Iowa, 2010

Damaging Wind in Iowa, October 26, 2010

October 26, 2010 · NWS DVN · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A large low pressure system moved into the region and continued to deepen as it moved across Minnesota, becoming the most intense storm on record in the|Midwest on October 26, 2010. A squall line formed in the highly sheared warm sector ahead of a strong cold front associated with the intense system.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS DVN wrote it up.

A large low pressure system moved into the region and continued to deepen as it moved across Minnesota, becoming the most intense storm on record in the|Midwest on October 26, 2010. A squall line formed in the highly sheared warm sector ahead of a strong cold front associated with the intense system. This line of storms swept rapidly eastward across extreme eastern Iowa into Illinois during the early morning hours. There were some reports of trees and power lines down from the thunderstorms, with a 65 mph wind gust measured in Clinton, Iowa at 435 am cst.

What forecasters said that day

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 Oct 26, 2:35 AM CST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 26, 2:35 AM CST, 2 hours before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 26, 3:45 AM CST, 50 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
445 AM CDT TUE OCT 26 2010

IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007-
009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-270945-
BUCHANAN-DELAWARE-DUBUQUE-BENTON-LINN-JONES-JACKSON-IOWA-JOHNSON-
CEDAR-CLINTON-MUSCATINE-SCOTT-KEOKUK-WASHINGTON-LOUISA-JEFFERSON-
HENRY IA-DES MOINES-VAN BUREN-LEE-JO DAVIESS-STEPHENSON-CARROLL-
WHITESIDE-ROCK ISLAND-HENRY IL-BUREAU-PUTNAM-MERCER-HENDERSON-
WARREN-HANCOCK-MCDONOUGH-SCOTLAND-CLARK-
445 AM CDT TUE OCT 26 2010

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
THUNDERSTORMS WILL EXIT THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING AHEAD OF COLD
FRONT THAT IS SWEEPING ACROSS THE UPPER MIDWEST. A FEW OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE DAMAGING
WINDS...MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. THE RISK FOR
THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO END BY MID MORNING.

FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE DAY...THE PRIMARY WEATHER CONCERN WILL BE
INCREASING WINDS. BY LATE MORNING...THE SUSTAINED WIND IS
EXPECTED TO REACH 30 TO 40 MPH. BY AFTERNOON...WIND GUSTS OF 50
TO 60 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE...PARTICULARLY ALONG AND NORTH OF
HIGHWAY 34. THIS INCLUDES THE INTERSTATE 80 CORRIDOR...INTERSTATE
88...AND INTERSTATE 380...AS WELL AS HIGHWAYS 20...30...AND 61.

WIND SPEEDS WILL RELAX SOMEWHAT TONIGHT...ALTHOUGH CONDITIONS WILL
REMAIN BREEZY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY...THE WIND WILL BE THE PRIMARY CONCERN.
SHORTLY AFTER SUNRISE WIND SPEEDS ARE ONCE AGAIN EXPECTED TO
INCREASE TO 30 TO 40 MPH WITH STRONGER GUSTS LIKELY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
THERE IS A CHANCE OF SPOTTER ACTIVATION EARLY THIS MORNING...
MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

33

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 25, 11:04 PM CST, 5 hours 31 minutes before
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Local storm report, Oct 26, 4:21 AM CST, 14 minutes before
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The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:37 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Clinton

When
October 26, 4:35 AM CST
Where
Clinton County, Clinton
Measured
57 kt (66 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
41.830, -90.200

The AWOS site at Clinton measured a 65 mph thunderstorm wind gust at 435 am cst.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Iowa in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, October 2010

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 262797.