFR CONDITIONS THEN EXPECTED THRU THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE NEXT SYSTEM ALREADY APPROACHES THE AREA BY LATE TONIGHT INTO SAT MORNING. STRONGER FORCING/LIFT WITH THIS SYSTEM AND -SHRA/TSRA CHANCES WILL REMAIN SOUTH/WEST OF THE TAF SITES UNTIL MID MORNING SAT...AFTER WHICH SCT -SHRA/ISOLD TSRA AND SCT MVFR CIGS/VSBYS WOULD AGAIN BE POSSIBLE AT THE TAF SITES. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. && SHORT/LONG TERM... RIECK AVIATION.......... RRS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 500 AM CDT FRI JUN 4 2010 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029-032>034- 041>044-053>055-061-051100- ADAMS-ALLAMAKEE-BUFFALO-CHICKASAW-CLARK-CLAYTON-CRAWFORD-DODGE- FAYETTE-FILLMORE-FLOYD-GRANT-HOUSTON-HOWARD-JACKSON-JUNEAU-LA CROSSE- MITCHELL-MONROE-MOWER-OLMSTED-RICHLAND-TAYLOR-TREMPEALEAU-VERNON- WABASHA-WINNESHIEK-WINONA- 500 AM CDT FRI JUN 4 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...NORTHEAST IOWA...INTO WESTERN AND CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING...MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. ANOTHER CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO AREAS SOUTHWEST OF A ROCHESTER MINNESOTA TO WAUKON IOWA AND BOSCOBEL WISCONSIN LINE LATE TONIGHT. DUE TO LIMITED INSTABILITY...ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO OCCUR LATE TONIGHT ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT... BUT ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN THE FORECAST SUNDAY AND AGAIN MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. IT IS TOO EARLY TO DETERMINE THE SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL WITH ANY OF THESE CHANCES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT...THOUGH ANY RAINFALL REPORTS WILL BE APPRECIATED. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO CALL IS SCHEDULED. RRS
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 148 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:48 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning caused a barn to catch on fire and destroyed the barn in rural Mitchell County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, June 2010
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: 226252.