A cold front moved across western Iowa which had observed unseasonably warm temperatures in the past couple of days. The front set off a line of storms that produced strong wind gusts and smaller hail.
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 cold front moved across western Iowa which had observed unseasonably warm temperatures in the past couple of days. The front set off a line of storms that produced strong wind gusts and smaller hail. The strongest measured wind gust was 68 mph in Page County. A flash flood was also reported in Pottawattamie County.
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 Apr 14, 5:31 PM CST, 1 hour 14 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Omaha/Valley NE 631 PM CDT Fri Apr 14 2023 ...Updated Aviation Forecast Discussion... .DISCUSSION... Issued at 420 PM CDT Fri Apr 14 2023 Key Messages: - Widely scattered severe storms capable of hail up to ping-pong ball size and damaging wind gusts of up to 65 to 75 mph are expected between 6 PM and 10 PM. Locations southeast of a Beatrice, NE to Harlan, IA line are most likely to be affected. - Much cooler Saturday with northwest wind gusts of 35 to 40 mph. Winds could gust as high as 50 mph Sunday. - Light snow is possible on Saturday night. Accumulations aren't likely. The cold front has pushed past the NWS office in Valley and is nearing the Omaha and Lincoln metros. Temps have languished in the 50s and 60s where the front pushed through earlier this morning. Temps still read 80s ahead of it. The front has been running about 2 hours ahead of most CAMs. Showers and thunderstorms will be anafrontal... trailing the leading edge of the front. Still on track to see development of strong to severe weather later this evening as the front sinks southeast and the surface low sweeping north along the front. Already some convection firing in south central Kansas. Expect it to push into our area along or east of a line from Beatrice to Lincoln to Omaha to Harlan, IA. Best chances will be in far southeast Nebraska. Still capped at this point, but expect that cap to erode with the increasing moisture and improving lapse rates. Storms will still be high- based. The moderate moisture return this afternoon will probably not be enough to prevent downdraft gusts peaking at 65 to 75mph. Expect initial development to be discrete supercells with the best threat of hail and wind... but expected to transition to an MCS as it sweeps into south-central Iowa and Missouri. Occasional showers and rumbles of thunder are expected overnight tonight, but the severe threat will be greatly diminished. Total QPF will measure over an inch for areas lucky enough to find themselves under the activity multiple times. 0.2" is a safer bet for the rest. Showers are possible on Saturday morning, but most areas will be dry until a mid-level system streaks northeast through the area once again. Expect less thunder with this next round. As temps slip into the mid to lower 30s on Saturday night, some snow will mix in, especially in western Iowa north of I-80. Accumulations will be minimal at best (0" to 0.2") but even a few flakes is noteworthy after a week of 80s. Also worth a note is the brisk weather forecast for Sunday as northwesterly winds howl as they wrap around the departing system. They'll be breezy on Saturday, too, but Sunday's gusts are currently forecast to peak near 50mph. Combined with highs in the 50s, there will be a bite in the air. Expect much of the day to have apparent temps in the 30s. Temps will moderate next week under a developing ridge with highs in the 70s by Tuesday. The pattern may return chances of storms with a shortwave pushing through on Tuesday night and southwest flow ejecting waves into the Great Plains through the second half of the week. Next weekend looks cool again, if the deterministic models have the right idea with an amplified upper level trof in the central CONUS. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Saturday evening) Issued at 629 PM CDT Fri Apr 14 2023 Thunderstorms impacting the KOMA TAF at TAF issuance, and then again in the 02-05z time period. Thunderstorms may hold off at KLNK until 1-2z, but it will be close. Otherwise, conditions become MVFR and eventually IFR at all TAFs through the period with scattered showers. Northerly winds at 15 to 27 mph through the period. && .OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...None. IA...None. && DISCUSSION...Nicolaisen AVIATION...DeWald
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Omaha/Valley NE 420 PM CDT Fri Apr 14 2023 IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034- 042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-151130- 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- 420 PM CDT Fri Apr 14 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southwest Iowa...west central Iowa...east central Nebraska...northeast Nebraska and southeast Nebraska. .DAY ONE...Tonight and Saturday Widely scattered severe storms capable of hail up to ping-pong ball size and damaging wind gusts of up to 65 to 75 mph are expected between 6 PM and midnight. Locations south of a Beatrice, NE to Glenwood, IA line are most likely to be affected. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday night through Friday Strong northwest winds are expected Sunday with gusts of 40 to 50 mph possible. The winds will contribute to very high rangeland fire danger Sunday afternoon for locations west of a Hartington to Wahoo to Beatrice line. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated, but any severe weather reports are appreciated.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
707 PM CDT FRI APR 14 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0704 PM HAIL PALMYRA 40.70N 96.39W
04/14/2023 E1.25 INCH OTOE NE PUBLIC
REPORT FROM MPING: HALF DOLLAR (1.25 IN.).
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
709 PM CDT FRI APR 14 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0707 PM HAIL 6 S BURCHARD 40.07N 96.35W
04/14/2023 E1.00 INCH PAWNEE NE PUBLIC
&&
LMPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
718 PM CDT FRI APR 14 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0715 PM FLASH FLOOD 2 SE OMAHA 41.24N 95.99W
04/14/2023 DOUGLAS NE PUBLIC
NEAR 48TH AND WOOLWORTH.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
719 PM CDT FRI APR 14 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0710 PM HAIL 3 SW ELMWOOD 40.81N 96.33W
04/14/2023 E0.88 INCH CASS NE PUBLIC
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
726 PM CDT FRI APR 14 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0723 PM HAIL 6.5 S BURCHARD 40.06N 96.35W
04/14/2023 M1.25 INCH PAWNEE NE TRAINED SPOTTER
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
730 PM CDT FRI APR 14 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0728 PM HAIL 1 NNE SYRACUSE 40.68N 96.18W
04/14/2023 E1.75 INCH OTOE NE EMERGENCY MNGR
&&
LMThe Omaha radar (KOAX), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:42 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Emergency manager reported water over the intersection of 33rd Street and 3rd Avenue.
A public personal weather station recorded a peak wind gust of 58 mph.
A public personal weather station measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph.
Public reported via Mping 3-inch tree limbs broken or power poles broken.
Red Oak AWOS measured a peak wind gust of 63 mph.
Public reported a measured wind gust of 68 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, April 2023
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: 1089222, 1089216, 1089218, 1089219, 1089220, 1089221.