A strong upper level trough and associated cold front pushed across the region during the afternoon and evening of March 22. The upper level system caused low pressure to deepen over eastern Nebraska/northeast Kansas with a warm front extending northeast from the low into east central Nebraska and southwest Iowa.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS OAX wrote it up.
A strong upper level trough and associated cold front pushed across the region during the afternoon and evening of March 22. The upper level system caused low pressure to deepen over eastern Nebraska/northeast Kansas with a warm front extending northeast from the low into east central Nebraska and southwest Iowa. By mid afternoon, ahead of the cold front and south of the warm front, temperatures climbed into the upper 70s to lower 80s and dew point temperatures reached the upper 50s. The instability and shear near the low and warm front created a favorable environment for supercell development, a few of which produced damaging hail and at least 3 tornadoes in the area.
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 22, 3:11 PM CST, 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 411 PM CDT TUE MAR 22 2011 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY. OBVIOUS NEAR TERM CONCERN IS SVR POTENTIAL THIS EVENING. CELLS CURRENTLY OVER SC NEB TAKING ADVANTAGE OF WEAK CAP IN PLACE. HOWEVER 18Z KOMA/KTOP SOUNDINGS SHOWED A TIGHT LID...BUT LATEST RUC ADVERTISING CAP OVER CWA SHOULD WEAKEN SHORTLY. RUC CONTINUES TO FOCUS BEST COMPOSITE PARAMETERS MUCAPE/EFF SHEAR ACCOMPANYING ANTICIPATED FROPA EARLY THIS EVENING. UNTIL THEN A FEW SVR CELLS WILL PROBABLY POP UP OVER OUR NEB CWA. CURRENT OBS PLACE COLD FRONT FROM ABOUT KSUX TO ABOUT KHJH...AND TIME SERIES INDICATE FRONT SHOULD CLEAR THE CWA ABOUT 01Z-02Z TIME FRAME. AT THIS POINT STILL THINK OUR IA CWA WILL BE A BEST RISK TO SEE SVR ACTIVITY EARLY IN THE EVENING WITH MODELS INDICATING ENVIRONMENT ABLE TO SUPPORT TORS. ON WED... UPPER TROF SHIFTS EAST AND ALLOWS A RE-REINFORCING SHOT OF CAA TO SLIDE SWD INTO THE CNTRL PLAINS. APPEARS THAT FORCING IS RATHER WEAK. LACK OF UPPER LVL QVECT CONVG AND RELATIVELY WEAK OMEGA SUGGESTING CAA PRETTY MUCH OVERCOMING AND POTENTIAL LIFT VIA DPVA. THUS HAVE DECIDED TO LAY ONLY SMALL TOKEN POPS ALONG THERMAL GRADIENT SETTING UP ALONG THE NEB/SD BORDER DURING THE MORNING...THEN RAIN IN THE AFTN. IMPULSES PUSHING THRU THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY WILL AGAIN BRING SHOT FOR RA/SN MIX NRN CWA AND RA SOUTH. DEE .LONG TERM...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY A RETURN TO COLDER TEMPERATURES IS INDICATED IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD WITH A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW POSSIBLE FOR SATURDAY AND AGAIN SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY OR TUESDAY DEPENDING ON THE CHOICE OF MODEL. 00Z ECMWF MUCH STRONGER AND A BIT SLOWER WITH ITS UPPER WAVES AND MORNING GUIDANCE FROM HPC TENDS TO FOLLOW THIS SOLUTION. THE ECMWF ALSO WANTS TO HANG ON TO THE COLDER TEMPERATURES ON TUESDAY DUE TO ITS STRONGER WAVE IDEA COMPARED TO 12Z GFS. && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFS SFC LOW PRESSURE MOVING ACROSS THE REGION WILL CREATE VARIABLE CONDITIONS ACROSS THE TAF SITES MAINLY EARLY IN THE PERIOD THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AT ALL 3 SITES HOWEVER ONLY MENTIONED A TEMPO -TSRA CHANCE AT KOMA WHERE CONFIDENCE IS HIGHER AND LEFT MENTION OUT OF BOTH KOFK AND KLNK. A COLD FRONT WILL QUICKLY PUSH THRU THE TAF SITES THIS EVENING TURNING SFC WINDS TO THE NORTHWEST AND FAIRLY GUSTY FOR A BIT. KOFK MAY GO DOWN TO MVFR BRIEFLY FOR BOTH LOW CLOUDS AND VISIBILITY BUT NOT EXPECTING THAT TO LAST LONG INTO THE MORNING HOURS. && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. IA...