A strong system brought a mix of heavy rain, snow, and strong winds to all of eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois and northeast Missouri on the days of April 1- 3, 2024. Precipitation began as all rain during the morning of April 2nd, but quickly changed to a moderate to heavy snow by early afternoon as colder air moved into the area.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 DVN wrote it up.
A strong system brought a mix of heavy rain, snow, and strong winds to all of eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois and northeast Missouri on the days of April 1- 3, 2024. Precipitation began as all rain during the morning of April 2nd, but quickly changed to a moderate to heavy snow by early afternoon as colder air moved into the area. Snow amounts between 2-4 inches were observed across portions of eastern Iowa, with widespread rainfall amounts of 1-3 inches.
Areas of light to moderate snow and rain continued into April 3rd, with snowfall totals around 3-5 inches mainly along and north of Highway 30 in eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois. A snowfall amount of 6.8 inches was observed in eastern Dubuque county. In addition, strong northwest winds accompanied the system on April 3rd. Maximum wind gusts around 35-45 MPH were observed.
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 2, 11:34 AM CST, 1 hour 49 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL 1234 PM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - A brief shot of winter with some snow accumulation Tuesday night into Wednesday. - Winds may gust up to 45 mph on Wednesday. - Active weather pattern will continue well into next week. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 314 AM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024 Areal coverage of rain is expanding again as the deformation zone develops across eastern Iowa. The overall areal coverage of rain will continue to expand through the morning hours. By late morning wet-bulb zero temperatures at 0.5 km drop just below freezing. This should allow a rain/snow mix to develop in the highway 20 corridor west of Dubuque that slowly expands south and east to highway 30 through late afternoon. HREF snow probabilities for 1 hour snowfall rates of 1 inch or greater are only 10-20 percent indicating any snow will melt on contact with the ground. Currently road temperatures are well above freezing and will likely remain that way through the day. The net result is the snow will likely melt on contact during the daylight hours. Tonight gets more interesting. The atmospheric column slowly cools. Wet bulb zero temperatures drop well below freezing at 0.5 km with surface wet-bulb temperatures dropping to freezing, indicating a complete change over to all snow will occur. HREF 1 hour snowfall probabilities are less than 10 percent for rates of an inch or more. Thus until the ground and road temperatures cool to freezing, the snow will continue to melt on contact. An educated guess is that ground and road temperatures will probably reach freezing some point after midnight. Thus the midnight to 7 AM time frame would be the most likely period for any snowfall accumulation on grassy and elevated surfaces. Based on the current forecast, snowfall amounts late tonight should range from a dusting in most places to near an inch north of highway 30. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/... Issued at 314 AM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024 Wednesday through Thursday Assessment...high confidence on colder than normal temperatures with some snow. Wednesday will be a very windy and raw day. Light snow or snow showers will persist through the daytime hours. Winds gusts up to 45 mph will be possible during the day as the departing storm system strengthens over the Great Lakes. Snow accumulation on grassy and elevated surfaces will be determined by the snowfall rate since the ground is warm. HREF 1 hour probability snowfall rates are currently under 5 percent on Wednesday so there is a high probability that the snow will melt on contact once ground and road temperatures rise above freezing. Right now from sunrise until about mid-morning on Wednesday the potential is there for snowfall amounts ranging from a dusting to near 1 inch. Total snowfall accumulations on grassy and elevated surfaces for this entire event currently looks to be 1-2 inches north of highway 30 with less than an inch from I-80 on south. The snow will quickly end from west to east Wednesday night with some light snow lingering in the far east and northeast areas late Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Thursday night through Saturday Assessment...high confidence on dry conditions The model consensus has dry conditions Thursday night through Saturday with temperatures slowly warming back to near normal. Saturday night through Monday Assessment...medium confidence on precipitation timing The model consensus has precipitation through the period but each deterministic model is different on the timing. The ensembles from the global models show a near continuous chance for rain through the period and are likely driving the overall model consensus. A small part of the timing differences may be attributed to how each model develops and strengthens a significant storm system in the Plains over the weekend and into early next week. Right now the model consensus has a 20-40% chance of rain late Saturday night; 40-60% chance Sunday; 40-50% chance Sunday night and a 20% chance on Monday. