Tornadoes and Hail in Iowa, March 23, 2009

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Iowa, March 23, 2009
Start: 2009-03-23T17:03
End: 2009-03-23T19:00
Location: Iowa

March 23, 2009 · NWS OAX · 9 events in 3 counties and zones

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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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 OAX wrote it up.

An intense upper level low pressure system tracked from eastern Colorado into southeast South Dakota from March 23rd to March 24th. This caused a surface low pressure system to move from western Nebraska into southeast South Dakota during that time. As the low tracked northeast, a dry-line moved into eastern Nebraska during the afternoon of March 23rd. With surface temperatures in the 60s and 70s, and dewpoint temperatures in the 50s, ample instability was in place to allow a line of severe thunderstorms to develop as the dry-line punched eastward. Several fast moving and low-topped supercell thunderstorms were embedded in the line, and one cell produced cyclic tornadoes from southeast of Lincoln into western Iowa. The storms in the line were moving north northeast at between 50 and 60 mph. In addition to the severe weather, strong southerly gradient winds prevailed ahead of the low pressure. In some cases the winds gusted between 50 and 60 mph for several hours across parts of eastern Nebraska.

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 Omaha, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 23, 12:56 PM CST, 4 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 23, 12:56 PM CST, 4 hours 7 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
156 PM CDT MON MAR 23 2009

.DISCUSSION...

STRONG GRADIENT WINDS ARE THE MAIN CONCERN BEFORE SEVERE WEATHER
BREAKS OUT ACROSS THE AREA MID-LATE AFTERNOON. WL CONTINUE THE HIGH
WIND WARNING AND WIND ADVISORY HEADLINES PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT
UNTIL 00Z. 18Z SUBJECTIVE SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS 987MB LOW CENTERED OVER
KLBF WITH DRY LINE EXTENDING SWD INTO NRN OK. CU FIELD BEGINNING
TO BREAK OUT ALONG DRY LINE AND STORMS BEGINNING TO FIRE ACROSS
CNTRL NEB. WRMFNT ARCHES FROM THE LOW CENTER NORTH OF KORD TO NEAR
KOLU AND POINTS SEWD. ELEVATED CONVECTION APPEARS TO BE TRYING TO
DEVELOP NORTH OF THIS BOUNDARY. AIRMASS HAS YET TO DESTABILIZE
ACROSS CWA YET...BUT AS SUNSHINE BREAKS OUT FROM WEST TO EAST...IT
SHOULDNT TAKE MUCH TIME TO INCREASE MLCAPE VALUES. FAVORABLE 0-6KM
BULK SHEAR VALUES WOULD SUPPORT SUPERCELLS AND ANY STORMS THAT DO
DEVELOP WILL MOVE INTO 0-1KM SHEAR VALUES OF NEAR 35-40KTS WHICH
COULD AID IN A QUICK SPIN UP. OTHERWISE...STORMS FIRING ALONG THE
DRYLINE ARE LIKELY TO FORM INTO A SQUALL LINE AS THEY SHIFT EAST
THRU THE NIGHT.

SVR WX THREAT SHOULD SUBSIDE BY 03Z WITH THE LINE MOVING INTO CNTRL
IA AS THE SFC LOW MOVES INTO ERN SD. COLDER AIR WL PUSH IN BEHIND
THE SYSTEM AND ANY WRAP AROUND SHOULD TURN INTO LIGHT SNOW ACROSS
FAR NORTHEAST NEBRASKA. ONLY A DUSTING OF ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED.
NORTHWEST TO WEST WINDS WL BE QUITE BREEZY TUESDAY.

