Iowa, 2001

Hail in Iowa, April 10, 2001

April 10, 2001 · NWS DMX · 3 events in 1 county or zone

In the wake of the strong thunderstorm cluster that moved through the area during the mid day hours, another round of thunderstorms lifted north out of Kansas and Missouri. A strong push of warm and moist air took place with severe thunderstorms developing on the nose of the low level jet stream.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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
$10,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 DMX wrote it up.

In the wake of the strong thunderstorm cluster that moved through the area during the mid day hours, another round of thunderstorms lifted north out of Kansas and Missouri. A strong push of warm and moist air took place with severe thunderstorms developing on the nose of the low level jet stream. Iowa was on the cool side of the frontal system and as a result the severe thunderstorms had a difficult time surviving. One cluster of storms produced hail from nickel up to golf ball size in Cass County before it weakened.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Des Moines, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 10, 2:45 PM CST, 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 10, 2:45 PM CST, 31 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
345 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2001

BUSY WITH SVR WX, SO WL HIT HIGHLIGHTS.  OPTED TO GO MORE IN LINE
WITH AVN ON FCST AS NGM SEEMS TOO QUICK WITH DRY AIR AND ETA TO
SLOW.  AVN DID DECENT JOB ON SIM STTN SAT AS WELL.  TSTMS SPRDG INTO
CWA ATTM AND WL CONT TO INC.  FFA ENTIRE CWA TNGT AND WED WITH 1 TO
2 INCH OF QPF LKLY TO CAUSE DECENT FLOODING.  GUID TEMPS LK RSNBL
AND WENT WITH FOR MST PART.
DSM ++411   ALO ++731

.DSM...NONE FFA ENTIRE CWA THRU WED.
MS APR 01

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 10, 11:07 AM CST, 4 hours 9 minutes before
CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1207 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2001

A WARM FRONT ACROSS NORTHERN KANSAS THROUGH CENTRAL MISSOURI WILL
LIFT NORTH THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN IOWA BY
THIS EVENING AND INTO NORTHERN IOWA BY WEDNESDAY MORNING. WARM MOIST
UNSTABLE AIR WILL BE LIFTED OVER THE WARM FRONT. SHEAR AND
INSTABILITY VALUES WILL BE MARGINAL...WITH THE BEST THREAT FOR
SEVERE STORMS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80. ABUNDANT GULF MOISTURE AND A
STRONG LOW LEVEL JET WILL ACT TO ENHANCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN
ORGANIZED CONVECTION OVERNIGHT...THUS INCREASING THE THREAT OF
LOCALIZED HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE FLOODING.

SEE SITE SPECIFIC DETAILS BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION.

IAZ006-007-016-017-025>028-036>039-111100-
BLACK HAWK-BREMER-BUTLER-CERRO
GORDO-FRANKLIN-GRUNDY-HAMILTON-HANCOCK-HARDIN-WINNEBAGO-WORTH-WRIGHT-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...IOWA FALLS...MASON CITY...WATERLOO...
WAVERLY AND WEBSTER CITY
1207 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2001

* EVENT TIMING... AFTER 500 PM

* THREAT CATEGORIES...
     TORNADO.......... NONE
     DAMAGING WINDS... LOW
     LARGE HAIL....... LOW
     FLASH FLOODING... MODERATE

* SPOTTER ACTIVATION OUTLOOK... LOW

IAZ004-005-015-023-024-033>035-111100-
CALHOUN-EMMET-HUMBOLDT-KOSSUTH-PALO ALTO-POCAHONTAS-SAC-WEBSTER-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ALGONA...ESTHERVILLE AND FORT DODGE
1207 AM CDT TUE APR 10 2001

* EVENT TIMING... BEGINNING FROM 100 PM TO 300 PM

* THREAT CATEGORIES...
     TORNADO.......... NONE
     DAMAGING WINDS... LOW
     LARGE HAIL....... LOW
     FLASH FLOODING... MODERATE

