Thunderstorm Wind in Mercer County, Illinois

Powerlines were downed by strong thunderstorm wind gusts.

Several rounds of severe thunderstorms impacted the area on Sunday May 7, 2023. Two areas of storms were present during the mid to late afternoon, one entering the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City metros and another around the Burlington and Fort Madison metros. The first was the most severe, producing hail up to baseball size in Koszta, Iowa and widespread wind damage, especially around West Liberty, Iowa. This storm, and storms to the west, eventually merged into a cluster of severe thunderstorms, producing large hail and destructive winds around 70-75 mph all the way to Mount Pleasant, Iowa and Macomb, Illinois. The latter produced sporadic reports of quarter to half dollar sized hail, along with a brief landspout tornado east of Yorktown, IL. There was also severe blowing dust which was especially bad near I-55 in north central Illinois. Even more thunderstorms developed overnight across the area, and mainly produced torrential rain and isolated large hail reports.