An MCS rolled through the state from the W/NW in the early morning hours and produced a single wind damage report just northeast of the Des Moines Metro.
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 DMX wrote it up.
An MCS rolled through the state from the W/NW in the early morning hours and produced a single wind damage report just northeast of the Des Moines Metro.
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 Jul 26, 2:24 AM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 324 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 .SHORT TERM /TODAY/... ISSUED AT 324 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 CURRENT CONVECTION IS DRIVEN BY A SHORTWAVE PUSHING ACROSS NORTHWEST IOWA AND EXPECTED TO DROP SOUTHEAST THROUGH 18Z. THERE IS A WEAK INSTABILITY AXIS RUNNING NW TO SE ACROSS IOWA IN WHICH I BELIEVE STORMS WILL FOLLOW AS THEY MAKE THEIR WAY ACROSS THE CWA THIS MORNING. STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE ALONG THE SOUTHERN PERIPHERY OF THE MCS WHERE DCAPE VALUES ARE BETWEEN 1200 AND 1300 J/KG. AT THIS TIME THE LOW LEVEL JET AND BEST MOISTURE CONVERGENCE REMAINS TO OUR WEST SO IF ADDITIONAL STORMS FIRE IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS IN THIS AREA THEY COULD AFFECT WESTERN INTO SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA LATER TODAY AND SOME HI-RES MODELS ARE SUGGESTING THIS BUT I THINK THE OVERALL TREND IS SUGGESTING THIS WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH EAST AND WEAKEN THROUGH THE MORNING. FOR THIS AFTERNOON INSTABILITY INCREASES AS A WARM FRONT TRIES TO PUSH BACK NORTH ACROSS THE STATE BUT WITH UPPER LEVEL RIDGING TRYING TO RE-ESTABLISH ITSELF OVER EASTERN NEBRASKA THE AMOUNT OF CONVECTION WE SEE THIS AFTERNOON MAY BE RELEGATED A LITTLE FURTHER EAST...WHERE THE UPPER FLOW IS MORE NORTHWESTERLY AND THE INSTABILITY GRADIENT IS GREATEST. THERE IS ALSO SOME WEAK FORCING IN THIS AREA LATER TODAY AND THIS EVENING HOWEVER DEEP SHEAR IS LACKING. IF STORMS DO DEVELOP IN THE INSTABILITY GRADIENT I AM NOT LOOKING FOR ANYTHING SEVERE. TEMPS WILL BE A COUPLE DEGREES COOLER TODAY EXCEPT FOR MAYBE THE SOUTHWEST. .LONG TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... ISSUED AT 324 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 FROM TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY EVENING A DEEP LAYER RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST...EVEN AS AN UPPER TROUGH SWINGS ACROSS THE NORTHWEST U.S. AND EJECTS ONE OR MORE SUBTLE SHORTWAVE IMPULSES OVER IOWA AND THE MIDWEST. VARIOUS PROGNOSTIC MODELS ATTEMPT TO SPIT OUT LIGHT AND SPOTTY QPF DURING THIS TIME FRAME...HOWEVER THERE IS A LACK OF ANY REAL ORGANIZED FORCING AND IT APPEARS THAT ANY EFFECT FROM THE AFOREMENTIONED SHORTWAVE/S WILL PRIMARILY PASS TO OUR NORTHWEST. AS A RESULT WE ARE LEFT WITH A SCENARIO WHERE A FEW SHOWERS AND STORMS ARE POSSIBLE FROM TIME TO TIME BUT SHOULD BE OF VERY LIMITED EXTENT. RATHER THAN BLANKET THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA WITH SLIGHT CHANCE POPS...HAVE OPTED TO GO WITH A NEARLY DRY FORECAST FOR TONIGHT/MONDAY AND WAIT FOR SHORT TERM UPDATES TO IDENTIFY WHERE AREAS OF ISOLATED STORMS MAY BECOME MORE LIKELY. AT ANY RATE GIVEN THE LACK OF LARGE SCALE FORCING OR DEEP LAYER SHEAR SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED DURING THIS TIME. BY MONDAY NIGHT THE UPPER TROUGH TO OUR NORTHWEST WILL CROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES...THEN SUBSEQUENTLY CLOSE OFF AND INTENSIFY AS IT MOVES EAST NORTHEAST OVER SOUTH CENTRAL CANADA ON TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. INITIALLY A BROAD AREA OF ATMOSPHERIC LIFT WILL ACCOMPANY THE FORWARD FLANK OF THE APPROACHING TROUGH...COINCIDING WITH A NOCTURNALLY FAVORED TIME FOR STORMS TO DEVELOP WITHIN A LLJ/WARM AIR ADVECTION REGIME ON MONDAY NIGHT. HOWEVER...THE BULK OF THIS PRECIP SHOULD PASS BY TO OUR NORTHWEST AND HAVE HELD LOW POPS TO OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES AS A RESULT. ON TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT A SURFACE COOL FRONT ATTENDANT TO THE DEVELOPING UPPER CYCLONE WILL THEN SAG SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS IOWA. THE FRONTAL PASSAGE SHOULD HELP TO GENERATE MORE THUNDERSTORMS...PARTICULARLY AROUND TUESDAY EVENING AS PEAK HEATING ENABLES CONVECTIVE TEMPERATURES TO BE REACHED. ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF SEVERAL DAYS OF GRADUAL WARMING...ALONG WITH MOISTURE POOLING TOWARD THE APPROACHING BOUNDARY...SHOULD PUSH HEAT INDEX VALUES UP TO NEAR ADVISORY CRITERIA EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF ROBUST LOW LEVEL MIXING. AN ADVISORY MAY THEREFORE BE WARRANTED AT SOME POINT...BUT FORECAST HEAT INDEX VALUES ARE MARGINAL AND THERE REMAINS UNCERTAINTY REGARDING THE AMOUNT OF CONVECTIVE CLOUD DEBRIS THAT MAY BE PRESENT ESPECIALLY ON TUESDAY MORNING. AT ANY RATE...AS STORMS DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT AROUND TUESDAY EVENING THEY SHOULD ASSIST IN ITS SOUTHEASTWARD MOVEMENT...CLEARING DOWN INTO MISSOURI BY WEDNESDAY MORNING. DEEP LAYER SHEAR WILL BE LIMITED IN THE FRONTAL/PRE-FRONTAL ZONE PARTICULARLY GIVEN THE WEAK LOW LEVEL FLOW...HOWEVER STRONG INSTABILITY WILL PROVIDE AT LEAST A MARGINAL THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WHICH IS WELL OUTLINED IN SPC PRODUCTS. FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE WEATHER WILL TURN RELATIVELY COOLER AND CERTAINLY MORE COMFORTABLE...AS A SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM SLIDES ACROSS IOWA AND MISSOURI BENEATH NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WHICH WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. BY NEXT WEEKEND GRADUAL DESTABILIZATION AND A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES MOVING THROUGH THE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW WILL RESULT IN A RETURN OF THUNDERSTORM CHANCES TO THE FORECAST...HOWEVER ANY CONFIDENCE IN DETAILS OF THIS SCENARIO IS VERY LOW AT THIS POINT. TEMPERATURES SHOULD ALSO GRADUALLY MODERATE LATER IN THE WEEK...UNLESS CHECKED BY CONVECTIVE EFFECTS. && .AVIATION...26/06Z ISSUED AT 1154 PM CDT SAT JUL 25 2015 UNSETTLED WX EXPECTED DURING THE VALID PERIOD. TSRA COMPLEX IS EXPECTED TO TRACK SOUTHEAST FROM SOUTH DAKOTA INTO NORTHWESTERN IOWA OVERNIGHT...MOVING FARTHER SOUTHEAST INTO IOWA. KFOD...KMCW AND KDSM TERMINALS LOOK TO BE MOST AFFECTED. OVERALL VFR FLIGHT RULES EXPECTED...HOWEVER MVFR/IFR PSBL IN CONJUNCTION IN VICINITY OF TSRA. ADDITIONAL SHRA/TSRA CHANCES ON SUNDAY ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF IA...IMPACTING THE KALO/KOTM TERMINALS. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM...FAB LONG TERM...LEE AVIATION...ZOGG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 424 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 IAZ004>006-015-016-023-024-033-034-044-045-271100- EMMET-KOSSUTH-WINNEBAGO-PALO ALTO-HANCOCK-POCAHONTAS-HUMBOLDT-SAC- CALHOUN-CRAWFORD-CARROLL- 424 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL RETURN BETWEEN MONDAY EVENING AND TUESDAY EVENING. THERE IS A LOW THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER DURING THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. IAZ007-017-025>028-035>039-046>050-057>062-070>075-081>086- 092>097-271100- WORTH-CERRO GORDO-WRIGHT-FRANKLIN-BUTLER-BREMER-WEBSTER-HAMILTON- HARDIN-GRUNDY-BLACK HAWK-GREENE-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- 424 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT THE AREA AT TIMES TODAY...ESPECIALLY THIS MORNING...BEFORE DIMINISHING TONIGHT. THERE IS A LOW THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER...WITH STRONG WINDS THE PRIMARY THREAT. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS ALSO POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL RETURN MAINLY TO AREAS NORTH OF HIGHWAY 30 LATE MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY...THEN SPREAD ACROSS THE REST OF THE AREA TUESDAY NIGHT. THERE IS SOME POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER FROM TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. TUESDAY WILL BE HOT AND MUGGY ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA...WITH HEAT INDEX VALUES LIKELY EXCEEDING 100 DEGREES AT TIMES IN THE AFTERNOON AND POSSIBLY EXCEEDING 105 DEGREES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. LEE
