Hail in Iowa, July 3, 2001

Name: Hail in Iowa, July 3, 2001
Start: 2001-07-03T02:25
End: 2001-07-03T02:25
Location: Iowa

July 3, 2001 · NWS DMX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Thunderstorms dropped southeast into northern Iowa during the predawn hours. One of the storms was severe as it moved across Kossuth County, dropping one inch diameter hail on the town of Titonka.

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: $5,000
Crop damage: $5,000
Events: 1

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.

Thunderstorms dropped southeast into northern Iowa during the predawn hours. One of the storms was severe as it moved across Kossuth County, dropping one inch diameter hail on the town of Titonka.

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 3, 12:45 AM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 12:45 AM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
145 AM CDT TUE JUL 3 2001

IN THE LARGE SCALE...STRONG UPR TROF VCNTY HUDSON BAY FCST TO
AMPLIFY THIS FCST PD SHIFTING UPR FLOW FM NW TO MORE NORTHERLY OVR
UPPER MIDWEST. COLD FNT AHEAD OF NEXT CANADIAN HI FCST TO MOVE THRU
CWA TONIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY.

FCST CHALLENGE WILL BE PCPN CHC/S PRIOR TO FROPA.  MESO-ETA AND AVN
BOTH AGREE IN MOVG MCS INTO SRN CWA BY 12Z AND THEN SE BY NOON.  MCS
OVR NE SHUD MOVE SE ALONG INSTABILITY AND MOISTURE AXIS INTO SRN
IA.  MESO-HI OVR SUX AT 06Z SHUD BLD SE INTO ALONG WITH MCS REACHING
SC IA BY 15Z.    WL FCST CATEGORICAL POPS SRN ZONES THIS MORNING AND
SCT TO WDLY SCT NRN ZONES. IMPACT OF MCS OF ON IA/S TSTM CHCS THIS
AFTERNOON NEXT QUESTION.  BOTH AVN AND ETA SUGGEST MESO-HI OVR IA
TDY AND BOUNDARY OVR SRN IA. SCT TSTMS ARE PSBLY VCNTY BOUNDARY THIS
AFTERNOON IF HEATING OCCURS WHICH IT SHUD.   WILL KEEP TSTM CHC/S
SRN ZONES.  WILL KEEP NRN ZONES DRY WHICH SHUD BE WELL TO THE NORTH
OF ACTIVE BOUNDARIES.

CANADIAN HIGH BLDS S INTO MS VLY WED AND THU REACHING ERN IA BY 00Z
FRIDAY ACCORDING TO 00Z AVN.  WL DROP POPS ON WEDNESDAY AS HIGH BZLDS
IN.  SOME QUESTION IN AMOUNT OF COOLING WITH CANADIAN AMS.  SHUD BE
PLENTY OF SUN WED AND THU ALLOWING HI SUN ANGLE TO GO TO WORK.  WILL
FCST NEAR GUIDANCE OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE.

.DSM...NONE

JOHNSON

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 169 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Kossuth

When: July 3, 2:25 AM CST
Where: Kossuth County, Titonka
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Crop damage: $5,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.233, -94.050

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

Every storm in Iowa in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5253689.