Hail in Iowa, September 21, 1994

Name: Hail in Iowa, September 21, 1994
Start: 1994-09-21T14:10
End: 1994-09-21T17:25
Location: Iowa

September 21, 1994 · 12 events in 7 counties and zones

12 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 12 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $195,000
Crop damage: $285,000
Events: 12

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

12 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Emmet

When: September 21, 2:10 PM CST
Where: Emmet County, Estherville
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 43.378, -94.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Pottawattamie

When: September 21, 2:15 PM CST
Where: Pottawattamie County, Neola
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 41.337, -95.542 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Emmet

When: September 21, 2:20 PM CST
Where: Emmet County, Ames
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 43.378, -94.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Emmet

When: September 21, 2:22 PM CST
Where: Emmet County to Estherville
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 43.378, -94.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Emmet

When: September 21, 2:35 PM CST
Where: Emmet County, Estherville
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 43.378, -94.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Story

When: September 21, 2:40 PM CST
Where: Story County, Milford Twp
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 42.036, -93.465 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Clay

When: September 21, 2:50 PM CST
Where: Clay County, Spencer
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 43.083, -95.151 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Pocahontas

When: September 21, 2:58 PM CST
Where: Pocahontas County, Pocahontas
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 42.734, -94.679 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Kossuth

When: September 21, 3:10 PM CST
Where: Kossuth County, Bancroft
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 43.204, -94.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Hamilton

When: September 21, 4:55 PM CST
Where: Hamilton County, Webster City
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 42.384, -93.707 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Story

When: September 21, 5:15 PM CST
Where: Story County, Story City
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 42.036, -93.465 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A strong cold front moved southeast into Iowa in conjunction with strong upper level system. The low level flow had been southerly for several days, transporting moisture north into the central United States. Dew point temperatures had risen into the lower 60s in advance of the cold front. These dew point temperatures combined with ambient air temperatures in the middle 80s helped create enough instability to fire up strong thunderstorms. The storms fired in two areas. The initial storms formed in northwest Iowa and tracked across the north-central into the central counties. A second area of storms developed during the later afternoon hours over the west-central counties. These also tracked east. Most of the storms produced winds of 35 to 50 mph and at least pea- to marble-size hail. The main severe weather associated with the storms was hail. As the initial storms moved through story county, quarter-size hail covered the ground and destroyed several fields of soybeans in Milford Township. Other reports of hail from three-quarters to one inch in diameter were received from northwest into central Iowa. During the late afternoon hours a collision of two outflow boundaries occurred over Boone and Story Counties. These were visible on WSR-88D data. The first boundary sagged south-southwest from the convection over north-central Iowa. The second arched north-northeast to south-southwest from the convection in west-central Iowa. Thunderstorms fired up quickly around 1700 CST over Boone and Story Counties. Quarter-size hail fell in Story County at both Story City and Roland. The main hail fell from the southeast edge of Story City eastward. Reports over the north sections of Story City indicated hail about the size of knitting needle ends. One of the boundaries were set off by thunderstorms to the north. Those storms dropped hail the size of quarters at Webster City in Hamilton County. The storms produced very heavy rainfall in parts of northwest and central Iowa. A few area received over three inches of rain, however no significant flooding occurred due to the dry antecedent conditions. The greatest rainfall reported was in Milford Township of Story County, where three and one-half inches of rain fell in five hours time.

Hail, Story

When: September 21, 5:25 PM CST
Where: Story County, Roland
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 42.036, -93.465 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 1994 Every state in 1994 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, September 1994

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: 10321771, 10323813, 10321772, 10321773, 10321774, 10324254, 10321531, 10323686, 10324357, 10321744, 10324255, 10324256.