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1225 PM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024 MVFR to IFR conditions will prevail through much of the TAF period, as we continue to transition from rain to snow throughout the area. This will be guided by both low cigs and vis, with some brief periods of LIFR conditions possible in heavier snow. Currently, cigs are hovering around 500-1000 ft throughout the area, which will continue though tonight. Visibilities will range between 3-5 SM for most, with reductions to 1-2 SM or less in heavier snow. The heaviest of the snow should move out of the area at/around 00z. From there, we will remain with vis between 3-5 SM, as light snow will persist. Winds are on the rise currently, with much of the area seeing northwest winds between 15-20 KTs, gusting upwards to 30KTs. These gusty conditions will prevail through the TAF period, with stronger winds expected tomorrow. && .HYDROLOGY... Issued at 1120 AM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024 Large rainfall amounts over the past 36 hours have led to some rises in the local rivers. Locations along the lower end of the Rock and Green Rivers are currently forecasted to go above flood stage by the end of the week. Gage locations on the Rock River near Joslin and Moline are expected to go above moderate flood stage, however that is primarily due to forecasted rainfall amounts that NWS DVN has lower confidence in achieving as the current rainfall has developed over the day. The La Moine River at Colmar is expected to crest above flood stage in the next few days as well. Across areas of eastern Iowa and northwestern Illinois, rainfall over the past 24 hours has saturated topsoils in many locations leading to water pooling in poor drainage and lowland areas. Also many smaller streams and creeks are over to near bankfull conditions, and should remain that way for the next few days. && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...None. IL...None. MO...None. && SHORT TERM...08 LONG TERM...08 AVIATION...Gunkel HYDROLOGY...Wilson
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL 1026 AM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024 IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-031530- 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- 1026 AM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024 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 Late this morning and early in the afternoon, rain will change over to snow for most. Highest accumulations are expected along and north of the Highway 20 Corridor in eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois, where 2 to 5 inches are forecast, with locally higher amounts possible. Accumulations of a half inch to 3 inches are possible for areas along and north of Interstate 80, with the higher end of that range in the north. This will result in possible roads impacts this afternoon and evening, with light snow and gusty winds continuing through tonight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY Cold and very windy conditions will be seen on Wednesday with wet snow continuing. Accumulations up to 1 inch are possible north of highway 30 on grassy and elevated surfaces. Northwest winds gusting up to 45 mph will be seen on Wednesday. These winds in combination with the falling snow may reduce visibilities in rural and other open areas. Additional rainfall of 1 to 1.5 inches through Wednesday is expected to cause rises on Illinois tributary rivers. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Rain and snowfall reports over 1 inch will be appreciated. Gunkel
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
1206 PM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1205 PM Rain 1 N Lowden 41.87N 90.92W
04/02/2024 M1.80 inch Cedar IA CO-OP Observer
12 hour rainfall total.
&&
argPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
1256 PM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1255 PM Rain 2 SE Iowa City 41.64N 91.51W
04/02/2024 M2.20 inch Johnson IA Trained Spotter
Storm total so far.
&&
argPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
127 PM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0115 PM Rain Cantril 40.64N 92.07W
04/02/2024 M2.50 Inch Van Buren IA Trained Spotter
Rainfall since yesterday.
&&
HaasePreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
131 PM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0130 PM Rain Wyoming 42.06N 91.00W
04/02/2024 M2.20 Inch Jones IA Trained Spotter
Rainfall since midnight.
&&
HaaseSpecial Weather Statement National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL 133 PM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024 IAZ040-051>053-063>068-076>078-ILZ007-009-015-016-024-030100- Buchanan-Benton-Linn-Jones-Iowa-Johnson-Cedar-Clinton-Muscatine- Scott-Keokuk-Washington-Louisa-Carroll-Whiteside-Rock Island- Henry IL-Mercer- Including the cities of Independence, Vinton, Cedar Rapids, Anamosa, Marengo, Iowa City, Tipton, Clinton, Muscatine, Davenport, Bettendorf, Sigourney, Washington, Wapello, Mount Carroll, Sterling, Moline, Rock Island, Geneseo, and Aledo 133 PM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024 ...Periods of Moderate to Heavy Snow Through the Afternoon... Moderate to heavy snow is moving through the area this afternoon, generally along the Interstate 80 corridor and north. 1-3 inches of snow may accumulate, with roads becoming slushy to snow covered, resulting in slick travel conditions this afternoon and evening. Temperatures and roads are a little above freezing, resulting in a wet accumulation on roads, but the higher snowfall rates at times will allow for some accumulation. After 6pm, roads should start to improve, as snowfall rates decrease. Expect lower visibilities in the snow as well, where it may be under a mile at times. Remember, ice and snow, take it slow! Gunkel
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Quad Cities IA IL
212 PM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0207 PM Snow Lowden 41.86N 90.92W
04/02/2024 M1.5 Inch Cedar IA CO-OP Observer
Snow since 1235p. Snow accumulating on
streets now with 1/4 mi vsby at the moment.
0115 PM Snow Dubuque Regional Arpt 42.41N 90.73W
04/02/2024 M0.6 Inch Dubuque IA Official NWS Obs
Snowfall prior to 1 pm.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall reports range from 1.9 inches by a trained spotter 6 miles south southeast of Elmoville to 4.0 inches from a COOP Observer in Mount Carroll.
Snowfall reports ranged from 2.0 inches from a trained observer in galena to 4.0 inches from a COOP Observer 3 miles north of Stockton.
Trained spotter snowfall reports ranged from 3.0 inches in Lena to 4.0 3 miles south of Winneshiek.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, April 2024
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: 1172066, 1172067, 1172068.