A low pressure system progressing southeast passed just northeast of the state. With a tight surface pressure gradient and the associated cold front pushing through in the morning hours of April 2nd, strong winds were realized through much of the northern portions of central Iowa.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 DMX wrote it up.
A low pressure system progressing southeast passed just northeast of the state. With a tight surface pressure gradient and the associated cold front pushing through in the morning hours of April 2nd, strong winds were realized through much of the northern portions of central Iowa. A wind advisory was in effect for much of the area.
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 Des Moines, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 2, 11:37 AM CST, 31 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 1237 PM CDT SAT APR 2 2016 ...UPDATED FOR 02/18Z AVIATION DISCUSSION... .SHORT TERM /TODAY/... ISSUED AT 327 AM CDT SAT APR 2 2016 MAIN CONCERN TODAY WILL BE WIND. MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH PASSAGE OF FRONT THIS MORNING AND WINDS JUST OFF THE SFC QUICKLY MIXING BY 13-14Z. BUFR SOUNDINGS INDICATE STRONG MIXING AND STRONG SUBSIDENCE WITH THE RAPID COLD AIR ADVECTION ARRIVING EARLY THIS MORNING ACROSS THE NORTHEAST. CURRENT HEADLINES LOOK SPOT ON FOR AREAL COVERAGE AND WILL CONTINUE WITH SAME OUTLINE. HAVE BUMPED UP BOTH AMBIENT AND WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT WE MAY SEE A FEW GUSTS ABOVE 50 MPH ACROSS THE NORTH DURING THE MID MORNING HOURS. ALONG THE BOUNDARY WILL BRIEFLY SEE A PATCH OF CLOUDS MOVE SOUTHEAST DURING THE MORNING HOURS. BY AFTERNOON THE STRONGER H850 WINDS WILL MOVE EAST OF THE REGION AND AS THE RIDGE AXIS APPROACHES WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO DIMINISH SLOWLY INTO THE LATE AFTERNOON HOURS. BY 23Z GUSTS WILL RELAX AND WINDS WILL GO LIGHT AND VARIABLE DURING THE EVENING HOURS AS THE RIDGE PASSES OVERHEAD. HIGHS WILL BE A BIT CHALLENGING...BUT OVERALL A BRIEF PUSH OF MILDER AIR AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT THIS MORNING/SOME SUNSHINE AND MIXING WILL HELP PUSH EARLY AFTERNOON HIGHS INTO THE LOWER TO MID 50S OVER THE SOUTHWEST WHILE THE NORTHEAST HALF STRUGGLES IN THE 40 TO 45 RANGE. THE COLDEST AIR ALOFT WILL BE IN THIS REGION WITH -8C TO - 11C READINGS AT 18Z. AT LEAST THE SUN WILL MAKE IT LOOK NICER OUTSIDE. .LONG TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... ISSUED AT 327 AM CDT SAT APR 2 2016 MAIN CONCERNS WILL BE A HUGE TEMP SWING AND WIND TONIGHT INTO SUN...AND THEN PRECIP TRENDS INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. OVERALL THE LONG WAVE PATTERN CHANGES LITTLE WITH ITERATIONS OF CENTRAL/ERN CONUS TROUGH AND IA OFTEN IN NW FLOW ALOFT. AT ONSET WINDS WILL HAVE DIMINISHED CONSIDERABLY WITH SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE CROSSING IA AND WARM ADVECTION QUICKLY ON ITS HEELS. TEMPS WILL LIKELY BEGIN THEIR REBOUND BEFORE DAYBREAK WITH A TREMENDOUS TEMP SWING FROM TONIGHT INTO SUN...AROUND 40F IN SPOTS. EXTREME MIXING IS ANTICIPATED DURING THE DAY...POSSIBLY REACHING 700MB IN DEPTH...WITH FORECAST SOUNDINGS SUGGESTING HIGHS AT LEAST A CATEGORY ABOVE THE WARMEST MOS. NAM AND GFS VARY A BIT ON THEIR PROJECTED DEGREE OF MIXING...AND MEAN WINDS WITHIN THAT LAYER...BUT CONSENSUS WOULD SUGGEST SWLY GUSTS TO AT LEAST 35 MPH INTO MIDDAY. SURFACE WAVE DRIVING THE WIND WILL BE TOWARD WI/IL BORDER BY 00Z WITH ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT JUST EXITING SERN FORECAST AREA. THIS WILL DROP TEMPS BACK TO NORMAL TO START NEXT WEEK. SHORT WAVE RIDGING WILL KEEP DRY WEATHER AND SEASONAL TEMPS IN PLACE TO START THE WORK WEEK...BUT ATTENTION WILL TURN TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEXT STRONG SHORT WAVE INTO MIDWEEK WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY CARVE OUT THE NEXT ERN CONUS LONG WAVE TROUGH. 