SPLIT FLOW SETS UP BY THURSDAY WITH SOUTHERN STREAM MOVING A STRONG
CLOSED OFF LOW OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION WHILE NORTHERN STREAM
STAYS FAR TO OUR NORTH ALONG THE INTERNATIONAL BORDER. THIS SOUTHERN
STREAM SYSTEM LOOKS TO BRING A RETURN OF WINTER TO THE CNTRL PLAINS
THURSDAY NIGHT THRU SATURDAY. STRONG BAROCLINIC ZONE WL SET UP WITH
COLD AIR MASS STRETCHED OUT ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THRU THE
DURATION OF THE EVENT. GOOD AGREEMENT IN PLACEMENT OF THIS SYSTEM
KEEPS FORECAST AREA IN DEFORMATION ZONE. STRONG SFC GRADIENT BEHIND
THE SYSTEM WOULD KEEP WINDS VERY STRONG THRU THE WEEKEND. HEAVY SNOW
IN COMBINATION WITH STRONG WINDS COULD MAKE FOR A VERY MESSY END OF
THE WEEK/BEGINNING OF THE WEEKEND. WL KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THIS POSSIBLE
WINTER STORM EVENT.

&&

.AVIATION...
FOR TAF SITES KOFK/KOMA/KLNK THRU 24/18Z.

STRONG SOUTH WINDS WL CONTINUE ACROSS THE TAF SITES THRU EARLY
EVENING HOURS WITH MVFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED. SCATTERED TSTMS ARE
POSSIBLE THRU 03Z...SOME COULD BE SEVERE WITH VISIBILITIES LESS
THAN 2 MILES AT TIMES. AS THE STRONG STORM SYSTEM MOVES NEWD
OVERNIGHT...KOFK COULD SEE PCPN CHANGE TO LIGHT SNOW WITH
CONTINUED MVFR CIGS AROUND 12-18Z.

&&

.OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NE...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR NEZ015>018-030>034-
     042>045-050>053-066>068-090>093.

     HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR NEZ065-078-088-
     089.

IA...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR IAZ043-055-056-069-
     079-080-090-091.

&&

GRIFFIS

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 23, 10:31 AM CST, 6 hours 32 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1131 AM CDT MON MAR 23 2009

IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-
042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-240000-
MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT-
PAGE-KNOX-CEDAR-THURSTON-ANTELOPE-PIERCE-WAYNE-BOONE-MADISON-
STANTON-CUMING-BURT-PLATTE-COLFAX-DODGE-WASHINGTON-BUTLER-
SAUNDERS-DOUGLAS-SARPY-SEWARD-LANCASTER-CASS-OTOE-SALINE-
JEFFERSON-GAGE-JOHNSON-NEMAHA-PAWNEE-RICHARDSON-
1131 AM CDT MON MAR 23 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NEBRASKA
AND WESTERN IOWA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS
CENTRAL NEBRASKA...THEN MOVE INTO EASTERN NEBRASKA BY LATE
AFTERNOON...AND INTO WESTERN IOWA BY EARLY THIS EVENING.

THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BEGIN TO IMPACT AREAS ALONG AND WEST OF A
LINE FROM WAYNE TO BEATRICE BY 3 PM...THE REMAINDER OF EASTERN
NEBRASKA BY 4 TO 6 PM...AND ACROSS WESTERN IOWA AFTER 6 PM. SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE THE
PRIMARY HAZARDS...ALTHOUGH LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR IS QUITE STRONG
RESULTING IN ISOLATED TORNADOES AS WELL.

A VERY STRONG AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL NEBRASKA
WILL MOVE TO NORTHEAST NEBRASKA BY EARLY EVENING. FORECAST
SOUNDINGS INDICATE THAT A MID LEVEL CAP SHOULD SUFFICIENTLY WEAKEN
BY MID TO LATE AFTERNOON TO ALLOW SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT.
DISCRETE CELLS MAY INITIALLY DEVELOP...BUT MERGING INTO A SQUALL
LINE THAT DEVELOPS SOUTHWARD INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AS THE DRY
LINE SWEEPS EASTWARD THROUGH THE AREA.

