High Wind in Iowa, April 17 to 18, 2002

Name: High Wind in Iowa, April 17 to 18, 2002
Start: 2002-04-17T23:20
End: 2002-04-18T00:35
Location: Iowa

April 17 to 18, 2002 · NWS DMX · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

High winds developed during around the midnight hours over parts of north central Iowa. The winds were not the direct result of the thunderstorms, but were related.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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: $160,000
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.

High winds developed during around the midnight hours over parts of north central Iowa. The winds were not the direct result of the thunderstorms, but were related. The supercell thunderstorm moving across Iowa collapsed. As a result, the concomitant subsidence produced high winds over a few counties. Winds were around 70 MPH at the peak of the high winds. The winds caused some damage around the area, with the hardest hit being Franklin County.

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 17, 5:40 PM CST, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 17, 5:40 PM CST, 5 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
640 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

SHORT TERM...
COULD BE AN ACTIVE SEVERE WX NIGHT AHEAD WITH PARAMETERS QUITE
FAVORABLE.  JUST NEED SOME FORCING WHICH IS PROGGED TO INCREASE THIS
EVENING AS SHORTWAVE IN WESTERN KS HEADS NE.  ALSO, LLJ PROGGED TO
INCREASE TO OVER 50KT, WITH 850 MB THETA E ADVECTION WING NOW JUST N
OF SURFACE WARM FRONT INCREASES IN MAGNITUDE WHILE SHIFTING
NORTHWARD.  SHEAR PROFILE AT FBY EXCELLENT WITH OVER 300 M2/S2 0-3KM
HELICITY.  OF COURSE, THE 00Z SOUNDINGS WILL HELP, BUT ACCAS FIELD
IN NW IA CERTAINLY CONFIRMS RUC2 SOUNDING STEEP LAPSE RATES IN
WESTERN IA AND NEBR SPREADING NE.  TRIPLE POINT AND REGION JUST E HAS
BEEN FAVORED ZONE OF MOISTURE CONVERGENCE, WITH CU FIELD BECOMING
MORE AND MORE AGITATED IN NEBR.  IN FACT, OAX 88D AND IR (-31C TOPS)
SHOWING MID LEVEL ECHO ALREADY IN EXPANDING AC FIELD N OF WARM
FRONT.  I THINK THIS AREA NEEDS TO BE WATCHED CLOSELY FOR RAPID
DEVELOPMENT, AS LATEST RUC2 SHOWING BEST MOISTURE CONVERGENCE THIS
AREA SHIFTING INTO NW IA BY 06Z. HWO HAS BEEN UPDATED.

.DSM...NONE

KULA

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 17, 9:30 PM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1030 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

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

1028 PM    10 S CARROLL              IA   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   CARROLL                        REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

Local storm report, Apr 17, 9:40 PM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1040 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

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

1020 PM    3 SW MANNING              IA   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   CRAWFORD                       REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

1025 PM    TEMPLETON                 IA   1 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   CARROLL                        REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

Local storm report, Apr 17, 9:55 PM CST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1055 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

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

1052 PM    4 NW COON RAPIDS          IA   .75 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   CARROLL                        REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

Local storm report, Apr 17, 10:29 PM CST, 51 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1129 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

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

1101 PM    3 S SCRANTON              IA   1 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   GREENE                         REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

1106 PM    4 S SCRANTON              IA   .88 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   GREENE                         REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

Local storm report, Apr 17, 10:37 PM CST, 43 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1137 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

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

1132 PM    3 S GRAND JCT             IA   1 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   GREENE                         REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

1135 PM    RIPPEY                    IA   2 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   GREENE                         REPORTED BY MEDIA.

Local storm report, Apr 17, 10:52 PM CST, 28 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1152 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

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

1145 PM    2 W MADRID                IA   TORNADO
04/17/02   BOONE                          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 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Butler

When: April 17, 11:20 PM CST to April 18, 12:35 AM CST
Where: Butler forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.732, -92.790 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Cerro Gordo

When: April 17, 11:20 PM CST to April 18, 12:35 AM CST
Where: Cerro Gordo forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.082, -93.261 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Franklin

When: April 17, 11:20 PM CST to April 18, 12:35 AM CST
Where: Franklin forecast zone
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.733, -93.262 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5284128, 5284129, 5284130.