Thunderstorm Wind, Palo Alto
- When
- April 16, 7:25 PM CST
- Where
- Palo Alto County, Mallard
- Measured
- 56 kt (64 mph)
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 42.933, -94.683
Damaging Winds in Iowa, April 16, 2002
A warm and moist southerly flow of air was in place over Iowa. Afternoon temperatures rose well into the 80s with dew point temperatures in the low to mid 60s.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $65,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 8
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 warm and moist southerly flow of air was in place over Iowa. Afternoon temperatures rose well into the 80s with dew point temperatures in the low to mid 60s. low pressure lifted northeast across the high Plains during afternoon, and into western Minnesota overnight. A cold front extending southwest from the low pushed east into Iowa overnight, eventually washing out. a line of strong line of thunderstorms formed along the dry line west of Iowa during the late afternoon. The storms spread east very slowly, reaching northwest Iowa toward sunset. The storms produced high winds of up to 65 MPH over the far northwest part of the state during the evening. The highest wind recorded was in Palo Alto County at Mallard, where 65 MPH winds were reported by a local mesonet station. Winds were estimated around 75 MPH in Sac County southeast of Schaller. Considerable damage was done to a two farmsteads southeast of town both to the silos as well as the house itself. With that exception, damage was limited by the fact that the leaves had not come out fully.
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 16, 1:45 PM CST, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 16, 1:45 PM CST, 5 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 245 PM CDT TUE APR 16 2002 MAIN FOCUS OF THIS FCST IN SHORT TERM IS DVLPMNT OF TSTMS AND WHETHER THEY WILL REACH SVR LIMITS. NXT CONCERN IS TMW NGT WITH DVLPMNT AHD OF ADVANCING WARM FNT AND COOL DOWN FOR END OF THE WEEK. UNSETTLED EFP FCST. MRNG UA SHOWS CAPS ARND 10C OVR IA AND ENR NE THO THIS AFTN WRN IA CAP LWRG TREND. MEANWHILE GOES SOUNDINGS SPT THIS IN OBSERVED DATA. ETA CONTINUES TO BE MODEL OF CHOICE WITH SLOWER EVOLUTION OF WX HWVR SUM INCREASE IN FNTL BNDRY MOVEMENT ACRS CNTRL NE ATTM. PROBLEM ALG WITH CAP APPEARS CLOUDINESS ADVANCING NWRD AHD OF SECOND S/W SWINGING OUT OF S/W AND DVLPG PCPN WHICH MAY SPELL DOOM FOR ANY SHARP DVLPMNT OVR IA. ETA MAY HAVE TREND RIGHT WITH DVLPMNT AHD OF FNTL BNDTY LT TNGT AND AFT MIDN WITH GD FORCING INVOF FNT AND DECENT THETAE ADVCTN. MOISTURE IS DEFINITELY IN PLACE. STILL WONDERING ABT TWO DVLPMNT AREAS OK/MO AND NRN MN INTO ERN SD. UNLESS SOMETHING DVLPS NXT FEW HRS NR ST FIGURE WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE FNT. NXT CHANCE FOR PCPN AND PSBLE SVR TYPE WX TMW NGT AS FNT RETUNRS AS WARM FNT AND ADVANCES ACRS ST AT MST FVRBLE TIME OF NGT FOR SUCH WX. WL MIANLY BE NOCTURNAL EVENT THO SUM LINGERING SHWRS ERY THU MRNG. A FEW MORE WARM DAYS AND ABV NORMAL TEMPS THEN DOWNHILL FM THERE WITH COOLER SYSTEM PUSHING THRU AS ON PREVIOUS RUNS. IN LONG TERM WEAK SYSTEM MAKES IT WAY THRU THE ST ON FRI WITH AT LEAST CHC FOR SHWRS. CANADIAN HI ARRIVES TO SETTLE THINGS DWN FOR WEEKEND WITH LOWS INTO THE 30S. HWVR BY SUN NGT ANOTHER SYSTEM DVLPS AND MOVES INTO THE AREA FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY NXT RAIN PRODUCER WITH CHCS BOTH MON AND TUE. .DSM...WIND ADVISORY THIS EVENING ENTIRE CWA. FORSTER
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 155 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:25 UTC.
Event by event
8 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Emmet
- When
- April 16, 7:33 PM CST
- Where
- Emmet County, 1 mi W of Estherville
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 43.417, -94.867
Thunderstorm Wind, Sac
- When
- April 16, 9:15 PM CST
- Where
- Sac County, 2 mi SE of Schaller
- Measured
- 65 kt (75 mph)
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 42.483, -95.267
Thunderstorm Wind, Sac
- When
- April 16, 9:20 PM CST
- Where
- Sac County, 6 mi SE of Schaller
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 42.450, -95.217
Thunderstorm Wind, Palo Alto
- When
- April 16, 9:55 PM CST
- Where
- Palo Alto County, Emmetsburg
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 43.117, -94.700
Thunderstorm Wind, Emmet
- When
- April 16, 9:58 PM CST
- Where
- Emmet County, 2 mi E of Armstrong
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 43.400, -94.467
Thunderstorm Wind, Kossuth
- When
- April 16, 10:30 PM CST
- Where
- Kossuth County, Fenton
- Measured
- 50 kt (58 mph)
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 43.217, -94.433
Thunderstorm Wind, Franklin
- When
- April 16, 11:16 PM CST
- Where
- Franklin County, Latimer
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 42.767, -93.367
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
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Texas, April 16 to 17, 2002
- Damaging Wind and High Wind in Kansas, April 16, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, April 16, 2002
- Heat in Georgia, April 16 to 22, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Minnesota, April 16, 2002
- Wildfire in North Dakota, April 16, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, April 16, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, April 16, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, April 16, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, April 16, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, April 16, 2002
- Hail in South Dakota, April 16, 2002
More
Every storm in Iowa in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, April 2002
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: 5283988, 5283989, 5283993, 5283994, 5283990, 5283991, 5283995, 5283992.