A nearly stationary frontal boundary sank into Iowa during the afternoon hours of the 7th.  The airmass became extremely unstable with lifted indices around -12 C. and CAPE values in excess of 6000 J/kg over the south two thirds of the state.  There was little to no cap over the state by the mid day.  Convergence along the front was very strong with surface dew points rising into the upper 70s to low 80s over a large part of central Iowa by mid afternoon.  Dew points at the 850 mb level were 20 C.   As a result once thunderstorms began to form the development was explosive.  Within 30 minutes a severe super formed in central Iowa east of Des Moines.  The storms produced very large hail with numerous reports of hail larger than golf ball in size.  Softball size hail pelted the town of Newton in Jasper County.  Damage to car dealerships was high in the area.  Along with that report came several reports of baseball to softball and even larger size hail in the county.  The storm back developed into Polk County and dropped one and one half to two inch diameter hail in parts of Des Moines.  Needless to day, there was significant damage to roofs and cars in the two county area.  Once the storms weakened, additional storms developed along the outflow boundary left behind by the first storms.  Most of these storms did not become severe, however one over Marshall County did and dropped hail up to one inch in diameter near the State Center area.

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 14:26:00 to 07-JUL-03 14:26:00 (CST)
Location: PRAIRIE CITY
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 3K
Crop damage: 10K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 14:47:00 to 07-JUL-03 14:47:00 (CST)
Location: PRAIRIE CITY
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 10K
Crop damage: 10K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 15:14:00 to 07-JUL-03 15:14:00 (CST)
Location: MONROE
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 5K
Crop damage: 10K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 15:19:00 to 07-JUL-03 15:19:00 (CST)
Location: MONROE
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 10K
Crop damage: 10K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 15:32:00 to 07-JUL-03 15:32:00 (CST)
Location: NEWTON
Magnitude: 4.50 
Property damage: 500K
Crop damage: 20K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 15:43:00 to 07-JUL-03 15:43:00 (CST)
Location: NEWTON
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 2K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 14:43:00 to 07-JUL-03 14:43:00 (CST)
Location: PRAIRIE CITY
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 10K
Crop damage: 10K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 17:19:00 to 07-JUL-03 17:19:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 0.75 
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 17:13:00 to 07-JUL-03 17:13:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 17:18:00 to 07-JUL-03 17:18:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 15:56:00 to 07-JUL-03 15:56:00 (CST)
Location: NEWTON
Magnitude: 2.75 
Property damage: 100K
Crop damage: 20K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 16:28:00 to 07-JUL-03 16:28:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 16:55:00 to 07-JUL-03 16:55:00 (CST)
Location: KELLOGG
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 5K
Crop damage: 10K
Reported by: INSURANCE COMPANY

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 15:53:00 to 07-JUL-03 15:53:00 (CST)
Location: NEWTON
Magnitude: 2.75 
Property damage: 200K
Crop damage: 20K
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 15:54:00 to 07-JUL-03 15:54:00 (CST)
Location: NEWTON
Magnitude: 1.50 
Property damage: 10K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 17:27:00 to 07-JUL-03 17:27:00 (CST)
Location: ALTOONA
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 2K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 17:21:00 to 07-JUL-03 17:21:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 3K
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Hail in MARSHALL, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 18:43:00 to 07-JUL-03 18:43:00 (CST)
Location: STATE CENTER
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 5K
Crop damage: 10K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 16:11:00 to 07-JUL-03 16:11:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 5K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in MARSHALL, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 18:55:00 to 07-JUL-03 18:55:00 (CST)
Location: STATE CENTER
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 3K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 16:27:00 to 07-JUL-03 16:27:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 0.75 
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 17:35:00 to 07-JUL-03 17:35:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 0.75 
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 17:28:00 to 07-JUL-03 17:28:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 1.50 
Property damage: 25K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 17:29:00 to 07-JUL-03 17:29:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 2.00 
Property damage: 50K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 15:46:00 to 07-JUL-03 15:46:00 (CST)
Location: NEWTON
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25K
Crop damage: 10K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 15:45:00 to 07-JUL-03 15:45:00 (CST)
Location: NEWTON
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 5K
Crop damage: 10K
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 17:30:00 to 07-JUL-03 17:30:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 10K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 15:52:00 to 07-JUL-03 15:52:00 (CST)
Location: NEWTON
Magnitude: 4.25 
Property damage: 500K
Crop damage: 20K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 15:51:00 to 07-JUL-03 15:51:00 (CST)
Location: NEWTON
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 25K
Crop damage: 10K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 16:58:00 to 07-JUL-03 16:58:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 50K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 16:47:00 to 07-JUL-03 16:47:00 (CST)
Location: RUNNELLS
Magnitude: 0.75 
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in WARREN, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 17:47:00 to 07-JUL-03 17:47:00 (CST)
Location: CARLISLE
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 3K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 17:06:00 to 07-JUL-03 17:06:00 (CST)
Location: PRAIRIE CITY
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 5K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 16:58:00 to 07-JUL-03 16:58:00 (CST)
Location: RUNNELLS
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 5K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 14:34:00 to 07-JUL-03 14:34:00 (CST)
Location: PRAIRIE CITY
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 10K
Crop damage: 10K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in JASPER, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 14:37:00 to 07-JUL-03 14:37:00 (CST)
Location: PRAIRIE CITY
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 3K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: UNKNOWN

Hail in POLK, IOWA
From 07-JUL-03 17:27:00 to 07-JUL-03 17:27:00 (CST)
Location: DES MOINES
Magnitude: 0.75 
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER