Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, April 6, 2001

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, April 6, 2001
Start: 2001-04-06T03:15
End: 2001-04-06T06:55
Location: Iowa

April 6, 2001 · NWS DMX · 7 events in 3 counties and zones

A strong storm system was moving into the southern Rockies. S.

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: $56,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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.

A strong storm system was moving into the southern Rockies. A warm front extended east from a developing surface low over the southwest U.S. Thunderstorms erupted during the late night hours on the nose of the low level jet. Dew points were in the 60s to low 70s to the south of the front. Thunderstorms moved into central Iowa, producing hail and high winds. Winds of 70 MPH were reported in Guthrie County in the Panora and Guthrie Center areas. Winds downed a tree on top of a garage in Guthrie Center. Hail was common with the storms. There were numerous reports of pea to marble size hail. Nickel size hail covered the ground at Guthrie Center and in Johnston. As the storms moved east, hail of three quarter inch diameter fell in Ankeny.

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 6, 1:30 AM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 6, 1:30 AM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
230 AM CDT THU APR 5 2001

MAIN CHALLENGES THIS MORNING CONVECTIVE INITIATION...EVOLUTION AND
EXTENT/STRENGTH OF SEVERE.  WINDS OF SECONDARY CONCERN LATE TONIGHT
INTO SAT.

HIGHLY AMPLIFIED UPR FLO THIS MORNING PROGRESSING ALONG IN THE BIG
PICTURE AS PROGS HAVE INDICATED FOR SOME TIME.  FINAL SHORT IS
BOTTOMING OUT PER H20 VAPOR OVR BAJA CA.  PROBABLY SOME TOUGH TO
FIND EMBEDDED SHORTS IN THE FLOW OVR PLAINS/SRN ROCKIES TOO. LIKELY
ONE OVR NEB RIGHT NOW HELPING TO SET OFF CONVECTION AT NOSE OF LLJ
IN CEN/ERN NEB ATTM.  ANOTHER OVR WEST TX TOO. AT THE SFC...WEAK NRN
STREAM TROF AS PUSHED TO IA/MO BORDER AND ESSENTIALLY FRONT OVR KS
AND THIS ONE HAVE COMBINED INTO ONE.  EXPECT THIS TO BE FOCUS TODAY
FOR 1ST ROUND OF CONVECTION (2ND IF THIS ERN NEB CONVECTION EXPANDS
EAST).  PLENTY OF FUEL IN KS/MO AND SOUTH AND WOULD EXPECT THIS TO
PUSH FARTHER NORTH TODAY AS SYSTEM EJECTS OUT OF DESERT SW AND WINDS
BACK A BIT.  HOW FAR NORTH WARM FRONT PUSHES DURING MAX HEATING TO
CONTROL CONVECTIVE TYPE AND TEMPS.  GIVEN METARS AND IR...COULD BE
PLENTY OF GRUNGE AROUND TO LIMIT HEATING.  TOUGH FORECAST.

ALL IN ALL...GOING CAST HAS THINGS WELL IN HAND.  A LOOK AT THE KF
OFF THE ISU SITE SHOWS ETA IS TRYING TO PICK UP ELEVATED CONVECTION
THIS MORNING.  WILL RUN WITH SOME SCATTERED ELEVATED CONVECTION THIS
MORNING...MODIFIED BY RADAR TRENDS AT 09Z.  SOME HAIL POTENTIAL WITH
THIS STUFF.  EXPECT FRONT TO PUSH BACK INTO SRN IA THIS AFTERNOON.
GREAT SETUP OVER WRN IA AND POINTS SOUTHWEST...ESP KS.  WILL NOT
COVER WHATS ALREADY IN DAY1...BUT IN SHORT THERE MAY BE TOO MUCH
SHEAR TODAY FOR A BIG SUPERCELL OUTBREAK.  NONETHELESS... WILL
EXPAND THE POTENTIAL FOR MORE SEVERE INTO SRN PART OF STATE AND HIT
IT PRETTY HARD IN CITO FOR SRN HALF.  ANY STORMS THAT DO DEVELOP
THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE PUSHING ALONG AROUND WARP 2. TEMPS WARMEST
SOUTH AND SHOULD SEE SRLY WINDS PICK UP INTO AT LEAST BREEZY
CATAGORY.

TONIGHT...LARGE SYSTEM STREAKS TO NE IN PLAINS.  LARGE DRY PUNCH OVR
NORTHWARD MOVING WARM FRONT.  EXPECT SEVERE POTENTIAL TO
CONTINUE...ALONG AND NORTH OF WARM FRONT...PLUS WITH ANY DRYLINE
INDUCED LINE THAT MAKES IT INTO CWA.  WINDS CONTINUE TO INCREASE AND
WILL HIT WITH WINDY - BUT GUSTS TO 35 MPH.  TOO EARLY FOR
HEADLINES...EVEN A HIGH WIND WATCH AS WE DONT WANT TOO MANY
HEADLINES FLOATING AROUND. WELL HAVE ENOUGH OF THOSE LATER TODAY
INTO AT LEAST THE EVENING.

SATURDAY...WIND THE MAIN PROBLEM HERE...THO NEAREST MATURING
LOW...COULD SEE SOME INSTABILITY SHOWERS IN THE FAR NORTH...IF THEY
DONT GET BLOW APART.  WILL CONTINUE WITH VERY WINDY BUT NO HEADLINE
YET - SEE ABOVE.

WINDS WILL DIMINISH SAT NIGHT WITH CLEAR/CLEARING SKIES.

.DSM...NONE

SEARCY

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Audubon

When: April 6, 3:15 AM CST
Where: Audubon County, 2 mi NE of Audubon
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.733, -94.900

Thunderstorm Wind, Audubon

When: April 6, 5:45 AM CST
Where: Audubon County, 2 mi NE of Audubon
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 41.733, -94.900

Hail, Guthrie

When: April 6, 5:59 AM CST
Where: Guthrie County, Guthrie Center
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.683, -94.500

Thunderstorm Wind, Guthrie

When: April 6, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Guthrie County, Guthrie Center
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.683, -94.500

Thunderstorm Wind, Guthrie

When: April 6, 6:15 AM CST
Where: Guthrie County, Panora
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 41.700, -94.533

Hail, Polk

When: April 6, 6:45 AM CST
Where: Polk County, Johnston
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 41.667, -93.700

Hail, Polk

When: April 6, 6:55 AM CST
Where: Polk County, Ankeny
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.733, -93.617

What these are

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.
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

Every storm in Iowa in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5238700, 5238782, 5238695, 5238696, 5238697, 5238698, 5238699.