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 118 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 IAZ004-015-023-260830- EMMET-PALO ALTO-POCAHONTAS- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ESTHERVILLE...EMMETSBURG...POCAHONTAS... LAURENS...ROLFE...FONDA...GILMORE CITY 118 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA... A COMPLEX OF STORMS FROM SOUTHERN MINNESOTA TO SPIRIT LAKE TO EVERLY WILL MOVE EAST SOUTHEAST AROUND 20 MPH AND BE NEAR ESTHERVILLE TO RUTHVEN BY 2 AM. STRONG WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 50 MPH AN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS ALONG WITH MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. A FEW OF THE STRONGER STORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS. FAB
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 229 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 IAZ033-034-044>046-260930- SAC-CALHOUN-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-GREENE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SAC CITY...LAKE VIEW...ODEBOLT... WALL LAKE...SCHALLER...EARLY...ROCKWELL CITY...MANSON... LAKE CITY...POMEROY...DENISON...CARROLL...JEFFERSON 229 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA... A COMPLEX OF STORMS FROM SCHALLER TO CASTANA WILL MOVE EAST SOUTHEAST AROUND 20 MPH AND BE NEAR A LINE FROM SAC CITY TO DENISON BY 3 AM. STRONG WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS ALONG WITH MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. A FEW OF THE STRONGER STORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS. FAB
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 337 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 IAZ035-047-057>059-261045- WEBSTER-BOONE-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FORT DODGE...BOONE...AUDUBON...EXIRA... GUTHRIE CENTER...PANORA...BAYARD...CASEY...PERRY...WAUKEE...ADEL 337 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA... A SOUTHERN END OF A COMPLEX OF STORMS EXTENDS FROM GOWRIE TO BAYARD TO NORTH OF AUDUBON AND IS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 25 T 30 MPH. THE NORTHERN END OF THIS LINE HAS WEAKENED AND CURRENTLY DOES NOT POSE A THREAT. HOWEVER...STRONG WIND GUSTS TO BETWEEN 45 AND 50 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE STORMS ON THE SOUTHERN END OF THE LINE. MODERATE TO LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS ALSO LIKELY. A FEW OF THE STRONGER STORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS. FAB
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 459 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 IAZ048-049-060-061-073-074-261200- STORY-MARSHALL-POLK-JASPER-WARREN-MARION- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...AMES...MARSHALLTOWN...DES MOINES... NEWTON...INDIANOLA...NORWALK...CARLISLE...PELLA...KNOXVILLE 459 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2015 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA... A LINE OF STORMS FROM MASON CITY THROUGH AMES TO JOHNSTON AND FONTANELLE WILL MOVE EAST THROUGH THE AREA AT 35 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING 50 MPH WIND GUSTS...TORRENTIAL RAINFALL AND HAIL TO THE SIZE OF DIMES. THE STORMS WILL REACH A LINE FROM NEWTON TO KNOXVILLE BY 6 AM. FAB
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:12 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trained spotter reported an approximately 40ft power pole/line snapped in half and downed onto the roadway.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, July 2015
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: 585637.