Iowa, 2001

Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 22, 2001

July 22, 2001 · NWS DMX · 7 events in 3 counties and zones

A hot and unstable airmass was in place once again over Iowa. Thought the sub-tropical ridge of high pressure was in place over the state, thunderstorms were able to break the cap during the late afternoon.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$300,000
Crop damage
$130,000
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 hot and unstable airmass was in place once again over Iowa. Thought the sub-tropical ridge of high pressure was in place over the state, thunderstorms were able to break the cap during the late afternoon. Temperatures soared into the mid 90s to near 100 with dew point temperatures in the mid 70s to mid 80s. Lifted indices at the time were around -12 degrees C, with CAPE values in excess of 6500 J/kg. An outflow boundary was located east to west just north of the Des Moines metropolitan area. Thunderstorms erupted just north of the city during the late afternoon. Though isolated, the storms became severe quite quickly and produced high winds. There was some marble size hail, however with freezing levels near 15000 feet, hail was quite limited. Sixty five MPH winds swept into the town of Bondurant causing power line damage and downed trees. There were several waves of wind as cells developed rapidly in the same area as the entire area sank southeast around 5 MPH. Structural damage was reported in Bondurant as the last cell moved through. This cell produced winds around 80 MPH, damaging roofs in the area. One bar and grill in town sustained $85,000 in damage. A clearly defined funnel cloud was visible with the storm, however it did not touch down. As the storm moved southeast, 65 MPH winds were repotted in the Altoona area by a HAM radio operator with a hand held anemometer. The winds spread out into western Jasper County, causing crop damage in the area. Thunderstorms fired a little later in the afternoon near the town of Gilbert in Story County. The storms produced 60 MPH winds for a short period of time, however the storms weakened rapidly.

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 Jul 22, 1:35 PM CST, 1 hour 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 1:35 PM CST, 1 hour 37 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
235 PM CDT SUN JUL 22 2001

SHORT TERM...
TOUGH FORECAST TODAY DEALING WITH HEAVY RAIN THREAT AND REMAINING HEAT
IN SOUTHERN IA.  PUSHING 100 DEGREE TEMPS IN SOUTHERN IA TODAY AND
HEAT INDICES GETTING CLOSE TO WARNING CRITERIA.  WILL HOLD ONTO THE
HEAT ADVISORY THROUGH THIS EVENING S HALF BASED ON UNCERTAINTY OF
CONVECTIVE/OUTFLOW TRENDS FOR LATER TONIGHT.  WELL DEFINED OUTFLOW
BOUNDARY IN PLACE AS OBSERVED BY IMAGERY AND OBS, BASICALLY JUST N
OF I-80.  COULD SEE SOME NEW ISOLD CONVECTION ALONG IT AS
CONVERGENCE A BIT BETTER THAN YESTERRDAY.  SOME WEAKENING TO
NORTHERN IA CONVECTION, BUT IT HAS STOPPED DEVELOPING INTO NE NEBR
WHERE 850 MB FRONTOGENEIS IS INCREASING UP THROUGH THE BLACK HILLS
REGION.  META IS MODEL OF CHOICE, BUT WILL RELY MORE ON CONCEPTUAL
THINKING FOR TONIGHT.  SHORTWAVE COMING UP THROUGH KS INTO SW IA MAY
BECOME A PLAYER AS FASTER MOVING WAVE IN NW NEBRASKA INTERACTS WITH
OUTFLOW BOUNDARY.  SURFACE GEOSTROPHIC WINDS AT 18Z ARE CONCERNING
ME WITH 30KT IN KS AND A FORECAST LLJ OF 35-40 KT TONIGHT.  THIS
SHOULD ENHANCE ISENTROPIC ASCENT OVER OUTFLOW BOUNDARY IN NORTHERN
NE INTO SOUTHERN SD.  CURRENT CONVECTION MAY JUST EXPAND, WITH
TRAINING LIKELY ALONG BOUNDARY PER CORFIDI VECTORS, AND PERSISTENT
RADAR TRENDS TODAY.  MADDOX MESOHIGH TYPOLOGY LOOKING GOOD.  AS
RIDGE BEGINS TO FLATTEN THROUGH MONDAY, THIS MAY SIGNAL THE
BEGINNING OF RINGING OUT THIS SOAKED 2.0 INCH PWAT ATMOSPHERE.
MEASURED RAINFALL RATES THE LAST COUPLE DAYS AND ANY TRAINING WOULD
EQUATE TO LOCAL FLASH FLOOD PROBLEMS, ESPECIALLY IN NC/NE IA WHERE
FFG VALUES HAVE FALLEN.  COULD EASILY SEE 3-6 INCH RAIN LOCALLY
WHERE TRAINING OCCURS.  DAMAGING WIND THREAT STILL EXISTS WITH HIGH
CAPES AND A BIT MORE MID LEVEL PUSH WITH SHORTWAVE.  AFTER
COORDINATION, WILL ISSUE FFA N OF HIGHWAY 30 TONIGHT.  WILL GO
CATEGORICAL WORDING N AND 40 POPS LATE FAR SOUTH BARRING DEVELOPMENT
THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS.

