Modestly unstable conditions developed over western Iowa during the afternoon of July 14th as temperatures climbed into the upper 90s along with dew point temperatures in the 60s. Very isolated storms developed along a north of a weak wind shift line that stretched from northeast Nebraska into 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.
Modestly unstable conditions developed over western Iowa during the afternoon of July 14th as temperatures climbed into the upper 90s along with dew point temperatures in the 60s. Very isolated storms developed along a north of a weak wind shift line that stretched from northeast Nebraska into southwest Iowa. One storm in western Iowa dropped hail, a few that reached nickel-size, in the Woodbine 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 Jul 14, 2:26 PM CST, 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 326 PM CDT SAT JUL 14 2012 .DISCUSSION... TEMPERATURES REMAIN PRIMARY ISSUE THROUGH NEXT WEEK AS HOT AND PROBABLY MOSTLY DRY WEATHER CONTINUES. ISOLD CONVECTION HAS DEVELOPED NEAR AND NORTH OF WEAK BOUNDARY FROM NERN NEBRASKA INTO SW IA. HOWEVER...IN OUR FORECAST AREA DRY MID LEVEL AIR PER 12Z OAX SOUNDING HAS KEPT CELLS PRETTY SMALL AS DRY AIR ENTRAINING INTO UPDRAFT HAS SOMEWHAT LIMITED DEVELOPMENT AND HAS LED TO BRIEF NATURE TO EACH CELL. THUS DO NOT EXPECT MUCH TO PERSIST AFTER 00Z AND NO MENTION WILL BE MADE TO TONIGHT PERIOD. OTHERWISE...MIXING HAS LOWERED MANY DEWPOINT TEMPERATURES BACK DOWN TO LEVELS NEAR YDA AT THIS TIME SO WILL DROP LOWS A BIT TONIGHT. THUS WITH FAILURE TO REACH HEAT ADVISORY CRITERIA TODAY AND SOME RELIEF TONIGHT...NO HEAT HEADLINES WILL BE CARRIED YET. TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY SHOULD BE SIMILAR WITH DEW POINTS PERHAPS A BIT HIGHER WITH MORE PREVAILING SSE WINDS SO HI VALUES MAY CLIMB ABOVE 100. DRIER AIR BETWEEN H85 AND H7 IS FORECAST TO OVERSPREAD THE AREA ON MONDAY AS SRLY SURFACE WINDS INCREASE. THUS AREA WOULD APPEAR TO HAVE A BETTER CHANCE OF MIXING OUT WITH TEMPS A DEG OR TWO WARMER THAN SUNDAY ALONG WITH DEWPOINTS LOWERING ENOUGH TO KEEP HEAT INDEX VALUES AGAIN MOSTLY BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS. WITH LITTLE EVIDENCE OF LOW LEVEL BOUNDARY OVER AREA AND UPPER RIDGE BUILDING NE ENDING NRLY UPPER FLOW AND SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPS ALOFT...A DRY FORECAST WILL BE MAINTAINED THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. AMPLIFYING UPPER FLOW OVER ERN CANADA MONDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY STILL APPEARS TO BE ON TRACK TO SEND A WEAK FRONT NEAR OR INTO NERN NEBRASKA LATE TUESDAY. MID LEVEL MOISTURE FORECAST TO POOL N OF FRONT TUE WITH UPPER FLOW...ALBEIT VERY WEAK...TURNING NWRLY IN WED/THU PERIOD POSSIBLY SPREADING SOME OF THIS INCREASED MID LVL MOISTURE SEWD. THUS WILL ALSO MAINTAIN SMALL POPS NEAR BOUNDARY TUE/TUE NIGHT SPREADING CHCS SE WED/THU. HOWEVER...NOT ENOUGH CONFIDENCE IN WIDESPREAD NATURE OF PRECIP/CLOUDS TO CUT BACK MUCH ON TEMPERATURES...PERHAPS A DEG OR TWO COOLER WED/THU. AFTER THAT UPPER HEIGHTS AGAIN INCREASE AND ALTHOUGH TRAPPED MID LVL MOISTURE/WEAK WAVES COULD PROVIDE ISOLD CONVECTION...KEPT FORECAST DRY NEXT FRI/SAT WITH TEMPERATURES PERHAPS WARMING A FEW DEGREES. CHERMOK && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFS FOR KOMA...KLNK...KOFK. VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE. CU HAS DEVELOPED IN A PATCH OVER KOFK AS TEMPERATURES HAVE HEATED UP INTO THE 90S AND THERE IS A WEAK BOUNDARY/THETA-E AXIS IN THE AREA. COULD SEE A STORM TRY TO DEVELOP AT KOFK OR KOMA...HOWEVER DUE TO QUESTIONABLE ABILITY TO SUSTAIN UPDRAFTS AND LOW COVERAGE ON ANY STORMS THAT MAY FORM...HAVE NOT MENTIONED IN TAFS AT THIS TIME. SURFACE WINDS WILL BE LIGHT AND VARIABLE...FM THE NORTHEAST OR SOUTHEAST...GENERALLY 5KTS OR LESS. ZAPOTOCNY && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. IA...