Hail, Webster
- When
- June 17, 9:08 PM CST
- Where
- Webster County, 3 mi W of Ft Dodge
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Crop damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.500, -94.250
Flash Flooding and Hail in Iowa, June 17 to 18, 2002
A line of thunderstorms formed over north central Iowa and dropped south. The storms were very elevated in nature and many produced pea to marble size hail and brief heavy rainfall.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $192,000
- Crop damage
- $155,000
- 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 line of thunderstorms formed over north central Iowa and dropped south. The storms were very elevated in nature and many produced pea to marble size hail and brief heavy rainfall. One of the cells became severe as it moved south to the west of Fort Dodge. The storm dropped three quarter inch diameter hail in that area for a brief period. A short time later, the cell regenerated as it moved into Hamilton County. The storm dropped nickle to quarter size hail as it passes through the Webster City area. While this was going on, an arc of thunderstorms developed from south central Minnesota into central Iowa. These storms formed along the warm front aloft and were also very elevated. Most of the storms were not severe, however one cell dropped one inch diameter hail in Marshalltown as it passed. As the night progressed, a band of thunderstorms became nearly stationary from central into north central Iowa. Several clusters of storms dropped very heavy rainfall, causing flash flooding in Winnebago and Marshall Counties. There were several reports of flooded basements and water over roads. A few road washouts occurred as well. East of Forest City, in Winnebago County, a truck was washed off the road by flowing flood waters. Rainfall reports indicated as much as 7.5 inches of rain fell at a site 5 miles east of Thompson. Much of the rain fell in under four hours.
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 Jun 17, 1:41 PM CST, 7 hours 27 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 17, 1:41 PM CST, 7 hours 27 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 241 PM CDT MON JUN 17 2002 PLENTY OF UNCERTAINTY IN THIS FCST AS STG FORCING AND DEFINED BOUNDARIES HARD TO COME BY. FIRST WAVE PUSHING INTO ERN IA ATTM WITH UPSTRM PUSHING ACRS THE DKTAS. AVN DOING A DECENT JOB AT THE MOMENT WITH CUR WK PCPN...ESPCLY IF YOU LOOK THE 310K SFC. BEST INSTABILITY W OF IA IN SERN SD AND ERN NEB AND XPCD TO INCR WITH POOLING DWPTS INVOF TRIPLE PT AND ALG THE WRMFNT SE INTO SWRN IA. BLV BEST CONVECTIVE THREAT WL BE OVR FAR WRN IA SWD INTO SERN NEB AND NERN KS OVRNGT. THUS BEST CHC POPS THERE. HATE TO REMOVE POPS ALTOGETHER IN NERN PTN CWA SINCE IT USUALLY ENDS UP BURNING ME. WL BLEND TO FIT ARX/DVN AT THIS POINT. XPCG BTR INSTABILITY TMR WITH MORE HEAT BUT ALSO A BTR CAP AS WELL. STILL LOOKING LIKE AREAS NR WRN IA AND WWD COMING INTO PLAY AGN PRIMARILY LATE IN THE DAY OR THE EVENING TMR. CHC POPS CONTG. BTR SYNOPTIC FEATURES COMING INTO PLAY ON WED WITH FNT SINKING SWD AND INCRG MOISTURE ADV INTO IT...AND CONTD NLY CORFIDI VECTORS. TMPS SLOLY INCRG NXT COUPLE OF DAYS WITH L/M80S. .DSM...NONE MYERS
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:06 UTC.
Event by event
6 hail, 2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Hamilton
- When
- June 17, 10:28 PM CST
- Where
- Hamilton County, 3 mi W of Webster City
- Measured
- 0.88 in hail
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Crop damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.467, -93.883
Hail, Hamilton
- When
- June 17, 10:40 PM CST
- Where
- Hamilton County, Webster City
- Measured
- 0.88 in hail
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Crop damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.467, -93.817
Hail, Hamilton
- When
- June 17, 10:40 PM CST
- Where
- Hamilton County, 1 mi W of Webster City
- Measured
- 0.88 in hail
- Property damage
- $2,000
- Crop damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.467, -93.833
Hail, Hamilton
- When
- June 17, 10:46 PM CST
- Where
- Hamilton County, 2 mi W of Webster City
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Crop damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 42.467, -93.850
Hail, Marshall
- When
- June 17, 10:52 PM CST
- Where
- Marshall County, Marshalltown
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Crop damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- BROADCAST MEDIA
- Coordinates
- 42.050, -92.917
Flash Flood, Winnebago
- When
- June 18, 2:00 AM CST to 8:30 AM CST
- Where
- Winnebago County, Countywide
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Crop damage
- $75,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 43.378, -93.734 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, Marshall
- When
- June 18, 2:00 AM CST to 5:00 AM CST
- Where
- Marshall County, Countywide
- Property damage
- $75,000
- Crop damage
- $50,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 42.036, -92.999 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Wildfire in California, June 17, 2002
- Hail in Nebraska, June 17 to 18, 2002
- Wildfire in California, June 17, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Hail in New York, June 17, 2002
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Michigan, June 17, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Colorado, June 17, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, June 17, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, June 17, 2002
- Hail in Kansas, June 17, 2002
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Lake Erie, June 17, 2002
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Lake Erie, June 17, 2002
- Hail in New York, June 17, 2002
More
Every storm in Iowa in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, June 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: 5294335, 5294336, 5294337, 5294338, 5294339, 5294340, 5294341, 5294342.