(Information from the Nat’l. Weather Service)
Preliminary reports (as of 3:30-a.m., 5/17):
4:33-p.m. – Quarter size (1″) hail fell 3 miles S. of Stanton (Montgomery County)
4:45-p.m – An Iowa DOT weather station recorded a 64 mph gust of wind 3 miles N of Villisca (Montgomery County).
4:51-p.m. – Quarter size hail fell in Stanton.
5:10-p.m, 1 inch size hail (Quarter size) was reported 4 miles N of New Market in Taylor County.
5:15-p.m – 1″ size hail fell in Red Oak.
At 5:16-pm. – Baseball-size hail (2.75″) fell 3 miles S. of Red Oak; Emergency Mgmt. reported 1.75″ diameter (Golf ball-size) hail fell W/SW of Red Oak (just outside the City limits).
5:24-p.m. – A storm chaser showed photos of 2″ diameter hail that fell 3 miles E/SE of Red Oak.
Golf ball-size hail (1.75″ diameter) reported at around 5:30-p.m. 7 miles N/NW of Gravity (Taylor County).
Baseball-size+ hail (2.83″ in diameter measured by a caliper) was reported at 5:45-p.m. 2 miles N. of Gravity, w/other reports of 2″ diameter hail (the size of eggs)l 2 miles N. of Gravity.
A 5:54-p.m., a storm chase reported a tornado 1 mile SE of Gravity and earlier at 5:51-p.m. 1 mile SW of Gravity.
1″ diameter hail (Quarter-size) was reported 3 miles SE of Gravity at 6:28-p.m.
At 6:49-p.m., the NWS in Omaha issued a Flash Flood Warning until 10-p.m. for SE Montgomery County, where 2-to-4 inches of rain (estimated by radar) had fallen, with additional rainfall up to 1 inch possible.
Between 7:06 & 7:14-p.m., a trained storm spotter reported hail ranging in size from quarters to golf balls fell in Mount Ayr (Ringgold County)
At 7:20-p.m., lightning struck a house 1 mile NE of Ellston, in Ringgold County, causing a fire.
At about 8:40-p.m., a storm spotter posted video of a barn completely engulfed in flames north of Mount Ayr, in Ringgold County. It was thought the structure had been hit by lightning. Local officials confirmed no livestock were inside at the time.
