A strong shortwave moved through the base of the parent upper level trough kicking off a line of showers and thunderstorms stretching from south central Iowa into central and western Missouri by early afternoon. A dry line was located further west across eastern Nebraska into NE Kansas.
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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 DMX wrote it up.
A strong shortwave moved through the base of the parent upper level trough kicking off a line of showers and thunderstorms stretching from south central Iowa into central and western Missouri by early afternoon. A dry line was located further west across eastern Nebraska into NE Kansas. The airmass became weakly unstable as surface temperatures warmed into the mid 70s with dewpoints in the mid 60s. CAPE values were between 500 and 1000 J/kg with a downdraft CAPE of 600 J/kg, and 100 J/kg of CAPE in the -10 to -30 C layer of the atmosphere. The lifted index was around -3 C and available moisture had decreased some from previous days with precipitable water values around 1.5 inches. The atmosphere was moderately sheared with 40 kts of deep layer shear available. The line of storms intensified toward mid to late afternoon as the atmosphere destabilized. The northern end of the line moved through Davis County with damaging winds occurring in the Pulaski area. There were numerous large trees and power lines down in town with many roofs damaged by the falling trees. A line of storms had developed earlier in the day along the dry line in Nebraska and Kansas. The line of storms pushed into southwestern Iowa by late evening. One storm intensified briefly on the leading edge and produced wind damage in the town of Atlantic and pea size hail.
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 May 30, 1:33 PM CST, 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 233 PM CDT THU MAY 30 2013 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 233 PM CDT THU MAY 30 2013 AS SHOWERS AND CLOUD COVER CONTINUES ACROSS MUCH OF THE CWA...GREATER INSTABILITY AREA AND THREAT OF TRAINING THUNDERSTORMS/HEAVY RAINFALL HAS SHIFTED EAST. THEREFORE HAVE REMOVED MUCH OF THE CWA FROM THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH. PUNCH OF DRY AIR ALSO PUSHES INTO CWA TONIGHT...SO HAVE REMOVED MANY POPS ACROSS THE CWA FOR LATE THIS EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. && .SHORT TERM.../TODAY /... ISSUED AT 343 AM CDT THU MAY 30 2013 ONGOING CONVECTION ACROSS NORTHERN MISSOURI AND KANSAS WILL CONTINUE TO LIFT NORTH/NORTHEAST AND PUSH INTO IOWA THROUGH THIS MORNING AS SEVERAL WEAK WAVES EJECT OUT OF THE BASE OF A BROAD TROUGH OVER THE HIGH PLAINS. HEAVY RAIN WILL BE A THREAT WITH THESE STORMS AND WHILE THE SEVERE THREAT WITH THE MORNING CONVECTION IS NOT AS GOOD AS THIS AFTERNOON...AN ISOLATED STORM WITH STRONG TO SEVERE WIND OR LARGE HAIL CANNOT BE RULED OUT. A STRONGER SHORT WAVE WILL SWEEP ACROSS IOWA DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL AGAIN BE LIKELY WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON. PWATS ARE RUNNING AROUND 1.5 INCHES THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND STILL AROUND AN INCH TONIGHT. SOME SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED AS WELL GIVEN THE STRONG SHEAR PROFILES. THE MOST LIKELY TIME FOR THIS SHOULD BE FROM MID AFTERNOON THROUGH MID EVENING. HI RES MODELS ARE NOT IN GOOD AGREEMENT AS TO WHERE CONVECTION WILL LIKELY DEVELOP BUT THEY ARE FAIRLY CONSISTENT IN SHOWING A PERIOD OF CONVECTION IN THE MORNING THEN LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .LONG TERM.../TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... ISSUED AT 343 AM CDT THU MAY 30 2013 CONVECTION SHOULD BE ONGOING FROM THE LATE AFTERNOON WITH A BREAK LATE EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS BUT ONE MORE SHORT WAVE SHOULD LIFT ACROSS THE FAR SOUTH AND EAST BRINGING ANOTHER SHOT AT THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN. THE LOW LEVEL JET IS STILL PRETTY IMPRESSIVE LATE TONIGHT WITH ENOUGH SHEAR FOR SOME STRONG STORMS OVERNIGHT AS WELL. ON SATURDAY THE UPPER LOW FINALLY BEGINS TO MOVE EAST WHILE AT THE SURFACE A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH ACROSS THE AREA. THERE WILL LIKELY BE SOME WRAP AROUND SHOWERS ON SATURDAY AS THE LOW DEPARTS BUT HEAVY RAINFALL OR SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED TO OCCUR. WEAK RIDGING WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE STATE ON MONDAY BUT ANOTHER LOW WILL MOVE INTO THE HIGH PLAINS ON TUESDAY AND ROTATE A SHORT WAVE ACROSS THE STATE WHICH WILL FLATTEN THE RIDGE AND BRING ANOTHER CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO THE STATE. && .AVIATION...30/18Z ISSUED AT 103 PM CDT THU MAY 30 2013 AREA OF SHOWERS AND MVFR CIGS ACROSS THE AREA...SHOULD CONTINUE