Iowa, 2003

Hail in Iowa, May 30, 2003

May 30, 2003 · NWS DMX · 11 events in 4 counties and zones

Strong warm advection was taking place over Iowa during the predawn hours of the 30th. The atmosphere was capped over at least the west half of Iowa.

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
$207,000
Crop damage
$50,000
Events
11

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.

Strong warm advection was taking place over Iowa during the predawn hours of the 30th. The atmosphere was capped over at least the west half of Iowa. In addition, moisture was limited with surface dew point readings only in the mid 50s. A weak wind shift line moved into the state from the northwest. Thunderstorms fired along the boundary in Minnesota first, then developed southward along the boundary. Severe thunderstorms developed along the southwest edge of the convection, producing hail over parts of northwest into central Iowa. Hail ranged from penny size up to tennis ball size. The main hail swath occurred from one cell that developed over Webster County and moved southeast into Story County. The largest hail occurred initially in the Badger area of Webster County, then later on northwest of Ames in Story County. Two inch diameter hail fell northwest of Ames causing $150,000 damage to ten greenhouses of the ISU campus. The storms weakened as the advanced southeast into more stable air.

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 May 30, 1:36 AM CST, 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 30, 1:36 AM CST, 43 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
236 AM CDT FRI MAY 30 2003

FORECAST PROBLEMS INCLUDE NEAR TERM PRECIP TRENDS AND STRONG WIND
POTENTIAL THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING BEHIND FRONT.

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING ACRS NRN MO ATTM...WITH NRN
FRINGE JUST SKIRTING FAR SOUTHERN IA. WL MAINTAIN MORNING POPS OVER
EASTERN FA...WITH LATE TWEAKS POSSIBLE BASED ON LATEST 88D TRENDS.
STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT DEVELOPS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING BEHIND
DEPARTING FRONT...WITH META/GFS HIGHLIGHTING NORTHERN COUNTIES FOR
HIGHEST PRESSURE GRADIENT MAGNITUDE. TIME SECTIONS AND MODEL LAYER
RH INDICATING BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS DURING DAY PRIOR TO ARRIVAL OF
TRAILING S/W...WHICH WL INCREASE MIXING POTENTIAL. BUFKIT SOUNDINGS
SHOW VERY STEEP LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES AND GOOD FLOW OFF THE DECK. WL
GO WITH A WIND ADVISORY THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING ALONG
AND NORTH OF A DENISON TO BOONE TO GRINNELL LINE. HIGH PRESSURE
MOVES IN TO THE UPPER MIDWEST LATER TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY. THE GFS
IS TRENDING SLOWER ON THE TIMING FOR PRECIP SUN/SUN NITE AND IS
FLOPPING AROUND ON THE AREAL COVERAGE...NOW INDICATING NORTHERN FA
DESPITE INSTABILITY MAX IN SW. EXTENDED ETA DEVELOPS PRECIP SUN NT
IN SOUTHWEST...IN LINE WITH CURRENT FCST. THE GFS CONTINUES
INCONSISTENCY INTO MONDAY...SO FOR NOW WL LEAVE MONDAY ALONE. NO
OTHER CHANGES PLANNED TO EXTENDED PERIOD...WITH POPS CONTINUING ON
TUESDAY...AND NEAR SEASONAL TEMPS THRU PD. WILL GENERALLY FOLLOW A
BLEND OF TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE TODAY THRU SUN.

.DSM...WIND ADVISORY THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING ALONG AND
NORTH OF A DENISON-BOONE-GRINNELL LINE.

KINNEY
Hazardous weather outlook, May 29, 8:30 PM CST, 5 hours 49 minutes before
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086-
092>097-301100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
930 PM CDT THU MAY 29 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL IOWA.

.DAY ONE...REST OF TONIGHT

A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH ACROSS CENTRAL IOWA BETWEEN 2 AM AND 7 AM.
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE
FRONT.  THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER WITH A FEW
STORMS.  THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WIND AND MARGINALLY SEVERE
HAIL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

LINGERING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE BEFORE MID MORNING
FRIDAY...MAINLY ACROSS AREAS FROM WATERLOO TO OTTUMWA...BUT
BY THEN THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL HAVE DIMINISHED AS THE
COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO PUSH QUICKLY EASTWARD. THE NEXT MOST FAVORED
TIME FOR RAIN OVER CENTRAL IOWA IS ON TUESDAY. IT IS TOO EARLY TO
ASSESS THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT THROUGH MID MORNING FRIDAY
ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL IOWA.
&&

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

FAB

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Winnebago

When
May 30, 2:19 AM CST
Where
Winnebago County, Forest City
Measured
0.75 in hail
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.267, -93.650

Hail, Webster

When
May 30, 2:55 AM CST
Where
Webster County, Badger
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$10,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
42.617, -94.150

Hail, Webster

When
May 30, 2:55 AM CST
Where
Webster County, 4 mi SW of Duncombe
Measured
0.75 in hail
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.433, -94.033

Hail, Webster

When
May 30, 2:57 AM CST
Where
Webster County, 4 mi E of Ft Dodge
Measured
0.88 in hail
Property damage
$1,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.500, -94.100

Hail, Story

When
May 30, 3:30 AM CST
Where
Story County, Maxwell
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$5,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.883, -93.400

Hail, Boone

When
May 30, 3:40 AM CST
Where
Boone County, 8 mi NE of Boone
Measured
0.88 in hail
Property damage
$1,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
42.150, -93.767

Hail, Story

When
May 30, 3:45 AM CST
Where
Story County, Ames
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$10,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.033, -93.617

Hail, Story

When
May 30, 3:45 AM CST
Where
Story County, 3 mi NW of Ames
Measured
2 in hail
Property damage
$175,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.067, -93.650

Hail, Story

When
May 30, 3:47 AM CST
Where
Story County, 1 mi S of Gilbert
Measured
0.75 in hail
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.100, -93.650

Hail, Story

When
May 30, 3:47 AM CST
Where
Story County, 1 mi NW of Ames
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$5,000
Crop damage
$5,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.050, -93.633

Hail, Story

When
May 30, 3:48 AM CST
Where
Story County, Ames
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.033, -93.617

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

More

Every storm in Iowa in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, May 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: 5352750, 5352751, 5352752, 5352753, 5352754, 5352755, 5352756, 5352757, 5352758, 5352759, 5352760.