Iowa, 2002

Flood and Hail in Iowa, April 24, 2002

April 24, 2002 · NWS DVN · 5 events in 3 counties and zones

A vigorous, cold upper level trough and associated surface cold front swept through the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley triggering scattered thunderstorms over Eastern Iowa during the late morning and early afternoon. There were many reports of pea sized hail, and a few reports of large hail up to 1 inch in diameter.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

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 DVN wrote it up.

A vigorous, cold upper level trough and associated surface cold front swept through the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley triggering scattered thunderstorms over Eastern Iowa during the late morning and early afternoon. There were many reports of pea sized hail, and a few reports of large hail up to 1 inch in diameter.

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 Quad Cities, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 24, 2:57 AM CST, 7 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 24, 2:57 AM CST, 7 hours 32 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
315 AM CDT WED APR 24 2002

STRONG COLD FRONT WITH IMPRESSIVE PRESSURE RISES BEHIND IT PUSHING
INTO NORTHWEST IOWA.  DEW POINTS POOLING IN THE WARM SECTOR AHEAD OF
THE FRONT.  STRONG SHORT WAVE PUSHING THROUGH NEBRASKA WILL HELP
FRONT ACCELERATE THIS MORNING. WITH STRONG LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE AND
MOISTURE AND UPPER DYNAMICS...CONVECTION EXPECTED TO FIRE THIS
MORNING...ALTOUGH LIMITED INSTABILITY SHOULD LIMIT SEVERE RISK TO
MARGINAL/ISOLATED.

FRONT PUSHES THROUGH TODAY WITH STRONG POST-FRONTAL WINDS.  MAY
BRIEFLY APPROACH WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA LATE THIS AFTERNOON. WILL
HOLD OFF ON ADVISORY FOR NOW AND LET DAY SHIFT EVALUATE AS FRONT
ACCELERATES.

SURFACE RIDGE SETTLES IN THURSDAY WITH COLD NIGHTTIME TEMPS AND DRY
WX.

REST OF THE FORECAST ON TRACK.  MODELS SLOWING SLIGHTLY ON THE NEXT
SYSTEM FOR FRIDAY...SO IF TREND CONTINUES...MAY NEED TO PULL FRIDAY
AFTERNOON POPS NEXT TIME AROUND.  OTHERWISE...NO CHANGES TO EXTENDED
PERIODS.

.DVN...
IA...NONE.
IL...NONE.
MO...NONE.

33

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 24, 10:26 AM CST, 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1126 AM CDT WED APR 24 2002

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

1124 AM    JESUP                     IA   .25 INCH HAIL
04/24/02   BUCHANAN                       REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGEMENT.
Local storm report, Apr 24, 10:28 AM CST, 1 minute before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1128 AM CDT WED APR 24 2002

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

1110 AM    RIVERSIDE                 IA   .25 INCH HAIL
04/24/02   WASHINGTON                     REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

1110 AM    WASHINGTON                IA   .25 INCH HAIL
04/24/02   WASHINGTON                     REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 hail, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Muscatine

When
April 24, 10:29 AM CST
Where
Muscatine County, Muscatine
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.417, -91.050

Hail, Clinton

When
April 24, 11:00 AM CST
Where
Clinton County, Dewitt
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
41.817, -90.550

Hail, Lee

When
April 24, 11:43 AM CST
Where
Lee County, Houghton
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.783, -91.600

Hail, Lee

When
April 24, 11:57 AM CST
Where
Lee County, New Boston
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
40.567, -91.500

Flood, Clinton

When
April 24, 11:59 AM CST
Where
Clinton County, Dewitt
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.898, -90.532 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Very heavy rain resulted in standing water ankle deep in some city streets.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

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: 5292171, 5292172, 5292173, 5292174, 5292175.