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 425 PM CDT SAT JUL 14 2012 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-151100- ANTELOPE-BOONE-BURT-BUTLER-CASS-CEDAR-COLFAX-CUMING-DODGE-DOUGLAS- FREMONT IA-GAGE-HARRISON IA-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-KNOX-LANCASTER-MADISON- MILLS IA-MONONA IA-MONTGOMERY IA-NEMAHA-OTOE-PAGE IA-PAWNEE-PIERCE- PLATTE-POTTAWATTAMIE IA-RICHARDSON-SALINE-SARPY-SAUNDERS-SEWARD- SHELBY IA-STANTON-THURSTON-WASHINGTON-WAYNE- 425 PM CDT SAT JUL 14 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND SUNDAY A FEW ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR INTO THE EVENING OVER PARTS OF SOUTHWEST IOWA AND EASTERN NEBRASKA. THE STRONGEST STORMS COULD PRODUCE SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS UP TO AROUND 45 MPH. THESE SHOULD END BEFORE SUNSET. HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL REACH AROUND 100 DEGREES SUNDAY AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY HOT WEATHER WILL CONTINUE NEXT WEEK. AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL LIKELY EXCEED 100 DEGREES MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA...AND OVER MOST OF THE OUTLOOK AREA ON WEDNESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED TONIGHT OR SUNDAY. MILLER
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
409 PM CDT SAT JUL 14 2012
IAZ055-142145-
HARRISON IA-
409 PM CDT SAT JUL 14 2012
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR EASTERN HARRISON COUNTY UNTIL
445 PM CDT...
AT 403 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS
TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR LOGAN...OR 34 MILES NORTHEAST
OF OMAHA...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 5 MPH.
HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
LOGAN...WOODBINE AND MAGNOLIA.
LAT...LON 4152 9564 4167 9593 4181 9573 4171 9556
4167 9556
TIME...MOT...LOC 2103Z 35DEG 3KT 4170 9569
PEARSONSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA
419 PM CDT SAT JUL 14 2012
IAZ056-142215-
SHELBY IA-
419 PM CDT SAT JUL 14 2012
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR EASTERN SHELBY COUNTY UNTIL
515 PM CDT...
AT 417 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS
TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR IRWIN...OR 41 MILES SOUTH OF
IDA GROVE...MOVING SOUTH AT 15 MPH.
HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF DIMES WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
HARLAN...IRWIN AND KIRKMAN.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO
AND TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS...FOR
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE.
&&
LAT...LON 4153 9511 4161 9545 4187 9528 4186 9510
4161 9509
TIME...MOT...LOC 2117Z 18DEG 13KT 4178 9520
PEARSONThe Omaha radar (KOAX), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:26 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Most of the hail was dime-size and smaller, but a few stones reached around nickel-size. The hail was accompanied by winds around 50 mph which downed one small tree limb in the area.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, July 2012
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: 382932.