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 1149 AM CDT TUE MAR 22 2011 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-230700- 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- 1149 AM CDT TUE MAR 22 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST IOWA...WEST CENTRAL IOWA...EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA...NORTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS NORTHEAST KANSAS AND SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND QUICKLY MOVE EAST TOWARD SOUTHWEST IOWA BY EARLY EVENING. THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. IN ADDITION...A LINE OF STORMS IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG A COLD FRONT THAT WILL EXTEND FROM SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA INTO SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA THIS AFTERNOON. THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE EAST SOUTHEAST ALONG THE COLD FRONT THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...ESPECIALLY IN EXTREME EASTERN NEBRASKA AND ACROSS SOUTHWEST IOWA. EXTREME FIRE DANGER IS FORECAST ACROSS SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF A MIX OF PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA THURSDAY NIGHT. THE PRECIPITATION MAY STAY AS ALL SNOW IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA AND PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL IOWA. A RAIN...SNOW MIX WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING. KERN
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA 256 PM CDT TUE MAR 22 2011 NEZ018-032-033-222030- CUMING NE-STANTON NE-WAYNE NE- 256 PM CDT TUE MAR 22 2011 ...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR EASTERN STANTON...EASTERN WAYNE AND NORTHWESTERN CUMING COUNTIES UNTIL 330 PM CDT... AT 251 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR CLARKSON...OR 22 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NORFOLK...MOVING NORTH AT 60 MPH. HAIL UP TO ONE-HALF INCH IN DIAMETER AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... PILGER... WAYNE... 8 MILES SOUTH OF WAYNE... MAYES
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
333 PM CDT TUE MAR 22 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0332 PM HAIL 1 E WAYNE 42.24N 97.00W
03/22/2011 M0.75 INCH WAYNE NE TRAINED SPOTTER
MOSTLY PEA-SIZE...A FEW UP TO DIME SIZE.
&&
CHERMOKPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
339 PM CDT TUE MAR 22 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0338 PM HAIL WAYNE 42.24N 97.02W
03/22/2011 M1.00 INCH WAYNE NE TRAINED SPOTTER
HAIL UP TO QUARTER SIZE REPORTED IN WAYNE TO 1 MILE EAST
OF TOWN...HAIL WAS FROM 332 TO 338 PM.
&&
CHERMOKPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
417 PM CDT TUE MAR 22 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0416 PM HAIL VALLEY 41.31N 96.35W
03/22/2011 M1.50 INCH DOUGLAS NE OFFICIAL NWS OBS
GROUND ALMOST COMPLETELY COVERED WITH HAIL CLOSE TO PING
PONG BALL SIZE. THE HAIL LASTED FOR AROUND 5 MINUTES.
&&
CHERMOKPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
431 PM CDT TUE MAR 22 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0431 PM HAIL PENDER 42.11N 96.71W
03/22/2011 M1.75 INCH THURSTON NE EMERGENCY MNGR
&&
CHERMOKPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
433 PM CDT TUE MAR 22 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0430 PM HAIL BENNINGTON 41.37N 96.16W
03/22/2011 E1.75 INCH DOUGLAS NE TRAINED SPOTTER
192ND AND BENNINGTON RD
&&
DEEThe Omaha radar (KOAX), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:41 UTC.
6 hail, 2 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph by a NWS employee along with nickel-size hail.
Nickel-size hail was accompanied by thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph near Emerson.
Hail up to golf ball-size was reported in and near Red Oak.
A NWS storm survey assessment team confirmed a tornado tracked around 12 miles starting from a few miles east of Missouri Valley to around 5 miles southeast of Woodbine, Iowa. The tornado destroyed at least 1 mobile home, which caused minor injuries to 2 occupants, and caused outbuilding, home and vehicle damage along it path which reached around 100 yards wide at its widest. The strongest damage was estimated at EF1.
From the supercell thundestorm that produced a tornado near this area.
From the same supercell that produced a tornado near the area.
Hail up to golf ball-size fell in the Logan area associated with the same supercell thunderstorm that produced a tornado near the area. The hail caused significant vehicle and roof and siding damage in and around town.
A storm chaser caught a rope tornado on video southwest of Defiance. The narrow and weak tornado apparently caused no damage as it remained in an open field and was from the same supercell that spawned a larger tornado to the southwest in Harrison county a little earlier.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Iowa, 2011Warnings in Iowa, March 2011
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: 280420, 280421, 280413, 280419, 280415, 280416, 284616, 280418, 288617.