Hail in Iowa, April 18, 2002

Name: Hail in Iowa, April 18, 2002
Start: 2002-04-18T00:45
End: 2002-04-18T03:10
Location: Iowa

April 18, 2002 · NWS ARX · 14 events in 5 counties and zones

Hail ranging in size from dimes to golf balls was reported by spotters and law enforcement officials.

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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 14

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 ARX wrote it up.

Hail ranging in size from dimes to golf balls was reported by spotters and law enforcement officials.

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 La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 17, 2:25 PM CST, 10 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 17, 2:25 PM CST, 10 hours 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
325 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

FORECAST FOCUS ON THUNDERSTORM CHANCES TONIGHT AND THURSDAY...ALONG
WITH SEVERE THREAT.  TEMPERATURE TRENDS ALSO PROBLEMATIC.

LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS HIGH PRESSURE AREA FROM SOUTHERN
MN INTO NORTHERN IL. DEEPENING LOW SYSTEM OVER WY/CO...WITH
STRENGTHENING WARM FRONT FROM NE/KS BORDER OVER TO IA/MO BORDER.
SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS MAINLY CLEAR SKIES FOR THE UPPER MIDWEST
WITH DRY AIR IN PLACE...HOWEVER SOME CUMULUS FIRING OVER NORTHERN MO
NEAR THE FRONT...AND SOME MID LEVEL CASTELLANUS HAS MOVED FROM NE
UP INTO SOUTHEAST SD AND NORTHWEST IA.

MODELS REASONABLE SIMILAR WITH SCENARIO...AND SIMILAR TO GOING
FORECAST.  THEREFORE DO NOT PLAN TO MAKE MANY CHANGES TO WHAT APPEARS
TO BE A GOOD FORECAST.  SOME DIFFERENCES IN DETAIL DO SHOW UP ON
WHEN AND WHERE CONVECTION WILL FIRE AND FOCUS.  AVN SOONER AND
FURTHER SOUTH WITH DEVELOPMENT THAN ETA.  INITIALLY CONCERNED THAT
ATMOSPHERE WILL BE TOO DRY FOR DEVELOPMENT.  BUT JUICY AIR IS
POISED ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE AFOREMENTIONED FRONT...AND AS LOW
DEEPENS AND MOVES EAST INTO SD TONIGHT...STRONG LOW LEVEL JET WILL
DEVELOP IN CONCERT WITH APPROACHING SHORT WAVE AND JET STREAK.
THIS SHOULD HELP THE MOISTURE TO RETURN WITH A VENGEANCE TONIGHT.
ELEVATED CONVECTION APPEARS LIKELY.  SEVERE POTENTIAL IS THERE...
WITH AMPLE ELEVATED CAPE AVAILABLE.  GREAT SHEAR PROFILES SUGGEST
POTENTIAL FOR ROTATING STORMS...BUT WITH ELEVATED NATURE VERY SMALL
TORNADO THREAT.  PRIMARILY A HAIL/WIND EVENT.

BULK OF CONVECTION WILL MOVE NORTH AND EAST OF AREA DURING THE
MORNING AS THE LOW MOVES ACROSS MN AND INTO WI.  BUT TRAILING COLD
FRONT SHOULD ALSO SERVE AS A FOCUS FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT AS IT ROLLS
THROUGH IN THE AFTERNOON/EVENING TIMEFRAME.  AIR MASS AHEAD OF THIS
SYSTEM WILL BE WARM AND MUGGY...WITH GOOD INSTABILITY AVAILABLE.
SEVERE WEATHER AGAIN POSSIBLE ON THURSDAY.  GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES
APPEAR TOO COOL AND HAVE GONE ABOVE.

COOLER AIR WILL INVADE FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. ETA FASTER WITH
BUILDING IN THE COOLER AND DRIER AIR.  EXPECT THIS TO LINGER
THROUGH WEEKEND...WITH RETURN TO SOUTHERLY FLOW BY MONDAY.  HAVE
MAINTAINED RAIN CHANCES MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITH PASSAGE OF NEXT
SYSTEM.

.LSE...NONE.

MW

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

14 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Fayette

When: April 18, 12:45 AM CST
Where: Fayette County, Waucoma
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.067, -92.033

Hail, Winneshiek

When: April 18, 12:46 AM CST
Where: Winneshiek County, Ft Atkinson
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.150, -91.950

Hail, Winneshiek

When: April 18, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Winneshiek County, Spillville
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.200, -91.967

Hail, Chickasaw

When: April 18, 1:58 AM CST
Where: Chickasaw County, 2 mi W of Ionia
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.033, -92.500

Hail, Fayette

When: April 18, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Fayette County, 5 mi W of Westgate
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.767, -92.100

Hail, Allamakee

When: April 18, 2:15 AM CST
Where: Allamakee County, Lansing
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.383, -91.233

Hail, Chickasaw

When: April 18, 2:15 AM CST
Where: Chickasaw County, New Hampton
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.067, -92.333

Hail, Chickasaw

When: April 18, 2:15 AM CST
Where: Chickasaw County, Ionia
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 43.033, -92.467

Hail, Howard

When: April 18, 2:32 AM CST
Where: Howard County, 10 mi S of Lourdes
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.117, -92.300

Hail, Fayette

When: April 18, 2:47 AM CST
Where: Fayette County, West Union
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.967, -91.800

Hail, Winneshiek

When: April 18, 3:05 AM CST
Where: Winneshiek County, Kendallville
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.433, -92.033

Hail, Allamakee

When: April 18, 3:08 AM CST
Where: Allamakee County, Waukon
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.267, -91.483

Hail, Allamakee

When: April 18, 3:10 AM CST
Where: Allamakee County, Waukon
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 43.267, -91.483

Hail, Allamakee

When: April 18, 3:10 AM CST
Where: Allamakee County, Waukon
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.267, -91.483

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 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: 5290756, 5290757, 5290758, 5290759, 5290760, 5290761, 5290762, 5290763, 5290764, 5290765, 5290766, 5290767, 5290768, 5290769.