Scattered showers and thunderstorms moved across parts of the region Thursday afternoon and evening, as a cold front moved into Iowa. One thunderstorm produced hail up to the size of pennies.
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.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms moved across parts of the region Thursday afternoon and evening, as a cold front moved into Iowa. One thunderstorm produced hail up to the size of pennies.
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 May 7, 11:58 AM CST, 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 1258 PM CDT THU MAY 7 2015 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 1036 AM CDT THU MAY 7 2015 SMALL TWEAKS TO THE HOURLY POPS HAVE BEEN MADE. LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW TO THE WEST THERE WERE A FEW TOWERS STARTING TO BUILD. THINK THAT INITIATION IS NOT FAR OFF TO OUR WEST. THIS CONVECTION WILL LIKELY INCREASE IN COVERAGE AS THE SYNOPTIC WAVE APPROACHES THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. ALSO INCREASED TEMPS A DEGREE OR TWO ACROSS THE AREA BECAUSE THE TEMPS ARE ALREADY STARTING TO GET A LITTLE HIGHER THAN WHAT THE TREND HAD. OTHERWISE NO REAL CHANGES TO THE FORECAST. && .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 355 AM CDT THU MAY 7 2015 AT 330 AM CDT...A SOUTHEAST BREEZE WAS KEEPING EARLY MORNING TEMPERATURES RELATIVELY MILD ACROSS THE AREA. TEMPERATURES WERE IN THE 60S MOST LOCATIONS. LIGHT FOG WAS OCCURRING OVER NORTHERN ILLINOIS INTO SOUTHERN WISCONSIN. TO THE WEST...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS PERSISTED && .SHORT TERM...(TODAY AND TONIGHT) ISSUED AT 355 AM CDT THU MAY 7 2015 THE MAIN FORECAST ISSUES IN THE SHORT TERM PERIOD ARE CONVECTIVE TRENDS AND COVERAGE TODAY AND TONIGHT. IN THE NEAR TERM...HIGH RESOLUTION MODELS GENERALLY SUPPORT A FEW SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS THIS MORNING..ASSOCIATED WITH A WEAK SHORT WAVE LIFTING NORTHEAST INTO THE AREA. THIS SEEMS PLAUSIBLE GIVEN THE CURRENT RETURNS IN WESTERN MISSOURI AND SOME ENHANCEMENTS ON IR IMAGERY. HAVE STARTED WITH 20-30 POPS FOR THE MORNING. LATER THIS AFTERNOON...EXPECT INCREASING SYNOPTIC FORCING AND AN INCREASE IN SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORMS COVERAGE FROM WEST TO EAST...WHICH WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT AS THE MAIN FRONTAL BOUNDARY SAGS INTO THE FORECAST AREA. WITH TEMPS RISING INTO THE UPPER 70S/LOW 80S THIS AFTERNOON...INSTABILITY WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR SOME HEALTHY THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. HOWEVER...WITH THE SURFACE BOUNDARY ORIENTED NEARLY PARALLEL TO THE UPPER FLOW...DEEP LAYER SHEAR WILL BE LACKING AND ANY HAIL WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS SHOULD BE SUB-SEVERE. PWAT VALUES NEAR 1.5 INCHES SUGGEST SOME POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY ENHANCED RAINFALL AMOUNTS WITH THE MORE INTENSE CONVECTION. HOWEVER...THERE HAS BEEN SOME RECOVERY TIME FROM THE RECENT HEAVY RAINS SO NO WIDESPREAD FLOODING ISSUES ARE ANTICIPATED. .LONG TERM...(FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY) ISSUED AT 355 AM CDT THU MAY 7 2015 THE ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND FOLLOWED BY A BRIEF CHANGE IN THE FLOW ALOFT FOR MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. THE KEY TO THE FORECAST IS IDENTIFYING THE MORE PROBABLE PERIODS OF DRY WEATHER FROM FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY. ALL MODELS GENERALLY AGREE THAT ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX WILL BE ACROSS MISSOURI AT SUNRISE FRIDAY MOVING NORTHEAST. THUS THERE IS A REASONABLE CHANCE THAT MUCH OF THE AREA MAY BE DRY AT SUNRISE FRIDAY. THE DECAYING THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX SHOULD MOVE INTO THE AREA DURING THE DAY FRIDAY WITH THE BEST CHANCES FOR RAIN DURING THE AFTERNOON. DEPENDING UPON HOW THINGS EVOLVE ON FRIDAY...THERE IS A CHANCE FOR SOME LOCALLY STRONG STORMS MAINLY ALONG/EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. CONFIDENCE ON THIS SCENARIO IS CURRENTLY LOW BECAUSE IT DEPENDS UPON HOW CONVECTION EVOLVES THURSDAY AFTERNOON/NIGHT ACROSS THE PLAINS. FRIDAY EVENING CONVECTION SHOULD CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA WITH THE NORTHEAST/EAST AREAS HAVING THE BEST CHANCE. BASED ON WHAT IS BEING SUGGESTED INTERNALLY BY THE MODELS...AREAL COVERAGE OF CONVECTION WILL BE ON THE DECREASE LATE FRIDAY NIGHT WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF DRY CONDITIONS FOR MUCH OF THE AREA. GIVEN THE WET GROUND AND LIGHT WINDS FRIDAY NIGHT...SOME FOG MAY BE POSSIBLE. ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE PLAINS FRIDAY NIGHT AND MOVE GENERALLY NORTHEAST. THIS COMPLEX WILL BE IN A DECAYING STAGE AS IT MOVES INTO THE AREA SATURDAY MORNING. BOUNDARIES LEFT OVER FROM THIS CONVECTION AND A FRONTAL BOUNDARY DROPPING INTO THE AREA WILL THEN PROVIDE THE FOCUS FOR DIURNAL CONVECTION SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SATURDAY NIGHT THE MODELS ARE AGAIN POINTING TO ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX DEVELOPING FROM THE PLAINS INTO THE LOWER MISSOURI VALLEY. THE BETTER FORCING LOOKS TO BE ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF IOWA BUT THE PROXIMITY OF THE FRONT SUGGESTS AREAL COVERAGE OF CONVECTION WILL BE ON THE INCREASE LATE SATURDAY NIGHT WITH THE APPROACH OF THE MAIN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE. SUNDAY ON... SUNDAY/SUNDAY NIGHT THE MAIN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. MOISTURE WILL BE PLENTIFUL WITH LARGE AMOUNTS OF FORCING. THE MODEL CONSENSUS HAS LIKELY POPS FOR THE ENTIRE AREA. ON MONDAY THE MODEL CONSENSUS HAS SLIGHT CHANCE TO CHANCE POPS AS THE MAIN COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE CLOSE TO NORMAL. MONDAY NIGHT/TUESDAY WRAP AROUND CLOUDS FROM THE STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA HELPING TO GENERATE SHOWERS. THE MODEL CONSENSUS HAS SLIGHT CHANCE TO LOW CHANCE POPS MONDAY NIGHT AND SLIGHT CHANCE POPS OVER THE NORTHEAST HALF ON TUESDAY. TEMPERATURES TUESDAY WILL BE WELL BELOW NORMAL. TUESDAY NIGHT/WEDNESDAY THE MODEL CONSENSUS HAS DRY CONDITIONS AS HIGH PRESSURE MOVES THROUGH THE MIDWEST. TEMPERATURES SHOULD AVERAGE SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1244 PM CDT THU MAY 7 2015 TRICKY AVIATION FORECAST DURING THE PERIOD AS THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE PERIOD WILL PROVE DIFFICULT TO FORECAST. FOR THE MOST PART VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH BRIEF MVFR POSSIBLE DURING THUNDERSTORMS AND POSSIBLY EVEN TONIGHT. HAVE ADJUSTED TEMPOS TO MATCH CURRENT THINKING AS FAR AS WHEN THUNDER COULD AFFECT THE TAF SITES. WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO HAVE TO CHANGE THE TEMPOS WHEN IT BECOMES CLEARER WHERE THE STORMS WILL FORM. OVERNIGHT THE THREAT FOR THUNDER DRIFTS SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA. MY CONFIDENCE IS LOW IN TIMING OF THE THUNDER TONIGHT INTO TOMORROW...WILL LIKELY SEE THUNDER AT TAF SITES...BUT CANNOT NAIL DOWN TIMING. AVIATORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THESE FORECASTS COULD CHANGE QUICKLY AND THAT THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY THROUGH THE PERIOD. EXACT TIMING WILL BE DIFFICULT TO FORECAST UNTIL STORMS DEVELOP. && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE. && UPDATE...GIBBS SYNOPSIS...RP KINNEY SHORT TERM...RP KINNEY LONG TERM...08 AVIATION...GIBBS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 513 AM CDT THU MAY 7 2015 IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-081100- 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- 513 AM CDT THU MAY 7 2015 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 EXPECT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A FEW STRONGER STORMS MAY PRODUCE SOME SMALL HAIL...BUT THE OVERALL THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THERE IS A DAILY CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY. THERE IS A RISK OF STRONG TO POSSIBLY SEVERE STORMS ON FRIDAY. IF SEVERE STORMS WOULD DEVELOP ON FRIDAY...THE MAIN THREAT WOULD BE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. CURRENT INFORMATION SUGGESTS THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. RP KINNEY/08
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 185 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:53 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A storm produced lots of pea to dime sized hail. Hail was accompanied by 45 mph wind gusts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, May 2015
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: 594450.