Hail — Clay, Iowa

2025-04-28 · near Dickens, Clay, Iowa

Event narrative

Hail was mostly dime to quarter sized, but some stones were as large as ping pong balls.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms erupted along a cold front and a post-frontal boundary during the afternoon and early evening of April 28. Steep mid-level lapse rates around 8C/km and 55 to 65 knots of deep-layer shear led to severe storm structures, which evolved toward smaller-scale linear features along strong outflow pools with 60 to 65 mph winds during the event. Post-frontal storms developed in an environment of up to 1000 J/kg MUCAPE which favored mainly large hail.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (43.1300, -95.0200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1256807. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.