Iowa, 2002

Hail and Damaging Wind in Iowa, October 1, 2002

October 1, 2002 · NWS DMX · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

A strong cold front moved southeast across the state during the evening of the 1st into the early morning hours of the 2nd. The air mass ahead of the front was quite unstable with surface dew point temperatures approaching 70 degrees F.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$108,000
Crop damage
$4.4 million
Events
4

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 strong cold front moved southeast across the state during the evening of the 1st into the early morning hours of the 2nd. The air mass ahead of the front was quite unstable with surface dew point temperatures approaching 70 degrees F. in many locations. Lifted Indices fell below -5 C. as well. Thunderstorms erupted during the early evening hours in the vicinity of the front. Many of them produced hail, though most of it was below severe levels. The first of the hail began over far northwest Iowa. A 120 mile long swath of severe crop damage occurred from northwest Iowa into Palo Alto County. In Palo Alto County the hail was nickle size and totally destroyed about 11,000 acres of crops over the northwest quarter of the county. Damage was also done to some of the roofs in the area by the hail and gusty wind. In Crawford County, hail to around an inch or just slightly less was reported at several places. The thunderstorms continued to develop east during the evening, but failed to produce severe weather for a few hours. When the storms reached Wapello County, high winds struck the Ottumwa area. Storm survey results indicated the event was a straight line wind or microburst event. Winds of 70 to 80 MPH were reported from just southwest of Ottumwa into the south sections of the city. Damage was spotty with most of it limited to trees, power line, and some minor structural damage to buildings.

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 Oct 1, 2:38 PM CST, 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 1, 2:38 PM CST, 42 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
338 PM CDT TUE OCT 1 2002

SHORT/MID TERM...RAINFALL CONTS TO MOV NEWRD TWD WI WITH NEW DVLPMT
XPCD OVR ERN NEB. BNDRY XPCD TO SINK A LTL FARTHER S LATE TNGT AND
TMR MRNG AS UPR LVL FORCING ARRIVES AND PASSES. PLENTY OF
INGREDIENTS AVBL FOR MORE PCPN OVRNGT AND INTO WED. STG THETA
ADV...DIV Q FORCING...JET STREAK...ETC. ETA DOING A VRY GOOD JOB AND
USED HEAVILY THRU 84HRS. IFPS VERIFY CONTS TO SHOW THE MESOETA DOING
XCLNT JOB WITH TMPS HENCE USED. PUSHED PCPN CHCS INTO FAR SERN CWA
WED NGT NR THE BNDRY. INCRG COVERAGE THU SRN IA AHD NXT SGFNT
IMPULSE AND HIGHER POPS STILL THU NGT/FRI.

LONGER TERM...HUDSON BAY LOW HOLDS STDY WITH L/W TROF OVR THE
GTBASIN/RCKYS...AND RDGG ALG THE ERN SEABOARD. PRIMARY HGT FALL
CENTER LIFTS OUT OF SWRN U.S. FRI AS MENTIONED ABV. SECOND CENTER
PROVIDES GLANCING BLOW NRN IA SAT NGT FOLLOWED BY SGNFT S/W RDGG
ACRS NRN PLAINS INTO ERLY NXT WEEK.

.DSM...NONE
MYERS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Palo Alto

When
October 1, 3:20 PM CST to 3:50 PM CST
Where
Palo Alto County, 15 mi NW of Emmetsburg
Measured
0.88 in hail
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$4.4 million
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
43.267, -94.917

Hail, Crawford

When
October 1, 6:20 PM CST
Where
Crawford County, 5 mi S of Vail
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$5,000
Crop damage
$2,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.000, -95.200

Hail, Crawford

When
October 1, 6:30 PM CST
Where
Crawford County, Denison
Measured
0.88 in hail
Property damage
$3,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
42.017, -95.350

Thunderstorm Wind, Wapello

When
October 1, 10:05 PM CST
Where
Wapello County, 2 mi SW of Ottumwa
Measured
65 kt (75 mph)
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
41.000, -92.433

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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

More

Every storm in Iowa in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, October 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: 5315613, 5315610, 5315611, 5315612.