Hail — Adams, Washington

2001-06-27 · near Ritzville, Adams, Washington

Event narrative

A severe supercell thunderstorm containing large hail and torrential rainfall moved from southwest to northeast across northern Adams County, first entering the county east of Warden and exiting the county north of Schoonover. The only observation from Adams County of hail size with this storm was a report of dime-sized hail at 500 PM PDT at the Franz Ranch Airport (23 WSW Ritzville). The hail caused a widespread swath of crop destruction that was 20 miles long and 2-3 miles wide, laying waste to about 22,000 acres of crops. The severity of crop damage in the storm's path suggests hail likely reached the size of golf balls. Hail piled up to a foot deep in some farm yards. In the center of the storm's path, nearly 100% of the wheat, barley, bean and pea crops were a loss.

Wider weather episode

Summary of events for June 27 2001:A shortwave moved over the Inland Northwest on the afternoon and evening of June 27. Surface dewpoints in the upper 50s and lower 60s helped scattered thunderstorms to develop and move northeast. The biggest storm of the day developed over the Oregon Cascades and then moved northeast into Washington. This storm entered Grant County near Priest Rapids Dam, clipping southwest Adams County before passing over Warden. The storm continued on through the length of Adams County and ended up in southeast Lincoln County. Along the way, this storm caused marginally severe wind gusts and dumped large hail in excess of the size of quarters. Brief but intense rainfall also caused the flooding of several coulees in the eastern Columbia Basin. The storm eventually merged with other cells and weakened below severe limits before reaching the more populated Spokane area.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (46.9667, -118.9667)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5251204. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.