Tornado and Hail in Iowa, June 1, 2000

At long last, the stationary front that had been over northwest Iowa for several days previous finally began to move southeast as a cold front. A surface low pressure moved northeast along the front during the previous night and was located to the north of Iowa on the afternoon of the first. A mid level cap of warm air was in place over most of Iowa, preventing convection from firing until the late afternoon hours. Surface based CAPE was in excess of 5000 J/kg by the mid afternoon hours. A line of thunderstorms erupted along the cold front by the late afternoon hours. The sheer profile was somewhat weak and thus most of the storms remained below severe limits. Storms did become severe along one area of the line in Wapello and a small part of Mahaska Counties. The main outcome of the severe storms was high winds and hail. Winds as high as 75 MPH were reported by law enforcement officials in Wapello County. There were numerous trees toppled by the winds and power line damage was reported as well. Hail up to the size of golf balls was reported in Chillicothe. The north edge of the storm produced nickle size hail and 60 MPH winds over southeast Mahaska County as well. One tornado was observed as it passed north of the Ottumwa area. The tornado caused little damage as it tracked across open country.