A 150 year old oak tree in Cresco (Howard County) had to be cut down after a lightning strike seriously damaged the tree. The lightning strike also fried the controller card to stoplights near the tree.
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The episode as NWS ARX wrote it up.
A 150 year old oak tree in Cresco (Howard County) had to be cut down after a lightning strike seriously damaged the tree. The lightning strike also fried the controller card to stoplights near the tree.
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 Oct 25, 7:26 PM CST, 1 hour 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 826 PM CDT THU OCT 25 2012 .SHORT TERM...OVERNIGHT 826 PM CDT THU OCT 25 2012 STRATUS REMAINS SOCKED IN FROM BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...WHICH IS NOW MOVING THROUGH THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES...ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY ON INTO THE DAKOTAS. EARLY GUIDANCE SUGGESTED THAT STRONG SUBSIDENCE THIS EVENING WOULD LEAD TO THIS STRATUS DECK HAVING SOME HOLES POP INTO IT AND EVENTUALLY CLEAR OUT. WHILE CEILING HEIGHTS HAVE GONE UP...THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE IN THE WAY OF CLEARING IN THE LOW LEVEL CYCLONIC FLOW ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE US. REGIONAL 25.23Z RAP SOUNDINGS HAVE TRENDED TOWARD SHOWING HIGHER MOISTURE LEVELS REMAINING STUCK UNDER A SINKING INVERSION OVERNIGHT ON INTO TOMORROW WHICH WOULD KEEP CLOUD COVER AROUND THROUGH AT LEAST THE MORNING. HAVE STARTED TO GO WITH THIS MORE PESSIMISTIC OUTLOOK ON THE CLOUD COVER...BUT MAY NOT HAVE GONE FAR ENOUGH WITH KEEPING THE CLOUDS AROUND INTO TOMORROW. BEFORE GOING ALL IN ON THAT IDEA...WILL ALLOW FOR THE MIDNIGHT CREW TO ASSESS THE 26.00Z GUIDANCE AS IT COMES IN AND MONITOR FOR ANY CLEARING THAT MAY OCCUR. AS A RESULT OF THE SKIES REMAINING CLOUDY OVERNIGHT...HAVE BUMPED UP LOW TEMPERATURES A FEW DEGREES AND KEPT WINDS UP DUE TO THE BETTER MIXING TAKING PLACE DUE TO THESE WARMER TEMPERATURES. IT ALSO APPEARS THAT THE BETTER FORCING HAS SHIFTED EAST TO WHERE THERE HAS NOT BEEN ANY DRIZZLE REPORTED FROM ACROSS THE REGION. .LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY 253 PM CDT THU OCT 25 2012 MAIN CONCERN THRU THE DAY 4-7 PERIOD REMAINS TEMPERATURES. 25.00Z/ 25.12Z GFS/GEM/UKMET IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH THE 500MB FLOW OVER NOAM ON MONDAY. ECMWF LOOKS THE OUTLIER WITH MORE RIDGING FROM WESTERN NOAM INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST AND A FURTHER WEST SOLUTION WITH THE TROPICAL/EXTRA-TROPICAL REMAINS OF SANDY AS IT LIFTS NORTH NEAR THE EAST COAST. GFS WITH SOMEWHAT BETTER RUN-TO-RUN CONSISTENCY. MODEL DIFFERENCES SLOWLY INCREASE FOR TUE-THU...MAINLY WITH THE HANDLING OF SANDY AND ITS INTERACTIONS AS IT GETS CAUGHT UP/ABSORBED BY THE EASTERN CONUS TROUGH AND HELPS CARVE OUT A BROAD MID LEVEL LOW OVER NEW ENGLAND LATER NEXT WEEK. THE MAIN RESULT OF THE EASTERN CONUS ACTIVITY IS TO KEEP THE UPPER MIDWEST UNDER COOL AND DRY NORTH/NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT THRU NEXT WEEK. STANDARDIZED ANOMALIES ON 850MB TEMPS FROM GFS/ECMWF/GEFS SHOW VALUES OF 0.5 AND 1.5 STANDARD DEVIATIONS BELOW NORMAL FOR MON-THU. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES SOME 0.5 TO 1.5 STANDARD DEVIATIONS BELOW NORMAL AS WELL OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST THIS PERIOD. WITH A STRONG SIGNAL FOR A COOL...DRY AIRMASS OVER THE AREA NEXT WEEK AND LITTLE IN THE WAY OF CONSISTENCY ON ANY FORCING/LIFT SIGNALS...A DRY FCST FOR MON-THU PER THE MODEL/ ENSEMBLE CONSENSUS LOOKS GOOD. TEMPS OF SOME 5-10F BELOW NORMAL FOR MON-THU ALSO LOOK WELL TRENDED. && .AVIATION...TONIGHT AND FRIDAY 638 PM CDT THU OCT 25 2012 THE MAIN CONCERN AT THE TAF SITES IS WITH THE CLOUD COVER AND HOW LONG IT WILL LAST TONIGHT. CONFIDENCE IS NOT REAL HIGH THAT CLOUDS ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO CLEAR OUT AS THE FORECAST GUIDANCE IS SHOWING THROUGH CEILINGS ARE IMPROVING FROM THE WEST WITH RST ALREADY UP TO 3000FT AND LSE NEARING IT AT 2700FT. THE FORECAST MODELS ARE INSISTENT UPON HAVING THIS OVC/BKN 2-4KFT DECK QUICKLY DISSIPATING LATER TONIGHT TOWARD 4-6Z. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS EVENING...BUT FOR NOW HAVE PUSHED BACK THE TIMING OF THE CLEARING BACK A FEW HOURS. WITH THE BANK OF 2-4KFT STRATUS EXTENDING BACK TO THE DAKOTAS...AM LEANING TOWARD THESE CLOUDS BEING IN MUCH LONGER. THIS CLOUD COVER WILL ALSO KEEP TEMPERATURES UP A BIT...WHICH IN TURN WILL PROMOTE LOW LEVEL MIXING AND SHOULD KEEP THE GUSTS GOING AS WELL THOUGH THEY SHOULD GRADUALLY DIMINISH AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT RELAXES INTO TOMORROW. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... 253 PM CDT THU OCT 25 2012 WI...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. && SHORT TERM...HALBACH LONG TERM....RRS AVIATION...HALBACH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 906 PM CDT THU OCT 25 2012 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ079-086>088-094>096-WIZ017-029-032>034- 041>044-053>055-061-261200- 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- 906 PM CDT THU OCT 25 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...NORTHEAST IOWA...AND SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... NO ACTION IS NEEDED. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... NO WEBINAR IS SCHEDULED. ZT/HALBACH
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:32 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A oak tree in Cresco, estimated to be at least 150 years old, had to be cut down after a lightning strike seriously damaged the tree. The lightning strike also took out the controller card to some nearby stoplights.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, October 2012
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: 414462.