Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, November 17, 2003

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, November 17, 2003
Start: 2003-11-17T09:05
End: 2003-11-17T22:23
Location: Iowa

November 17, 2003 · NWS DMX · 5 events in 4 counties and zones

S. during the night of the 16th into the day of the 17th.

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: $21,000
Crop damage: None recorded
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.

An unseasonably warm and moist airmass moved into the central U.S. during the night of the 16th into the day of the 17th. Southwest winds of 35 to 55 kts at 850 mb drew in +10 degree C. dew points. Surface dew points were in the middle 50s to low 60s in southwest Iowa. Thunderstorms erupted as a result of the instability it produced. The freezing level was just over 9000 feet, making it easy for hail to develop. Most of the severe weather from this event was in the form of hail. One storm produced 65 MPH winds in Winnebago County the downed power lines and blew vehicles off the road. It appears this was enhanced by a gravity wave. Thunderstorms continued off and on through the day, though most were not severe. By the mid afternoon hours thunderstorms began producing small hail. Some hail of penny to nickle size developed from Hamilton to Cerro Gordo Counties. A second line of storms moved into southwest Iowa as the cold front from this weather system approached. One thunderstorm produced one inch diameter hail for several minutes southwest of Jefferson in Greene County. A look at records indicates that this is the first time severe criteria hail has occurred in the Des Moines CWA in nearly 20 years. The last time was back on the 9th of November of 1984. This event set a record for the latest occurrence of severe hail in the Des Moines CWA.

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 Nov 17, 4:15 AM CST, 4 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 17, 4:15 AM CST, 4 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
415 AM CST MON NOV 17 2003

.DISCUSSION...
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ERUPTED ON LEADING EDGE OF VRY STG
THETAE ADVECTION SHOVING NNE ACRS ERN NEB INTO NW IA. THE AVN IS
DOING A VRY GOOD JOB SINCE ITS ABT THE FARTHEST W WITH THE INIT OF
PCPN. A CLOSE 2ND WITH THE RUC/MESOETA. PLENTY OF FORCING AVBL TDA
INTO TNGT AS THE SRN PTN OF THE LRG PAC MERIDIONAL TROF DEEPENS THIS
AFTN AND TNGT. MDLS ARE ALL ESSENTIALLY THE SAME WITH THE LRG SCALE
FEATURES IN THE SHORT RUN. DID NOT CHG MUCH FM THE PREV FCST. PWATS
INCR FM A HALF INCH AT 12Z TO OVR AN INCH BY 20Z. BROAD...DEEP AND
STG SW FLOW XPCD TO ALINE CONVECTION THAT AFTN AND EVENING FOR SOME
LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL. MOST LIKELY SOUTHEAST THIRD. THERE IS SOME
THREAT FOR SVR HAIL LTR TDA AS COOLING ALF SWEEPS EWD. STILL LOOKING
FOR SOME WIND TMR...BUT HOLDING BLO ADVISORY CRITERIA. STG RDGG
FOLLOWS THE TROF/S EXIT WITH WARM TMPS LIKELY BY THURSDAY. WL
PROBABLY PUSH RECORDS...BUT BEING CONSERVATIVE ATTM. THE WEEKEND WX
IS UP IN THE AIR AS MODEL RUN CONTINUITY LEAVES A LOT BE DESIRED.

&&

.DMX...NONE
&&

MYERS

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 17, 5:32 AM CST, 3 hours 33 minutes before

IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086-
092>097-181200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
532 AM CST MON NOV 17 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL IOWA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING LARGE HAIL
TODAY AND THIS EVENING...ISOLATED STRONG WIND GUSTS LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AND MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL TOTALS
LOCALLY UP TO 2 INCHES.  NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS FROM WEST CENTRAL
IOWA THROUGH SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA INTO NORTHERN KANSAS WILL MOVE
NORTHEAST THIS MORNING...AFFECTING MOST OF CENTRAL IOWA BY MIDDAY.
THESE PARTICULAR STORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE PEA SIZED HAIL...AND
ISOLATED HAIL UP TO NICKEL SIZE.  SEVERAL HOURS OF PERSISTENT
MODERATE AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ADD UP...WITH AMOUNTS OF ONE
HALF TO ONE INCH ON AVERAGE...WITH LOCAL AMOUNTS EXCEEDING 2
INCHES.  THIS COULD LEAD TO URBAN STREET FLOODING LATER TODAY OR
THIS EVENING AS ADDITIONAL RAINS FALL.

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG A COLD FRONT LATE THIS
AFTERNOON ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN KANSAS WHICH WILL MOVE
NORTHEAST INTO CENTRAL AND EASTERN IOWA THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT.
LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WIND GUSTS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS LINE OF
STORMS...WITH THE HIGHEST THREAT ACROSS SOUTHEAST IOWA.
AGAIN...HEAVY RAINFALL AND URBAN STREET FLOODING MAY BE POSSIBLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP ON TUESDAY AFTER THE PASSAGE OF A
VIGOROUS COLD FRONT LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY MORNING.
SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20 TO 25 MPH...WITH GUSTS AROUND 35 MPH ARE
POSSIBLE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TODAY AND THIS EVENING.
&&

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

KULA

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, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Winnebago

When: November 17, 9:05 AM CST
Where: Winnebago County, Forest City
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 43.267, -93.650

Thunderstorm Wind, Winnebago

When: November 17, 9:10 AM CST
Where: Winnebago County, 1 mi NE of Forest City
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 43.283, -93.633

Hail, Hamilton

When: November 17, 2:20 PM CST
Where: Hamilton County, Webster City
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 42.467, -93.817

Hail, Cerro Gordo

When: November 17, 3:10 PM CST
Where: Cerro Gordo County, Rock Falls
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 43.217, -93.083

Hail, Greene

When: November 17, 10:23 PM CST
Where: Greene County, 8 mi SW of Jefferson
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.933, -94.500

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.
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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, November 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: 5372451, 5372452, 5372453, 5372454, 5372455.