Hail, Wayne
- When
- March 31, 2:51 PM CST
- Where
- Wayne County, Seymour
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 40.680, -93.120
Brief hail was reported with the storm. It was mostly pea size, with a few as large as pennies.
Hail in Iowa, March 31, 2008
A strong low pressure system formed over the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles during the night of the 30th into the early morning of the 31st. The low pushed northeast, tracking across northeast Kansas and through southwest into east central 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- 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 happened
The episode as NWS DMX wrote it up.
A strong low pressure system formed over the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles during the night of the 30th into the early morning of the 31st. The low pushed northeast, tracking across northeast Kansas and through southwest into east central Iowa. A strong push of moist and unstable air was drawn north ahead of the low. Surface temperatures warmed into the upper 60s to low 70s with dew points in the low 60s by the mid afternoon hours. As the cold front, which extended southwest from the low, moved through the area, a line of thunderstorms developed. The storms produced hail that was mostly pea size. One of the storms dropped penny size hail just west of Seymour in Wayne County.
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 Mar 31, 1:50 PM CST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 1:50 PM CST, 1 hour 1 minute before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 250 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008 .DISCUSSION... STORM TO QUICKLY MOVE OUT THIS EVENING WITH POTENTIAL SVR THREAT AND MAIN SHOW OVER THE SOUTHEAST AS THE LOW TRACKS TOWARD KDBQ. MAIN HEAVY PRECIP OVER WITH THE STRONG MORNING WAA FIELD THOUGH LATEST 18Z NAM CONTINUES TO PICK UP ON UPPER LEVEL DEF ZONE JUST BEHIND THE SFC LOW. MODELS HAVE UNDERESTIMATED THE SFC LOW DEEPENING THOUGH THE NAM IS CLOSER. GFS CONTINUES TOO FAST TO TRACK THE STORM ACROSS THE STATE TODAY AND THIS EVENING. HAVE LEANED MORE TOWARD THE NAM AS FAR AS LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING FEATURES. ANY SEVERE STORMS SOUTHEAST SHOULD QUICKLY EXIT THE AREA BEFORE 23Z WITH NORTHWEST WINDS TAKING OVER THIS EVENING. WITH COLD FRONT PROGRESSING SOUTHEAST TONIGHT WILL SEE RESIDUAL RAIN CHANGING OVER TO LIGHT SNOW. UPPER LEVEL TROUGH TO SWING AROUND THE LOW TUES AM AND PROVIDE ENOUGH FORCING FOR SNOW SHOWERS MAINLY NORTH SECTIONS. NOT MUCH LEFT NORTHWEST SO WILL BE LETTING REMAINDER OF WINTER WX EXPIRE THERE. QUIET WEATHER EXPECTED FOR TUESDAY NIGHT AND MOST OF WEDNESDAY. PATTERN REMAINS ACTIVE BUT NEXT WAVE TO PASS FARTHER SOUTH OF THE AREA. HAVE KEPT POPS GOING FOR LATE WED NIGHT AND THURSDAY AS SOUTHERN STREAM STORM JUST GRAZES THE STATE. TEMPS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS WILL REMAIN BELOW NORMAL WITH COOLER THAN NORMAL H850 TEMPS AND LIKELIHOOD THAT CLOUDS WILL BE PREVALENT MORE THAN NOT. CONFIDENCE IN THE WEEKEND IS MUTED BY LACK OF AGREEMENT IN MODELS FOR NOW. EURO/GFS SHOWING WAVE PASSING OVER THE AREA WITH GEM DRY. CLOUDS SHOULD AGAIN PREVENT ANY MAJOR WARMING AND HAVE UNDERCUT MEX AND MEN GUIDANCE FOR SAT AND SUNDAY. QUITE A SPREAD OVER THE MODELS FOR MONDAY WITH WARMER TEMPS AS WELL. EURO HAS H850 TEMPS AROUND 10C WITH THE GFS MODEL APPROACHING 6C. MODELS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE OVERALL FEATURES BY EARLY NEXT WEEK AS ANOTHER STRONG STORM DEVELOPS OVER THE PLAINS WITH ANOTHER SHOT AT ACTIVE WEATHER. && .AVIATION...31/18Z SFC LOW MOVING FROM SW IA/NW MO VCNTY THRU E CENTRAL IA THIS AFTN WILL BE FOCUS FOR ADDITIONAL SHRA/TSRA...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND EAST OF ITS TRACK. SFC WINDS FROM KDSM TO KALO AND NW WILL BACK AROUND TO THE N AND NW BY 00Z AND BECOME INCREASINGLY GUSTY. VSBY IN VCNTY OF WARM FRONT KDSM TO KOTM WILL BY IFR AND POSSIBLY LIFR UNTIL ABOUT 21Z. SHORT TERM THREAT OF TS AT KALO AND POSSIBLY AT KDSM THRU ABOUT 21Z. KOTM TO BE THE MOST UNSTABLE WITH SVR TSRA POSSIBLY DURING MID TO LATE AFTN. MOISTURE WILL BE WANING ACROSS THE NW...BUT SOME CHANGE OR MIX WITH SNOW POSSIBLE AT KMCW. AFT 00Z...TAF SITES EXPECTED TO BE DRY WITH IFR TO MVFR CEILINGS REMAINING THRU BALANCE OF TAF PERIOD. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE LONG TERM...REV SHORT TERM...REV AVIATION...MOYER
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 31, 12:28 PM CST, 2 hours 23 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 128 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008 IAZ004-011830- EMMET- 128 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA TODAY FOR 3 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW. PLEASE REFER TO WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED...HOWEVER REPORTS OF SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED. IAZ005>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>049-057>060-070>072-081- 082-092-011830- KOSSUTH-WINNEBAGO-WORTH-PALO ALTO-HANCOCK-CERRO GORDO-POCAHONTAS- HUMBOLDT-WRIGHT-FRANKLIN-BUTLER-BREMER-SAC-CALHOUN-WEBSTER- HAMILTON-HARDIN-GRUNDY-BLACK HAWK-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-GREENE-BOONE- STORY-MARSHALL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-POLK-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON- ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR- 128 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE DAY. HOWEVER...SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED. THE THUNDERSTORM PROBABILITY WILL END FROM THE WEST LATER THIS AFTERNOON. PRECIPITATION MAY CHANGE TO LIGHT SNOW BEFORE ENDING NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM AUDUBON TO WATERLOO...WITH LITTLE IF ANY ACCUMULATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. IAZ050-061-062-073>075-083>086-093>097-011830- TAMA-JASPER-POWESHIEK-WARREN-MARION-MAHASKA-CLARKE-LUCAS-MONROE- WAPELLO-RINGGOLD-DECATUR-WAYNE-APPANOOSE-DAVIS- 128 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON WITH SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE THROUGH 6 PM. DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS ARE THE PRIMARY THREAT WITH LARGE HAIL AND TORNADOES A SECONDARY THREAT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY ISOLATED NON-SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THE SOUTHERN TIER OF IOWA COUNTIES ON THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON. MOYER
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:49 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Oklahoma, March 31, 2008
- Flash Flooding in Tennessee, March 31, 2008
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Missouri, March 31, 2008
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Minnesota, March 31, 2008
- Hail in Texas, March 31, 2008
- Hail in Arkansas, March 31, 2008
- Wildfire in Texas, March 31, 2008
- Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, March 31, 2008
- High Wind in Kansas, March 31, 2008
- High Wind in Missouri, March 31, 2008
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Illinois, March 31, 2008
- Lightning Strikes in Wisconsin, March 31, 2008
More
Every storm in Iowa in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, March 2008
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: 79111.