* SPOTTER ACTIVATION OUTLOOK... LOW

IAZ044>047-057>060-070>073-081>084-092>095-111100-
ADAIR-ADAMS-AUDUBON-BOONE-CARROLL-CASS-CLARKE-CRAWFORD-DALLAS-
DECATUR-GREENE-GUTHRIE-LUCAS-MADISON-POLK-RINGGOLD-TAYLOR-UNION-
WARREN-WAYNE-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ATLANTIC...BOONE...CARROLL...CHARITON...
CRESTON...DENISON...DES MOINES...INDIANOLA...LAMONI AND PERRY
1207 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2001

* EVENT TIMING... BEGINNING BETWEEN 100 PM AND 300 PM

* THREAT CATEGORIES...
     TORNADO.......... NONE
     DAMAGING WINDS... LOW
     LARGE HAIL....... MODERATE
     FLASH FLOODING... MODERATE

* SPOTTER ACTIVATION OUTLOOK... MODERATE

IAZ048>050-061-062-074-075-085-086-096-097-111100-
APPANOOSE-DAVIS-JASPER-MAHASKA-MARION-MARSHALL-MONROE-POWESHIEK-
STORY-TAMA-WAPELLO-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...AMES...CENTERVILLE...GRINNELL...
KNOXVILLE...MARSHALLTOWN...NEWTON...OSKALOOSA...OTTUMWA AND PELLA
1207 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2001

* EVENT TIMING... AFTER 400 PM

* THREAT CATEGORIES...
     TORNADO.......... NONE
     DAMAGING WINDS... LOW
     LARGE HAIL....... MODERATE
     FLASH FLOODING... MODERATE

* SPOTTER ACTIVATION OUTLOOK... MODERATE

-------------------------------------------------------------------

THREAT KEY:
    TORNADO.......... ANY TORNADO OCCURRENCE
    DAMAGING WINDS... WINDS >= 58 MPH
    LARGE HAIL....... HAIL >= 3/4 INCH DIAMETER
    FLASH FLOODING... FLOODING CAUSED BY HEAVY RAINS WITHIN 6 HOURS
                      OF RAIN EVENT. POSES THREAT TO LIFE OR
                      PROPERTY.

THREAT CATEGORY KEY:  PROBABILITY OF THREAT OCCURRING WITHIN 25
                      MILES OF POINT WITHIN FORECAST AREA
    NONE....... NOT EXPECTED.  LESS THAN 5% ( 2% FOR TORNADOES)
    LOW........ 5-15% (2-15% FOR TORNADOES)
    MODERATE... 25-35%
    HIGH....... 45% OR GREATER

SPOTTER ACTIVATION OUTLOOK KEY:
    NOT EXPECTED
    LOW........ ACTIVATION POSSIBLE BUT NOT LIKELY
    MODERATE... POSSIBILITIES ABOUT 50-50
    HIGH....... ACTIVATION LIKELY

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON PROBABILISTIC SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOKS...GO
TO THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER WEBSITE AT
WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV/PRODUCTS/OUTLOOK/PROBINFO.HTML .

$$>
MS APR 01
Local storm report, Apr 10, 1:50 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
250 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1252 PM    GRISWOLD                  IA   1 INCH HAIL
04/10/01   CASS                           REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

0100 PM    GRISWOLD                  IA   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/10/01   CASS                           REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0105 PM    GRISWOLD                  IA   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/10/01   CASS                           REPORTED BY MEDIA.

0110 PM    CUMBERLAND                IA   1 INCH HAIL
04/10/01   CASS                           REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

0135 PM    BRIDGEWATER               IA   1 INCH HAIL
04/10/01   ADAIR                          REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

0137 PM    BRIDGEWATER               IA   1 INCH HAIL
04/10/01   ADAIR                          REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Cass

When
April 10, 3:16 PM CST
Where
Cass County, 3 mi SW of Atlantic
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$2,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.367, -95.050

Hail, Cass

When
April 10, 3:16 PM CST
Where
Cass County, Atlantic
Measured
0.88 in hail
Property damage
$1,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
41.400, -95.017

Hail, Cass

When
April 10, 3:18 PM CST
Where
Cass County, 1 mi E of Lewis
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$7,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
41.300, -95.067

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Iowa in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, April 2001

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: 5238925, 5238926, 5238927.