A storm system moving across the area brought rain changing to snow on April 3. The heaviest snow fell along the Highway 20 corridor where 1 to 2 inches of snow was common with less than an inch south to the Highway 30 corridor.
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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 DVN wrote it up.
A storm system moving across the area brought rain changing to snow on April 3. The heaviest snow fell along the Highway 20 corridor where 1 to 2 inches of snow was common with less than an inch south to the Highway 30 corridor.
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 Apr 1, 5:30 AM CST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL 630 AM CDT Sun Apr 1 2018 ...AVIATION UPDATE... .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 340 AM CDT Sun Apr 1 2018 06Z surface data has high pressure over the Plains with an upper level disturbance moving across Nebraska. Dew points were in the single digits and teens from the Great Lakes into the central and northern Plains. Dew points in the 20s and higher ran from the Ohio Valley into the southern Plains. && .SHORT TERM...(Today and Tonight) ISSUED AT 340 AM CDT Sun Apr 1 2018 Through sunrise, quiet, dry, breezy and cold conditions will be seen across the area. During the day Sunday the next system will move from the central Plains into the southern half of Illinois. If trends from the RAP are correct the far south will get side swiped by the system late this morning and during the afternoon. Based on overall forcing and dry air present, there will be a fairly sharp gradient on accumulating snowfall. The best chances for accumulating snow will be south of a line from Memphis, MO to Keokuk, IA to south of Macomb, IL where 1 to 2 inches appear possible on grassy and elevated surfaces. Going 25 miles north of that line, accumulations of a dusting at best may be seen. Tonight, lingering light snow will end during the evening across the far south followed by quiet, dry, and cold conditions the remainder of the night. .LONG TERM...(Monday through Saturday) ISSUED AT 340 AM CDT Sun Apr 1 2018 The cold and rather active spring weather pattern is likely to remain in place through the workweek. The main focus is on the weather associated with a low pressure system lifting through the area Monday night through Tuesday. Monday, a warm advection southerly flow increases as low pressure emerges lee of the Rockies. Increasing cloud cover, then rain developing in the afternoon from south to north will limit the temperature recovery to only the lower to mid 40s. Any developing light rain showers will likely stay south of I-80 during the day. Monday night, upper level forcing embedded in the S-SW flow aloft and 850 mb warm, moist advection will produce light rain and likely pops are kept over all but the far north. There, thermal parameters may support a brief period of mixed precip in the far northwest toward morning as initial dry air on easterly winds allows temperatures to cool into the lower 30s. South of I-80, scattered thunderstorms will be possible on the nose of an 850 mb low level jet of 50 plus kts and sufficiently steep mid level thetae lapse rates. Tuesday, the 00Z NAM is an outlier with a weaker, much faster surface low, while the consensus of other 00Z global models is slower with a more organized low traveling from KS to north central IL by Tuesday afternoon. The associated warm sector may have temperatures well into the 50s and 60s, possibly touching our west central IL counties in the morning. For now, confidence and model consensus favors a more conservative approach with highs in the lower 50s there, and upper 30s to upper 40s from northwest to southeast over the remainder of the forecast area. Scattered thunderstorms may be ongoing in the morning across the southeast, with scattered showers elsewhere. Current timing has the cold front sweeping through the entire forecast area by late morning, suggesting a windy afternoon in the tight cyclonic pressure gradient with falling temperatures and a cold rain. Winds of 20 to 30 mph may approach advisory criteria, which will need to be monitored as over the next few forecast cycles. The rain will likely mix with and then change to snow from northwest to southeast as the main upper level shortwave pushes through and cools temperatures aloft Tue night. At this time, only a light coating of wet snow looks likely north of the IA highway 20 corridor as precipitation ends late Tuesday evening. Wednesday will be another day of cold high pressure with highs only in the 30s after morning lows in the teens and 20s. There is a low confidence chance for light snow with a weak baroclinic axis setting up over the area Thu, then rain chances on Friday, where there is poor model consensus. Temperatures will continue to run 15 to 20 degrees below normal, with highs only in the 30s and 40s Thu through Sat with overnight lows mostly in the 20s. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Monday Morning) ISSUED AT 627 AM CDT Sun Apr 1 2018 VFR conditions will be seen through 12z/02. An upper level disturbance will move through Missouri and into the southern half of Illinois producing snow with IFR conditions. Light snow is possible south of KBRL after 16z/01. && .CLIMATE... ISSUED AT 340 AM CDT Sun Apr 1 2018 Record Lows for April 1... Moline.........17 in 1899 Cedar Rapids...14 in 1926 Dubuque........17 in 1954 & previous years Burlington.....19 in 1926 Easter record lows... Moline.........6 on March 25, 1894 Dubuque........5 on March 29, 1964 && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...08 SHORT TERM...08 LONG TERM...Sheets AVIATION...08 CLIMATE...08
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL 401 AM CDT Sun Apr 1 2018 IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-020915- 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- 401 AM CDT Sun Apr 1 2018 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 Light snow is expected from late morning through the afternoon over far southeast Iowa, northeast Missouri and west central Illinois. Accumulations of 1 to 2 inches will be possible, mainly on vegetation and elevated surfaces, south of a line from Keosauqua, Iowa to Macomb, Illinois. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY Scattered thunderstorms are possible south of Interstate 80 Monday night through Tuesday morning. Severe storms are not expected. Rain will change to wet snow over much of the outlook area Tuesday night. Up to one inch of accumulation will be possible mainly along the highway 20 corridor. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed today or tonight. Reports of snow accumulations greater than one inch would be appreciated. DLS/08
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
COOP observer snowfall reports ranged from 0.4 inches near Anamosa to 0.8 inches at Cascade.
A COOP observer in Vinton reported 1.0 inches of snow.
Snowfall reports ranged from 0.3 inches if snow in Cedar Rapids to 0.7 inches in Coggon.
The COOP observer near Maquoketa reported 0.4 inches of sow.
A COOP observer 4 miles west of Stanley reported 2.0 inches of snow.
A COOP observer in Manchester reported 1.2 inches of snow.
The official NWS observation at the Dubuque Regional Airport was 2.6 inches. Precipitation began as freezing rain that coated elevated surfaces in a glaze of ice.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, April 2018
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: 746214, 746206, 746208, 746226, 746198, 746202, 746203.