A cold front was pushing southward through the state this day, with little action to speak of through much of the state. By the afternoon, a few storms were able to fire up along/ahead of the cold front and produced a couple of isolated severe weather reports, hail and damaging winds, in far southern 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 DMX wrote it up.
A cold front was pushing southward through the state this day, with little action to speak of through much of the state. By the afternoon, a few storms were able to fire up along/ahead of the cold front and produced a couple of isolated severe weather reports, hail and damaging winds, in far southern Iowa.
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 31, 5:29 PM CST, 1 hour 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 629 PM CDT FRI JUL 31 2015 ...UPDATED FOR 01/00Z AVIATION FORECAST DISCUSSION... .SHORT TERM /TONIGHT/... ISSUED AT 317 PM CDT FRI JUL 31 2015 WEAK COLD FRONT HAS SETTLED ACROSS FAR SOUTHERN IOWA...A BIT FURTHER NORTH THAN MODELS HAD INDICATED...AND WILL STALL THIS EVENING JUST OVER THE MISSOURI BORDER BACK INTO OMAHA. THERE IS ROUGHLY 3500 J/KG OF CAPE THAT WILL SHIFT INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA FROM EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA BY 00Z AND SHIFT ACROSS SOUTHERN IOWA THIS EVENING. ADD TO THIS WEAK FORCING ALONG THE BOUNDARY...FAIRLY STEEP LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES ACCORDING TO FORECAST SOUNDINGS AND DIMINISHING CINH AND WE SHOULD SEE AT LEAST ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS FROM SOUTHWEST INTO FAR SOUTHERN IOWA THIS EVENING. DEEP SHEAR IS ABSENT HOWEVER SPC MESOANALYSIS DOES SHOW AN AREA OF EFFECTIVE BULK SHEAR ACROSS NORTHWEST IOWA THAT WILL SINK INTO SOUTHERN IOWA THIS EVENING. THERE IS ALSO A SHORTWAVE AND WEAK TROUGH PUSHING ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST THIS EVENING. THIS SHOULD BE ENOUGH FOR A STORM OR TWO TO PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND AND/OR LARGE HAIL. AT 230 PM AREA RADARS WAS SHOWING STORMS DEVELOPING OVER EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA BUT THE STORMS ARE NOT MOVING VERY FAST AT ALL AND UNLESS THEY RAPIDLY EXPAND...IT WILL BE 00Z OR A LITTLE AFTER BEFORE THEY AFFECT THE FORECAST AREA. ANY THREAT OF SEVERE WOULD DIMINISH SOME AFTER SUNSET AS WE LOSE A SOME INSTABILITY BUT WE COULD STILL SEE STORMS WITH MODERATE RAINFALL INTO THE LATE EVENING. .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... ISSUED AT 317 PM CDT FRI JUL 31 2015 FORECAST WILL BE ACTIVE FOR BEGINNING OF PERIOD WITH PRECIPITATION TRENDS SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...AND CHANCES THROUGH PERIOD. SATURDAY APPROACHING BOUNDARY AND WAVE TO PUSH EAST THROUGH THE DAY...BRINGING CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS. CURRENT THINKING IS FOR INITIATION FURTHER WEST INTO NE/SD AREA...PUSHING EAST ALONG WITH BAND OF THETA-E ADVECTION. SOME ADVECTION BEGINS TO PUSH INTO NORTHERN IOWA IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON...BUT EXPECT BEST CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION TO COME LATER WITH BOUNDARY PUSHING IN. MODELS ARE NOT IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE PLACEMENT OF BEST FORCING...BUT GENERALLY HAVE TRENDED TOWARDS THE NORTH AS MOST MODELS HAVE A NORTHERN PUSH. SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH GOOD INSTABILITY EXPECTED TO BUILD IN DURING THE DAYTIME HEATING. CAPE VALUES WILL BE NEAR 2000-3000 J/KG. SHEAR WILL BE SUFFICIENT TO MAINTAIN STORMS WHICH MAY DEVELOP...AND FAVORABLE LAPSE RATES WILL KEEP MAIN THREATS HAIL AND WIND...WITH LOW LEVEL SHEAR SOMEWHAT LACKING FOR A HIGHER TORNADIC POTENTIAL. HEAVY RAIN ALSO CANNOT BE RULED OUT...BUT PWAT VALUES ARE SOMEWHAT LOW NEAR 1.5 INCHES. BEHIND SYSTEM NORTHWESTERLY FLOW WILL PERSIST ACROSS AREA THROUGH BEGINNING OF WEEK...WITH BOUNDARY STALLED OUT ACROSS IOWA. THIS WILL HELP TO KEEP TEMPERATURES NEAR GOING WITH HIGHS GENERALLY IN THE UPPER 80S AND LOWS IN THE 50S AND 60S. THOUGH WILL SEE CONTINUED CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION AT TIMES WITH WAVES PUSHING THROUGH FLOW. WAVE PUSHING SOUTH MONDAY NIGHT WILL BRING CHANCES FOR RAIN...THOUGH MODELS ARE AGAIN NOT IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH PLACEMENT OF THIS SYSTEM. GFS CONTINUES TO BE FURTHER SOUTH...THOUGH ECMWF IS NORTH...BUT HAVE TRENDED TOWARDS GFS FOR NOW. STRONGER SYSTEM PUSHES EAST BEGINNING TO BREAK DOWN RIDGE ACROSS ROCKIES AND PUSH IT EASTWARD LATE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...THOUGH