00Z GFS AND ECMWF ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT SPREADING COUPLED THERMODYNAMIC AND KINEMATIC FORCING INTO IA TUE WITH LOW LEVEL FEATURE PASSAGE INTO TUE NIGHT. MODELS HAVE TURNED A BIT MORE MOIST WITH HIGHER INSTABILITY SO HAVE A MENTION OF ISOLD THUNDER CENTRAL AND SOUTH. MUCH OF THE FORCING IS GONE BY WED...BUT HAVE CONTINUED LOW POPS CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST FOR WRAP AROUND MOISTURE IN MINIMAL/NEUTRAL FORCING...AND INTO WED NIGHT TO A LESSER EXTENT. THESE MAY BE OVERDONE...BUT THE GFS DOES DEPICT A COMPACT SHORT WAVE DROPPING INTO THE MEAN TROUGH WED NIGHT SO DO NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE DRYING THINGS OUT TOTALLY UNTIL CONFIDENCE IN THIS FEATURE BECOMES MORE CLEAR. THE REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED LOOKS DRY WITH IA IN SEASONAL INACTIVE NW FLOW....BUT WILL NEED TO WATCH AN ECMWF SHORT WAVE AROUND THU AS WELL. && .AVIATION...02/18Z ISSUED AT 1237 PM CDT SAT APR 2 2016 SFC WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH THRU THIS EVE AS SFC PRESSURE GRADIENT RELAXES...A PRESSURE RIDGE MOVES OVER THE REGION AND WINDS WITHIN THE BOUNDARY LAYER DECOUPLE. HAVE INTRODUCED LLWS AT ALL TAF SITES SUN BEGINNING AROUND 12Z SUN CONTINUING INTO MID-MORNING...AS WINDS JUST OFF THE DECK INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY. BOUNDARY LAYER MIXING WILL HELP END THE LLWS BY AROUND 14-15Z. VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED DURG THE VALID TAF PD. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR BLACK HAWK-BREMER- BUTLER-CERRO GORDO-FRANKLIN-GRUNDY-HARDIN-JASPER-MAHASKA-MARSHALL- POWESHIEK-STORY-TAMA-WORTH. && SHORT TERM...REV LONG TERM...SMALL AVIATION...ZOGG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 358 AM CDT SAT APR 2 2016 IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-034>039-047>050-061-062-075-031100- EMMET-KOSSUTH-WINNEBAGO-WORTH-PALO ALTO-HANCOCK-CERRO GORDO- POCAHONTAS-HUMBOLDT-WRIGHT-FRANKLIN-BUTLER-BREMER-CALHOUN-WEBSTER- HAMILTON-HARDIN-GRUNDY-BLACK HAWK-BOONE-STORY-MARSHALL-TAMA- JASPER-POWESHIEK-MAHASKA- 358 AM CDT SAT APR 2 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST IOWA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TODAY WITH SUSTAINED SPEEDS TO 30 MPH OR MORE AND GUSTS TO 45 MPH. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA. PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR FURTHER DETAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY ALTHOUGH NOT QUITE AS STRONG AS TODAY...IT WILL BE FAIRLY WINDY SUNDAY AS WELL AS WINDS FLIP TO THE SOUTHWEST. ISOLATED NON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE OVER CENTRAL IOWA TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. IAZ033-044>046-057>060-070>074-081>086-092>097-031100- SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-GREENE-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-POLK-CASS- ADAIR-MADISON-WARREN-MARION-ADAMS-UNION-CLARKE-LUCAS-MONROE- WAPELLO-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD-DECATUR-WAYNE-APPANOOSE-DAVIS- 358 AM CDT SAT APR 2 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TODAY WITH SUSTAINED SPEEDS TO 25 MPH AND GUSTS TO 35 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY IT WILL BE FAIRLY WINDY SUNDAY AS WELL AS WINDS FLIP TO THE SOUTHWEST. ISOLATED NON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN IOWA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. SMALL
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
719 AM CDT SAT APR 2 2016
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0705 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 2 WNW CLARION 42.74N 93.76W
04/02/2016 M54 MPH WRIGHT IA AWOS
&&
NWS DES MOINES IA
IRIS SYSTEMThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trained spotter reported large tree limbs/branches down with limbs greater than 2 inches. Limbs snapped from an oak tree and landed on top of a home.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, April 2016
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: 627292.