LONGER TERM...
MODELS PUSH OUTFLOW BOUNDARY INTO SOUTHERN IA, SO NOT OUT OF THE
WOODS S HALF MONDAY OR MONDAY NIGHT.  MCS ACTION SHOULD DEVELOP IN
THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NE/WY MOVING INTO IA TOWARD TUESDAY MORNING.
WILL KEEP POPS LOW N AND A BIT HIGHER S.  TUESDAY COULD BE AN ACTIVE
AND WET DAY, SO WILL BE ABLE TO COOL TEMPS AND KEEP POPS UP.  NEW
LONGER RANGE INFORMATION SUGGEST WED/THU MAY BE A DRIER PERIOD WITH
FRI/SAT WETTER.  WOULD LIKE MORE CONSISTENCY BEFORE CHANGING MUCH TO
THE EXTENDED, SO WILL GO THAT ROUTE FOR NOW.

COORDINATION WITH FSD/MPX/ARX.

.DSM...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT ALONG AND N OF KDNS-KAMW-KMIW
HEAT ADVISORY TIL 9 PM  ALONG AND S OF KADU-DSM-KTNU

KULA

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Polk

When
July 22, 3:12 PM CST
Where
Polk County, Bondurant
Measured
57 kt (66 mph)
Property damage
$30,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
41.700, -93.467

Thunderstorm Wind, Polk

When
July 22, 3:15 PM CST
Where
Polk County, Bondurant
Measured
57 kt (66 mph)
Property damage
$30,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.700, -93.467

Thunderstorm Wind, Polk

When
July 22, 3:20 PM CST
Where
Polk County, Bondurant
Measured
69 kt (79 mph)
Property damage
$150,000
Crop damage
$15,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
41.700, -93.467

Thunderstorm Wind, Polk

When
July 22, 3:22 PM CST
Where
Polk County, Altoona
Measured
57 kt (66 mph)
Property damage
$35,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates
41.650, -93.467

Thunderstorm Wind, Polk

When
July 22, 3:23 PM CST
Where
Polk County, Mitchellville
Measured
57 kt (66 mph)
Property damage
$25,000
Crop damage
$50,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
41.667, -93.533

Thunderstorm Wind, Jasper

When
July 22, 3:30 PM CST
Where
Jasper County, Colfax
Measured
57 kt (66 mph)
Property damage
$25,000
Crop damage
$50,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
41.667, -93.250

Thunderstorm Wind, Story

When
July 22, 4:10 PM CST
Where
Story County, 1 mi S of Gilbert
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates
42.100, -93.650

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.

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, July 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: 5252286, 5252287, 5252288, 5252289, 5252291, 5252292, 5252290.