Hail in Iowa, October 1, 2002

Name: Hail in Iowa, October 1, 2002
Start: 2002-10-01T15:25
End: 2002-10-01T15:55
Location: Iowa

October 1, 2002 · NWS FSD · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: $50,000
Crop damage: $30 million
Events: 1

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 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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 1, 2:35 PM CST, 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 1, 2:35 PM CST, 50 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 1, 10:30 AM CST, 4 hours 55 minutes before

SDZ038>040-050-052>071-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097-098-IAZ001>003-
012>014-020>022-031-032-NEZ013-014-021200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
1130 AM CDT TUE OCT 1 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST IOWA...AND NORTHEAST NEBRASKA.

.DAY ONE...

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS MUCH OF
NORTHWEST IOWA THIS AFTERNOON.  ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME
SEVERE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON...GENERALLY ALONG AND SOUTHEAST OF A
LINE FROM STORM LAKE TO HORNICK.  THE GREATEST THREAT WOULD BE HAIL
UP TO QUARTER SIZE...ALONG WITH SPOTTY HEAVY RAINFALL ONE TO TWO
INCHES.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED FROM 200 PM THROUGH 700 PM
SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM SPENCER TO SIOUX CITY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

AN UNSETTLED AND COOL WEATHER PATTERN WILL AFFECT SOUTHEAST SOUTH
DAKOTA...SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST IOWA...AND FAR NORTHEAST
NEBRASKA THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND. THERE IS A
CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN WEDNESDAY ASSOCIATED WITH AN UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE. HOWEVER...A POTENTIALLY STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL
DEVELOP IN THE ROCKIES BY THURSDAY...AND MOVE OVER THE AREA THURSDAY
NIGHT AND FRIDAY. SIGNFICANT RAINFALL MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS
SYSTEM...ESPECIALLY IN NORTHWEST IOWA...FAR SOUTHEAST SOUTH
DAKOTA...AND PARTS OF SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY.
ANOTHER PROBABLY WEAKER SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE AREA BY LATE
SATURDAY...WITH A CHANCE OF A COLD RAIN.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 1, 2:22 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes before

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Local storm report, Oct 1, 2:35 PM CST, 50 minutes before

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Local storm report, Oct 1, 2:42 PM CST, 43 minutes before

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Local storm report, Oct 1, 2:55 PM CST, 30 minutes before

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Local storm report, Oct 1, 3:02 PM CST, 23 minutes before

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Local storm report, Oct 1, 3:08 PM CST, 17 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Clay

When: October 1, 3:25 PM CST to 3:55 PM CST
Where: Clay County, 5 mi W of Royal
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: $30 million
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 43.067, -95.383

Large hail fell in an area 5 to 10 miles wide from west to east across the central part of the county. The hail caused widespread severe damage to corn and soybean crops with many crops totally destroyed. The hail also damaged vehicles and broke some windows where the largest hail fell near Royal.

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, 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5323024.