IN ADDITION TO THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THREAT...STRONG SOUTH OR
SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL PREVAIL OVER THE AREA TODAY...WITH GUSTS OF
45 TO 60 MPH EXPECTED. THUS...A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT
FOR MUCH OF THE REGION. IN ADDITION...A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN
EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA. WINDS SHOULD DECREASE
OVER THE AREA THIS EVENING...AND THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT SHOULD
SHIFT SOUTH AND EAST OUT OF THE REGION BY MIDNIGHT AND BEYOND.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP OVER THE PLAINS LATE
THIS WEEK INTO SATURDAY. CURRENT INDICATIONS ARE THAT THIS SYSTEM
WILL TRACK FARTHER SOUTH THAN THE ONE AFFECTING THE REGION
TODAY...THUS PUTTING MORE OF THE AREA AT RISK FOR ACCUMULATING
SNOW. AS USUAL...LOCATIONS THAT WILL RECEIVE SNOW...AND EXACT
AMOUNTS...WILL DEPEND HEAVILY ON THE TRACK OF THIS STORM SYSTEM.
STAY TUNED TO LATER FORECASTS ON THIS DEVELOPING WINTER STORM
LATER IN THE WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL MOSTLY LIKELY BE NEEDED FROM MID
AFTERNOON INTO MID EVENING...INITIALLY ACROSS EASTERN
NEBRASKA...AND EVENTUALLY ACROSS WESTERN IOWA.

DEWALD

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 23, 4:25 PM CST, 38 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
525 PM CDT MON MAR 23 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0520 PM     HAIL             OMAHA                   41.26N 96.01W
03/23/2009  M1.00 INCH       DOUGLAS            NE   TRAINED SPOTTER

            168TH HARRISON

&&

DFOBERT

Local storm report, Mar 23, 4:26 PM CST, 37 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
526 PM CDT MON MAR 23 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0520 PM     HAIL             CHALCO                  41.18N 96.13W
03/23/2009  M1.00 INCH       SARPY              NE   AMATEUR RADIO

            ROTATING WALL CLOUD OVER 156TH AND HARRISON, NO LOWERING

0520 PM     HAIL             4 NE GRETNA             41.18N 96.19W
03/23/2009  M1.50 INCH       SARPY              NE   NWS EMPLOYEE

&&

BG

Local storm report, Mar 23, 4:27 PM CST, 36 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
527 PM CDT MON MAR 23 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0524 PM     HAIL             OMAHA                   41.26N 96.01W
03/23/2009  M0.75 INCH       DOUGLAS            NE   TRAINED SPOTTER

            163RD RIGGS RD

&&

DFOBERT

Local storm report, Mar 23, 4:28 PM CST, 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
528 PM CDT MON MAR 23 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0524 PM     HAIL             GRETNA                  41.14N 96.24W
03/23/2009  M0.75 INCH       SARPY              NE   NWS EMPLOYEE

&&

DFOBERT

Local storm report, Mar 23, 4:33 PM CST, 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
533 PM CDT MON MAR 23 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0527 PM     HAIL             OMAHA                   41.26N 96.01W
03/23/2009  M0.75 INCH       DOUGLAS            NE   TRAINED SPOTTER

            117TH DODGE

&&

DFOBERT

Local storm report, Mar 23, 4:34 PM CST, 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
534 PM CDT MON MAR 23 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0530 PM     HAIL             OMAHA                   41.26N 96.01W
03/23/2009  M1.00 INCH       DOUGLAS            NE   TRAINED SPOTTER

            156TH GROVER

&&

DFOBERT

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:03 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 tornado, 3 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Harrison

When: March 23, 5:03 PM CST to 5:13 PM CST
Where: Harrison County, 2.74 mi WSW of Missouri Vly to 2.72 mi SW of Magnolia
Rating: EF2
Path length: 8.6 mi
Path width: 440 yd
Reported by: NWS Storm Survey
Coordinates: 41.550, -95.946

