Severe Storms Forces Early School Dismissals In The Quad Cities

Severe storms are expected to cut through Iowa, Illinois, and the Quad Cities on Friday afternoon and into the early evening. With the potential for severe storms increasing, schools throughout the Quad Cities and businesses are closing early.

Notable school districts in the area like Davenport and Bettendorf have informed staff, students, and parents of the early dismissal. Other businesses like Community Health Care in the Quad Cities are also closing early for the safety of patients, providers, and staff.

As we all have heard by now from the First Alert Weather team at KWQC and from the National Weather Service of the Quad Cities, our area has a strong potential for severe storms Friday afternoon and into the early evening.

Our incredible weather partners with the First Alert Weather team at KWQC-TV6 are relaying to viewers and to us that things are probably going to get bad tomorrow with the weather.

TV6 and the National Weather Service of the Quad Cities have upgraded (bad in this case) the Quad Cities to level 4 out of 5, or a moderate risk for severe storms. What does that mean? KWQC says that means severe widespread storms are likely.

The primary threats with these potential severe storms include:

• Strongs and Damaging Winds
  • These storms will be moving quickly at over 50 mph. These storms could produce wind gusts up to 70 mph which can cause severe damage.
• Tornadoes
  • Some strong tornadoes are possible with these storms. KWQC Chief Meteorologist Erik Maitland says that a few EF-2 tornadoes are possible and we can't rule out EF-3 tornadoes.

School Closings In The Quad Cities

To prepare for these severe storms in eastern Iowa and the QCA, many school districts are closing up shop early.

The Davenport Community School District announced a 2-hour early dismissal for all schools in the district.

Other school districts closing early today include Bettendorf and Clinton.

Sources also tell us that Community Health Care clinics in the Quad Cities area will also be closing today at 1 p.m.

Our weather and news partner, KWQC-TV6, has a running list of early dismissals and closings in the Quad Cities area due to the potential of severe storms. You can find that growing list here.