Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 31, 1995

A fairly strong cold front sank south across Iowa during the day. The frontal system had significant moisture to work with as the remnants of tropical storm Dean had already reach the state. The air mass ahead of the front was very unstable as afternoon temperatures rose into the lower 90s with dew point temperatures in the middle 70s. CAPE values by late afternoon were around 3000 J-kg-1 with lifted indices around -9° C. Thunderstorm erupted on the cold side of the front. The initial windshift was very shallow. The storms quickly became multicellular with very little in the way of severe weather associated with them. They did produce copious amounts of rainfall with two to four inch amounts reported in some areas. No significant flooding occurred as the soil was extremely dry. One storm was severe as it moved across Boone County. Winds of at least 60 MPH nearly blew a car off of a highway northwest of Boone. High winds also moved into the city of Boone. Another severe thunderstorms moved into Muscatine County. High winds blew the roof off of a building east of Fairport and downed several trees and power lines. A house also sustained considerable roof damage. Due to the unique construction, damage was placed at between $60 thousand and $70 thousand to the house. As thunderstorms moved through Kossuth County, lightning struck a tree outside a house in Whittemore. The tree was downed and nails popped out of the drywall in the house.