The tornado touched down near highway 30 about 1.5 miles west of the interchange between Interstate 29 and Highway 30, or about 3 miles west of Missouri Valley Iowa. The tornado was at its strongest and widest within a mile of its touchdown point, becoming weaker with more intermittent damage farther north. Near the touchdown point, a barn sustained roof damage and a windmill was knocked down. One-half mile north of Highway 30, 54 empty grain rail cars were derailed. One mile north of Highway 30, along 305th St., two residences were impacted by the tornado. A 100-year-old single family residence directly in its path was completely destroyed, with all walls collapsed and debris relocated about 50 feet north of the foundation. The debris collected over the site of a cinder block garage, which also partially collapsed. About 100 yards north of the garage site, a machine shed was collapsed onto a combine inside, which had been moved by the wind. Trees near the house sustained some broken limbs and treetops, and a power pole was snapped. The damage at this site was given an EF2 rating. Another residence one-quarter mile to its west sustained minor siding and shingle damage and windows were broken. Seven of the eight outbuildings at that residence were collapsed, with debris strewn into nearby fields. Damage at the two houses indicated a path width of one quarter mile at that point, the widest along the path of the tornado. The tornado continued northward, overturning two semis on Interstate 29. From there to a point about 3 miles southwest of Magnolia, near the intersection of the Loess Hills Trail and Melody Oaks Trail, intermittent light damage to trees and roofs of a couple of outbuildings was noted. From this point, the survey team determined the damage path narrowed to 100 yards or less based on scattered tree and outbuilding damage, with EF0 intensity north of Interstate 29.

Thunderstorm Wind, Harrison

When: March 23, 5:15 PM CST
Where: Harrison County, 3.45 mi N of Missouri Vly
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 41.620, -95.900

Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 70 mph downed large trees and power lines around 9 miles southeast of Mondamin. The winds were most likely rear flank downdraft winds that were wrapping around a tornado that was tracking near this location.

Hail, Harrison

When: March 23, 5:34 PM CST
Where: Harrison County, 1.24 mi SE of Mondamin
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 41.710, -96.000

Hail, Page

When: March 23, 6:30 PM CST
Where: Page County, 3.66 mi W of Bethesda
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.830, -95.170

Hail, Montgomery

When: March 23, 6:45 PM CST
Where: Montgomery County, 4.95 mi SSE of Stanton
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Fire Department/Rescue
Coordinates: 40.910, -95.100

Tornado, Montgomery

When: March 23, 6:52 PM CST to 6:55 PM CST
Where: Montgomery County, 3.59 mi WSW of Villisca to 2.68 mi WNW of Villisca
Rating: EF0
Path length: 2.6 mi
Path width: 25 yd
Reported by: NWS Storm Survey
Coordinates: 40.915, -95.066

The tornado touched down just southwest of the intersection of 270th and Q Ave. west-southwest of Villisca. Near that point the roof was torn off of an outbuilding and an empty grain bin was blown across the road. A barn had some roof structure damage 2 to 3 miles north of there, near where the tornado apparently lifted.

Thunderstorm Wind, Page

When: March 23, 6:55 PM CST
Where: Page County, 2.76 mi N of Bethesda
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 40.870, -95.100

Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at over 60 mph knocked a few large trees down across a road around 8 miles south of Stanton.

Tornado, Montgomery

When: March 23, 6:56 PM CST to 6:58 PM CST
Where: Montgomery County, 0.95 mi SSE of Tenville to 0.84 mi ENE of Sciola
Rating: EF0
Path length: 1.93 mi
Path width: 440 yd
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 41.007, -94.994

The tornado touched down near Tenville destroying trees at a cemetery, causing house and farm outbuilding damage in the area and other tree and roof damage along its path. This tornado was from the same supercell that produced a tornado just to the south of here.

Thunderstorm Wind, Montgomery

When: March 23, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Montgomery County, 3.61 mi ESE of Stanton
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 40.968, -95.053

Thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at around 70 mph caused damage to outbuildings, grain bins and trees around the Viking Lake area. This damage could have either been associated with the tornado that a NWS storm survey determined to have touched down northeast of the lake, or from rear-flank downdraft winds from the storm.

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
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 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Iowa, 2009 Warnings in Iowa, March 2009

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: 153819, 154292, 154282, 154284, 154285, 155237, 154295, 155236, 154293.