Damaging Wind in Iowa, June 5, 1997

Iowa was located in a highly amplified flow pattern with a strong ridge of high pressure to the west. A strong upper level disturbance dropped south from Canada, crossing Iowa during the afternoon. The air was very unstable with the very cold air aloft. Lifted indices were below -6 degrees C. Thunderstorms erupted in two areas. One was a line from north central into central Iowa. The second was located closer to the upper level feature and that area crossed northeast Iowa. The main severe weather feature was hail. Butler County was hard hit. East of Dumont, pea to marble size hail accumulated to a two inch depth. Five miles south of Dumont, hail accumulated to a depth of six inches. People discribed it as a hail blizzard in Kelsey with visibility reduced to 35 feet. Crop damage was severe over northeast and north central Iowa. Much of it was done by small hail however. There were many reports of gusty winds, but most were below severe levels. High winds in Lucas county caused tree damage southwest of Chariton.