Hail in Iowa, September 1, 1998

A cold front moved into northwest Iowa during the afternoon hours. The airmass was not very moist, with surface dew point temperatures only in the mid 60s F., however cold air aloft created an unstable atmosphere with lifted indices approaching -10 C. A few thunderstorms erupted along the front in northwest Iowa. One of them became severe and produced hail intermittently. For the most part the storm produced pea to marble size hail. A couple times in its lifetime it produced three quarter to one inch diameter hail. At its peak, the storm produced large hail in the Palmer area of Pocahontas County. Reports indicated hail of 2 inches in diameter over the city, causing damages to roofs and nearby crops there. The storm was pulse in nature and only lasted about 90 minutes before it dissipated. The storms strengthened briefly during the early evening hours, dropping hail in the Sumner area of Bremer County during the evening hours. Damage was caused to roofs and cars in the area. Due to the maturity of the crops, damage was minor to crops.