Damaging Winds in Iowa, June 24, 2003

Name: Damaging Winds in Iowa, June 24, 2003
Start: 2003-06-24T00:00
End: 2003-06-24T01:53
Location: Iowa

June 24, 2003 · NWS DMX · 5 events in 3 counties and zones

Very unstable air streamed north across Iowa during the day on the 23rd. Temperatures warmed into the upper 80s to low 90s, with dew point readings in the upper 60s to mid 70s by the evening hours.

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: $452,000
Crop damage: $37,000
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 DMX wrote it up.

Very unstable air streamed north across Iowa during the day on the 23rd. Temperatures warmed into the upper 80s to low 90s, with dew point readings in the upper 60s to mid 70s by the evening hours. The upper air flow was southwesterly with a series of weak upper level disturbances moving along the flow. The jet forcing was favorable as a speed max lifted northeast out of the trough in the southwest U.S. A stationary front extended from northwest Minnesota southwest into Colorado. An MCC developed during the evening over northeast Nebraska, then lifted north and east. As the storms moved into Iowa, they produced heavy rainfall and gusty winds of 40 to 55 MPH in many areas. One segment of the storms became severe in Sac and Calhoun Counties as a beta bow element surged ahead of the main area of thunderstorms. Winds gusted to around 70 MPH northwest of Jolley, toppling several trees and causing some property damage. As the storms passed south of the Pomeroy area they produced wind gusts of around 60 MPH. In Sac County, considerable damage was done in the town of Auburn as wind of 80 to 90 MPH swept through the city. Damage was done to the city buildings with structural damage reported. Bricks were stripped off of the buildings, part of the roof was taken off, and numerous trees were toppled. Debris from an old elevator tin roof near town was blown a full mile south of town by the winds. As the storms moved east, they once again became severe as they moved into Hamilton County. Winds around 75 MPH in the Jewell area blew over a 40 ton grain bin, smashing it against another silo.

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 23, 2:25 PM CST, 9 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 23, 2:25 PM CST, 9 hours 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
325 PM CDT MON JUN 23 2003

OUTFLO BNDRY MXG OUT OVR KS NOW AND FEEL FOCUS OF ACTVTY WL E TO THE
N.  SHUD NOT SEE ANY DVLPMT IN CWA UNTIL AROUND 03Z IN THE NW.
CORFIDI VEC SUG SYS WL DVLP SWD AND FEEL I-80 IS ABT THE LIMIT.
PCPN LFTS OUT ERY IN AM WITH DRY DAY TUE BFR NXT RND...A FEW HRS
ERLYR...DVLPS NW IA ERY EVE.  PCPN SWEEPS SEWD SLOWLY WITH WET DAY
WED.  FEEL PCPN WL BE OUT BY 12Z/THU, BUT BLENDED IN FOR A WHILE IN
THE AM.  QUIET WX AFT THAT WITH BLO NORM TEMPS AND WX REMAINING TO
THE N OF IA.

.DSM...NONE

MS JUN 03

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 23, 6:10 PM CST, 5 hours 50 minutes before

IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086-
092>097-241100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
555 PM CDT MON JUN 23 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL IOWA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO DEVELOP OVER NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA
EARLY THIS EVENING.  THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD MOVE EAST INTO WESTERN
IOWA AFTER 1000 PM.  SOME THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE SEVERE DURING THE
OVERNIGHT HOURS OVER WESTERN IOWA WEST OF I35 WITH THE BEST SEVERE
WEATHER POTENTIAL NORTHWEST OF A DENISON...FORT DODGE...MASON CITY
LINE. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER
THREATS.  HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH LOCALLY UP TO 3 INCHES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

INSTABILITY WILL REMAIN STRONG TUESDAY AND PERSIST INTO WEDNESDAY
NIGHT ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL IOWA.  DAYTIME HEATING WILL PRODUCE
STRONG INSTABILITY BY MID AFTERNOON ON BOTH DAYS.  THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON...MAINLY IN
NORTHWESTERN IOWA OR ADJACENT PORTIONS OF SOUTH DAKOTA AND
MINNESOTA. THESE STORMS ARE THEN EXPECTED TO DROP INTO IOWA DURING
THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT HOURS. SEVERE WEATHER IS LIKELY WITH THESE
STORMS...MAINLY FROM DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.  ISOLATED
TORNADOES MAY ALSO OCCUR...PRIMARILY IN THE EVENING HOURS.  HEAVY
RAINS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE DURING THIS TIME AS WELL WITH PLENTY OF
MOISTURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE.  IF HEAVY RAINS OCCUR MONDAY
NIGHT...THEN ANY ADDITIONAL RAINS ON TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY WOULD ONLY
AGGRAVATE CONDITIONS. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE FORECAST FOR
ADDITIONAL UPDATES OR CHANGES TO THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER EVENT
FOR CENTRAL IOWA.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE WEST OF I35 TONIGHT.  SPOTTER
ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED SOMETIME TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY
ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL IOWA.

&&

MORE INFORMATION CAN BE OBTAINED AT WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DMX (ALL LOWER
CASE).

JOHNSON

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 112 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Sac

When: June 24, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Sac County, Auburn
Measured: 74 kt (85 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $150,000
Crop damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 42.250, -94.883

Thunderstorm Wind, Calhoun

When: June 24, 12:10 AM CST
Where: Calhoun County, 3 mi NW of Jolley
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.517, -94.767

Thunderstorm Wind, Calhoun

When: June 24, 12:19 AM CST
Where: Calhoun County, 2 mi S of Pomeroy
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.517, -94.683

Thunderstorm Wind, Sac

When: June 24, 12:30 AM CST
Where: Sac County, Auburn
Measured: 78 kt (90 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $250,000
Crop damage: $25,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 42.250, -94.883

Thunderstorm Wind, Hamilton

When: June 24, 1:53 AM CST
Where: Hamilton County, Jewell
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $40,000
Crop damage: $2,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 42.300, -93.650

What these are

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

Every storm in Iowa in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, June 2003

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: 5364891, 5364889, 5364890, 5364892, 5364893.