Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, August 7, 2000

Strong warm air and moisture advection took place over Iowa during the afternoon of the 7th into the evening hours. Low pressure was located over north central Nebraska by late afternoon, with a warm front extending southeast from the low across central Iowa. Along and to the south of the boundary temperatures warmed into the low 90s. At the same time dew point readings climbed into the mid 70s to low 80s. A mesoscale convective system developed over South Dakota during the late afternoon and evening hours. This system move east-southeast into Iowa during the late evening hours. The storms were weakening as they moved into Iowa, but were able to produce severe weather over the far northwest part of the Des Moines County Warning Area. Winds of 60 MPH buffeted Ruthven in Palo Alto County, with nickel size hail accompanying the winds. A short time later, one of the storms dropped golf ball size hail in Ayrshire, also in Palo Alto County. The storms continued east-southeast and produced heavy rain, pea to marble size hail, and gusty winds but the storms remained below below severe limits.