CONFIDENCE CONTINUES TO DECREASE THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH PRECIPITATION TRENDS AS MODELS DIVERGE ON SOLUTIONS. GFS CONTINUES TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE...BRINGING PRECIPITATION THROUGH FASTER AND FURTHER NORTH AND HAVE TRENDED THIS WAY FOR NOW...ALONG WITH COOLER TEMPERATURE TRENDS. && .AVIATION...01/00Z ISSUED AT 629 PM CDT FRI JUL 31 2015 SHRA/TSRA DEVELOPING ALONG SFC BOUNDARY IN SW IA WILL CONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST MID- TO LATE-EVENING. CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN SOUTH OF THE TERMINALS HOWEVER. VFR FLIGHT RULES EXPECTED. ADDITIONAL SHRA/TSRA DEVELOPMENT IS POSSIBLE SAT AFTN/EVENING...BUT HAVE LEFT FCST DRY FOR NOW UNTIL CONFIDENCE IN TIMING AND LOCATION INCREASES. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM...FAB LONG TERM...AWB AVIATION...ZOGG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 610 PM CDT FRI JUL 31 2015 IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-059>062-073>075-012315- EMMET-KOSSUTH-WINNEBAGO-WORTH-PALO ALTO-HANCOCK-CERRO GORDO- POCAHONTAS-HUMBOLDT-WRIGHT-FRANKLIN-BUTLER-BREMER-SAC-CALHOUN- WEBSTER-HAMILTON-HARDIN-GRUNDY-BLACK HAWK-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-GREENE- BOONE-STORY-MARSHALL-TAMA-DALLAS-POLK-JASPER-POWESHIEK-WARREN- MARION-MAHASKA- 610 PM CDT FRI JUL 31 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS IS FORECAST ACROSS THE AREA SATURDAY EVENING INTO EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ALONG WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. PERIODIC THUNDERSTORMS CHANCES ARE FORECAST LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK WITH THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS ANTICIPATED MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE STORMS APPEARS LOW AT THIS TIME...BUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY AND AT TIMES THROUGHOUT NEXT WEEK. IAZ057-058-070>072-081>086-092>097-012315- AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-CLARKE-LUCAS- MONROE-WAPELLO-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD-DECATUR-WAYNE-APPANOOSE-DAVIS- 610 PM CDT FRI JUL 31 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS EVENING. THE RISK OF SEVERE STORMS IS MARGINAL. THE PRIMARY THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. LOCALIZED FLOODING IS POSSIBLE WHERE STORMS REPEATEDLY MOVE OVER THE SAME LOCATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS IS FORECAST ACROSS THE AREA SATURDAY EVENING INTO EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ALONG WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. PERIODIC THUNDERSTORMS CHANCES ARE FORECAST LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK WITH THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS ANTICIPATED MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE STORMS APPEARS LOW AT THIS TIME...BUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY AND AT TIMES THROUGHOUT NEXT WEEK. ZOGG
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 546 PM CDT FRI JUL 31 2015 IAZ081-082-092>094-010100- ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD-DECATUR- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CORNING...CRESTON...BEDFORD...LENOX... NEW MARKET...MOUNT AYR...LAMONI...LEON 546 PM CDT FRI JUL 31 2015 ...TRAINING STORMS AND SMALL HAIL... STORMS HAVE INITIATED ALONG AND SOUTH OF A FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAT RESIDES ACROSS SOUTHWEST AND SOUTHERN IOWA. STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP IN THE VICINITY OF THE BOUNDARY...MOVE SLOWLY...AND HAVE ALREADY SHOWED A TENDENCY TO TRAIN...OR PASS OVER THE SAME AREAS. AS A RESULT...LOCALIZED AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE RAINFALL TOTALS IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES AND POSSIBLE LOCALIZED FLOODING. IN ADDITION TO THE TRAINING/FLOODING POTENTIAL...THESE STORMS EXHIBIT POTENTIAL FOR SMALL SUB-SEVERE HAIL AT THE MOMENT. CURTIS
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 140 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:33 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind damage was reported with the storm by the Cooperative Observer. Shingle and soffit damage along with some signs blown down.
Minor roof damage to shingles and soffit.
Trained spotter report hail up to 1.25 inches in diameter for several minutes. The hail preceded rain and continued with rain.
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: 593506, 585670, 585669.