Hail, Polk
- When
- May 24, 3:00 AM CST
- Where
- Polk County, Des Moines
- Measured
- 0.8 in hail
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Coordinates
- 41.600, -93.620
Hail in Iowa, May 24, 1996
Thunderstorms were widespread over central Iowa. Many of the storms produced extended periods of pea to marble size hail.
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
- $2,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS DMX wrote it up.
Thunderstorms were widespread over central Iowa. Many of the storms produced extended periods of pea to marble size hail. One storm produced hail up to just over three quarters of an inch in diameter over the southeast side of Des Moines. This was the largest hail from a period of hail that lasted nearly 40 minutes.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Damaging Wind in Kentucky, May 24, 1996
- Hail in North Carolina, May 24, 1996
- Hail in North Carolina, May 24, 1996
- Hail in North Carolina, May 24, 1996
- Hail in North Carolina, May 24, 1996
- High Wind in Iowa, May 24, 1996
- Hail in Iowa, May 24, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, May 24, 1996
- Flash Flood in Iowa, May 24, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Iowa, May 24, 1996
- Flash Flood in Iowa, May 24, 1996
- Flash Flood in Iowa, May 24, 1996
More
Every storm in Iowa in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, May 1996
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: 5544481.