Hail, Polk
- When
- May 7, 10:35 AM CST
- Where
- Polk County
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 41.680, -93.620
Tornadoes and Hail in Iowa, May 7, 1988
8 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 13
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.
Event by event
8 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Crawford
- When
- May 7, 6:42 PM CST
- Where
- Crawford County
- Measured
- 2 in hail
- Coordinates
- 42.070, -95.200
Tornado, Crawford
- When
- May 7, 7:45 PM CST
- Where
- Crawford County
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 2 mi
- Path width
- 20 yd
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Coordinates
- 42.050, -95.600
Hail, Emmet
- When
- May 7, 8:25 PM CST
- Where
- Emmet County
- Measured
- 2 in hail
- Coordinates
- 43.400, -94.500
Hail, Woodbury
- When
- May 7, 8:25 PM CST
- Where
- Woodbury County
- Measured
- 1.25 in hail
- Coordinates
- 42.230, -96.230
Hail, Crawford
- When
- May 7, 8:30 PM CST
- Where
- Crawford County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 42.070, -95.200
Tornado, Pottawattamie
- When
- May 7, 10:10 PM CST
- Where
- Pottawattamie County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 7.2 mi
- Path width
- 73 yd
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Coordinates
- 41.330, -95.950
Hail, Shelby
- When
- May 7, 10:30 PM CST
- Where
- Shelby County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 41.730, -95.480
Hail, Crawford
- When
- May 7, 10:59 PM CST
- Where
- Crawford County
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Coordinates
- 41.880, -95.250
Hail, Crawford
- When
- May 7, 11:20 PM CST
- Where
- Crawford County
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 41.880, -95.250
Thunderstorm Wind, O'Brien
- When
- May 7, 11:38 PM CST
- Where
- O'Brien County
- Measured
- 70 kt (81 mph)
- Coordinates
- 43.080, -95.630
Thunderstorm Wind, Woodbury
- When
- May 7, 11:40 PM CST
- Where
- Woodbury County
- Coordinates
- 42.500, -96.380
Thunderstorm Wind, Woodbury
- When
- May 7, 11:40 PM CST
- Where
- Woodbury County
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph)
- Coordinates
- 42.550, -95.880
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
More
Every storm in Iowa in 1988Every state in 1988This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Iowa, 1988Warnings in Iowa, May 1988
Sources
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: 10024926, 10024927, 10024928, 10024929, 10024930, 10024931, 10024932, 10024933, 10024934, 10024935, 10024936, 10024937, 10024938.