United Group Insurance

Tennis ball-sized hail one highlight of last night’s severe weather

News, Weather

May 4th, 2015 by Ric Hanson

Large hail, high winds and heavy rain came with last (Sunday) night’s thunderstorms that rumbled across much of Iowa. Meteorologist Brad Small, at the National Weather Service office in Johnston, says parts of northwest Iowa report tennis ball-sized hail while wind gusts near 60 miles an hour were reported in north-central Iowa near Algona in Kossuth County.

“We had some reports of inch hail starting in northwest Iowa near the West Bend area,” Small says. “It progressed farther south and east into the evening. The biggest was near the town of Manson in Calhoun County which had anywhere from an inch up to two-and-a-half inch hail. We had some reports of broken windows there, too.” Small says more thunderstorms are likely later today and practically every day this week.

“Of and on through much of the week, we’ll have some storms, mainly tonight more than today, and there may be a break late Tuesday and Tuesday night,” Small says. “Other than that, the forecast for the week and into next weekend looks stormy with several periods of showers and thunderstorms.” At least one tornado was reported in eastern Nebraska last night, along with some areas getting three inches of rain.

(Radio Iowa)