Hail and Damaging Wind in Iowa, May 27, 1993

A cold front extending northeast to southwest moved slowly southeast across the state during the afternoon hours. Moisture was somewhat limited, however surface dew point temperatures pooled ahead of the front and reached the middle 60s. During the late afternoon hours, a narrow line of scattered thunderstorms developed. Many of the storms produced gusty winds and pea to marble-size hail. Most of the individual cells were fairly short lived. A few of the cells did produce severe weather. These cells were the ones that were somewhat isolated, thus had less competition for available moisture. One cell that became severe was over central Iowa. Three-quarter inch diameter hail fell in the Ames area, with golf ball-size hail falling farther east in the Nevada and Colo areas. All of these were in Story County. A funnel cloud was observed with this cell both southwest of Nevada and also at Colo. Another severe cell was in the Waterloo area. Hail of three-quarter inch diameter fell in the Waterloo area, and a funnel cloud was observed over the southeast part of the city. Three-quarter inch diameter hail also fell north of Brandon in Buchanan County. Lightning struck two places in Waterloo. One was at the communications center, where lightning damaged telephone and computer equipment. The second strike was at a house. Damage was limited to a few electrical appliances and the central air unit.