Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, September 14, 2000

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, September 14, 2000
Start: 2000-09-14T00:03
End: 2000-09-14T02:42
Location: Iowa

September 14, 2000 · NWS DVN · 13 events in 3 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $55,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 13

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 DVN wrote it up.

A vigorous upper level disturbance, dropping through the Dakotas, triggered scattered strong to severe thunderstorms from near Sioux Falls, South Dakota through Northern Iowa to near Rochester, Minnesota during the late afternoon on the 13th. The storms propagated east southeast during the evening. A small scale bow echo moved into the Waterloo and Marshalltown areas late in the evening on the 13th and weakened, as a gust front, marking the leading edge of cooler and stable air, surged out ahead of the small scale bow echo, choking off the inflow and weakening the storms. Additional strong to severe thunderstorms reignited early on the morning of the 14th, near the intersection of the outflow and surface cold front from Waterloo to Dubuque. The convection blossomed into a Mesoscale Convective System or MCS and tracked through Eastern Iowa producing very heavy rain, large hail and damaging winds. Lightning and strong winds from the storms knocked out power to some 4,400 homes in the Quad Cities.

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 155 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:02 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Buchanan

When: September 14, 12:03 AM CST
Where: Buchanan County, Jesup
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.483, -92.050

Hail, Buchanan

When: September 14, 12:05 AM CST
Where: Buchanan County, Jesup
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 42.483, -92.050

Hail lasted for five minutes.

Hail, Buchanan

When: September 14, 12:10 AM CST
Where: Buchanan County, Independence
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.467, -91.883

Hail, Scott

When: September 14, 12:54 AM CST
Where: Scott County, Davenport
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 41.533, -90.583

Hail, Scott

When: September 14, 12:55 AM CST
Where: Scott County, Davenport
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 41.533, -90.583

Hail, Scott

When: September 14, 12:58 AM CST
Where: Scott County, Davenport
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 41.533, -90.583

Hail, Scott

When: September 14, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Scott County, Davenport
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.533, -90.583

At the intersection of Division and Central.

Hail, Scott

When: September 14, 1:01 AM CST
Where: Scott County, Davenport
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 41.533, -90.583

At the intersection of Kimberly and Division.

Thunderstorm Wind, Muscatine

When: September 14, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Muscatine County, 2 mi SE of Stockton
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.567, -90.850

Straight line winds flattened two large steel towers that hold the high voltage power lines of Mid American Energy Company.

Thunderstorm Wind, Scott

When: September 14, 2:10 AM CST
Where: Scott County, Walcott
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 41.583, -90.783

Six to nine inch tree limbs broken completely off several trees. Corn in surrounding fields blown partially over.

Hail, Scott

When: September 14, 2:13 AM CST
Where: Scott County, Davenport Arpt
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.617, -90.583

Hail, Scott

When: September 14, 2:40 AM CST
Where: Scott County, Eldridge
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.667, -90.600

Large hail dented siding, damaged roofs and punched holes in vinyl shutters on several homes. Hail also damaged several vehicles.

Lightning, Scott

When: September 14, 2:42 AM CST
Where: Scott County, Eldridge
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.637, -90.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck a home on Scott Park Road. The lightning ignited a fire which damaged the attic area of the home.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 2000 Every state in 2000 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, September 2000

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: 5157920, 5157921, 5157922, 5161619, 5161695, 5161696, 5161697, 5161698, 5161702, 5161700, 5161699, 5161703, 5161701.