Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2025

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 50, NWS Des Moines, IA

April 18, 2025Butler County, Franklin County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 2025, 4:48 AM CDT for Butler County, Franklin County, Iowa. It was in force for 32 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 18, 2025, 4:48 AM CDT (09:48 UTC)
Expired: Apr 18, 2025, 5:20 AM CDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Storm-based polygon
Hail: 1.0 in
Wind: 60.0 mph

Counties Butler County, IA, Franklin County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:52 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 240 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 6 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -217 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1103 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 328 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 291 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, 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 this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 18, 4:28 AM CDT, 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 18, 4:28 AM CDT, 20 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 17, 2:48 PM CDT, 14 hours before

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
248 PM CDT Thu Apr 17 2025

IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-
081>086-092>097-182000-
Emmet-Kossuth-Winnebago-Worth-Palo Alto-Hancock-Cerro Gordo-
Pocahontas-Humboldt-Wright-Franklin-Butler-Bremer-Sac-Calhoun-
Webster-Hamilton-Hardin-Grundy-Black Hawk-Crawford-Carroll-Greene-
Boone-Story-Marshall-Tama-Audubon-Guthrie-Dallas-Polk-Jasper-
Poweshiek-Cass-Adair-Madison-Warren-Marion-Mahaska-Adams-Union-
Clarke-Lucas-Monroe-Wapello-Taylor-Ringgold-Decatur-Wayne-
Appanoose-Davis-
248 PM CDT Thu Apr 17 2025

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central Iowa.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight

There is an Enhanced Risk for severe storms across southwest and
south-central Iowa, with a Slight Risk elsewhere. The main threat
will be very large hail, 2 inches or larger, but damaging winds
and a few tornadoes are also possible across southwest Iowa.
Greatest risk for severe storms will be between 5 pm today and 2
am Friday.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday

Thunderstorm chances are in the forecast late Sunday and again on
Tuesday. The severe weather potential for Sunday is low at this
time.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotters may be needed this evening.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 18, 3:22 AM CDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
322 AM CDT Fri Apr 18 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0312 AM     Hail             1 WSW Hampton           42.74N 93.21W
04/18/2025  E1.75 Inch       Franklin           IA   Law Enforcement

            Golf ball hail throughout Hampton.

&&

CC

Local storm report, Apr 18, 3:26 AM CDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
326 AM CDT Fri Apr 18 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0317 AM     Hail             Hampton                 42.74N 93.20W
04/18/2025  E1.75 Inch       Franklin           IA   Emergency Mngr

            Picture of numerous hailstones close to golf
            ball size. Occurred over several minutes.

&&

CC

Local storm report, Apr 18, 3:32 AM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
332 AM CDT Fri Apr 18 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0232 AM     Hail             Garner                  43.10N 93.61W
04/18/2025  E1.00 Inch       Hancock            IA   Public

            Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).

&&

CC

Local storm report, Apr 18, 3:33 AM CDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
333 AM CDT Fri Apr 18 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0318 AM     Hail             Hampton                 42.75N 93.21W
04/18/2025  E1.00 Inch       Franklin           IA   Public

            Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).

&&

CC

Local storm report, Apr 18, 4:00 AM CDT, 48 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Des Moines IA
400 AM CDT Fri Apr 18 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0350 AM     Hail             4 S Plainfield          42.79N 92.53W
04/18/2025  E1.75 Inch       Bremer             IA   Public

            Report from mPING: Golf Ball (1.75 in.).

&&

CC

Local storm report, Apr 18, 4:48 AM CDT, 0 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 17, 8:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	DMX	Cass	65 min
Apr 17, 8:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Cass	40 min
Apr 17, 9:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	DMX	Adams, Taylor	53 min
Apr 17, 9:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adair, Cass	48 min
Apr 17, 9:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Emmet	32 min
Apr 17, 9:18 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Adams, Taylor	42 min
Apr 17, 9:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adams, Ringgold, Taylor, Union	48 min
Apr 17, 10:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adair, Dallas, Madison	45 min
Apr 17, 10:27 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	DMX	Polk	33 min
Apr 17, 10:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	DMX	Clarke, Ringgold, Union	51 min
Apr 17, 10:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Jasper, Marion, Polk, Warren	47 min
Apr 17, 10:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Polk, Warren	25 min
Apr 17, 11:01 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	DMX	Polk	44 min
Apr 17, 11:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Clarke, Lucas, Warren	42 min
Apr 17, 11:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Jasper, Marion, Polk, Warren	36 min
Apr 17, 11:52 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	DMX	Poweshiek	23 min
Apr 18, 12:01 AM CDT	Special Weather Statement	DMX	Poweshiek	29 min
Apr 18, 1:28 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	DMX	Palo Alto, Pocahontas	32 min
Apr 18, 2:04 AM CDT	Special Weather Statement	DMX	Humboldt, Kossuth	26 min
Apr 18, 2:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Hancock, Humboldt, Kossuth, Webster, Wright	50 min
Apr 18, 2:32 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Cerro Gordo, Franklin, Worth, Wright	43 min
Apr 18, 2:57 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Franklin	18 min
Apr 18, 3:12 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	DMX	Butler, Franklin	48 min
Apr 18, 3:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	DMX	Black Hawk, Bremer, Butler	45 min
Apr 18, 4:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	DMX	Cerro Gordo, Franklin, Hancock, Worth, Wright	38 min
Apr 18, 5:09 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Bremer, Butler	34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 2025 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2025

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.