TO SLIGHTLY MOVE NORTH AND EAST THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO INCREASE ESPECIALLY AT THE EASTERN TAF SITES THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING. MAJORITY OF PRECIPITATION CHANCES EXPECTED TO END ACROSS THE CWA BY MID EVENING...WITH POSSIBLY HIGH MVFR TO LOW VFR CIGS EXPECTED OVERNIGHT. POSSIBILITY OF FOG REDUCING VSBYS/CIGS LATE TONIGHT DUE TO ABUNDANT MOISTURE AROUND...HOWEVER VERY UNCERTAIN SO HAVE NOT PLACED IN THE TAF AT THIS TIME. GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .HYDROLOGY... ISSUED AT 343 AM CDT THU MAY 30 2013 CURRENTLY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ACROSS THE REGION CONTINUES TO WEAKEN SOMEWHAT AS IT MOVES INTO IOWA. RAINFALL RATES HAVE DIMINISHED TO ABOUT .25 TO .33 INCHES PER HOUR WITH A FEW STRONGER STORMS WITH RATES TO ABOUT .50 INCH/HOUR. THIS HAS HELPED MITIGATE NEED FOR NEW FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS THUS FAR OVERNIGHT BUT WILL HAVE TO WATCH THE RAIN/THUNDER AREA OVER NORTH CENTRAL MO AS IT MOVES INTO THE SOUTHERN AREAS YET BEFORE SUNRISE. SEVERAL AREAL FLOOD WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT OVER NORTHEAST SECTIONS THROUGH TODAY. MAIN STEM RIVERS WILL CONTINUE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH YESTERDAYS RAINS AND PROSPECTS FOR ADDITIONAL RAINFALL TODAY. THE QUICK RESPONSE CREEKS AND RIVERS ARE COMING DOWN FROM LAST EVENINGS RAINS FOR NOW...BUT WILL NEED TO MONITOR THEM AGAIN TODAY. WILL MAINTAIN FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ENTIRE AREA. WITH SECOND STRONGER SHORTWAVE PROGGED TO MOVE NORTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON...EXPECT INSTABILITY AND LIFT TO COMBINE AGAIN TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL IN THE WATCH AREA ...ESPECIALLY SOUTH SECTIONS. GIVEN THE GENERALLY HIGH PWAT NATURE OF AIRMASS IN PLACE...STILL COULD SEE HEAVY RAINS ELSEWHERE AS WELL BETWEEN LATER THIS MORNING AND LATE AFTERNOON HOURS. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING FOR BUTLER. FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR DAVIS-WAPELLO. && UPDATE...BEERENDS SHORT TERM...FAB LONG TERM...FAB AVIATION...BEERENDS HYDROLOGY...REV
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 1201 PM CDT THU MAY 30 2013 IAZ025>028-036>039-047>050-057>062-070>075-081>086-092>097-311030- WRIGHT-FRANKLIN-BUTLER-BREMER-HAMILTON-HARDIN-GRUNDY-BLACK HAWK- BOONE-STORY-MARSHALL-TAMA-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-POLK-JASPER- POWESHIEK-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-WARREN-MARION-MAHASKA-ADAMS-UNION- CLARKE-LUCAS-MONROE-WAPELLO-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD-DECATUR-WAYNE-APPANOOSE- DAVIS- 1201 PM CDT THU MAY 30 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING. IN ADDITION TO HEAVY RAINFALL...LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE. THE TORNADO THREAT WILL BE MAINLY OVER SOUTHEASTERN IOWA ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80 AND EAST OF INTERSTATE 35. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA THROUGH TODAY. PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR FURTHER DETAILS. NUMEROUS RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ON FRIDAY WITH THE THREAT FOR LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...WITH AN ISOLATED TORNADO POSSIBLE. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE MAINLY SOUTHEAST OF A CRESTON TO WATERLOO LINE FRIDAY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE BY TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED TODAY. REPORTS OF ANY FLOODING OR HEAVY RAINS ALONG WITH HAIL OR STORM DAMAGE IS APPRECIATED. IAZ004>007-015>017-023-024-033>035-044>046-311030- EMMET-KOSSUTH-WINNEBAGO-WORTH-PALO ALTO-HANCOCK-CERRO GORDO- POCAHONTAS-HUMBOLDT-SAC-CALHOUN-WEBSTER-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-GREENE- 1201 PM CDT THU MAY 30 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS THE MAIN SEVERE THREATS. NUMEROUS RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ON FRIDAY WITH THE THREAT FOR LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...WITH AN ISOLATED TORNADO POSSIBLE. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE MAINLY SOUTHEAST OF A CRESTON TO WATERLOO LINE FRIDAY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE BY TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. MJB
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 167 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:52 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous large trees and power lines down in town. Many roofs damaged by falling trees.
Pea size hail with 5 inch diameter tree branches down in town.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, May 2013
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: 452501, 452503.