Thunderstorm Wind — Pottawattamie, Iowa

2025-07-07 · near Lake Manawa, Pottawattamie, Iowa

Event narrative

Public report of large tree branches down. Wind gusts were estimated near 60-65 mph.

Wider weather episode

On July 7, 2025, a lee surface trough pushed into western Nebraska and South Dakota during the afternoon, initiating scattered thunderstorms across the region. By evening, these storms consolidated into a larger mesoscale convective system (MCS) that tracked into northeast Nebraska before expanding southward across eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa through the night.

Ahead of the main MCS, several discrete supercells developed in northeast Nebraska, producing significant hail. As the evening progressed, these initial cells were absorbed into the growing MCS, which transitioned into a primarily damaging wind threat. A swath of measured wind gusts ranging from 58 to 67 mph was reported across much of east-central Nebraska into southwest Iowa. The convective complex gradually weakened as it approached the northern Kansas and Missouri border.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.2400, -95.8600)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1278750. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.