A southerly flow of moist air was on place over Iowa in advance of an approaching cold front.  The moisture was not all that deep with precipitable water values only around an inch.  Dew points at the surface approached 60 degrees by late afternoon.  The airmass did become quite unstable with lifted indices around -8 C and CAPE values around 2500 J/kg.  There was a fair amount of dry air in the lower levels however with LCL heights around 5300 feet.  The result was that much of the convection was elevated in nature.  With the freezing level around 11,200 feet, hail was common.  There were two rounds of thunderstorms.  An initial scattered line formed in western and central Iowa during the late afternoon into the early evening.  The storms were left splitters and produced hail.  As the main line formed along the front, it became fairly solid.  Hail was common with much of it around an inch in diameter.  One storm produced gulf ball size hail in the Humboldt County area.  Another storm produced golf ball size hail in central Iowa in Guthrie County.  The storms weakened before midnight as the airmass became more stable and the dynamics weakened.  One high wind event occurred with this event.  It was actually a downburst from a storm that passed over Hamilton County.  The storm produced high winds on two farmsteads.  Trees were downed and chimneys were blown off of two houses.  To the north of the storm, four inches of rain fell.  Ponding of water occurred, however no flash flooding was reported.

Hail in POCAHONTAS, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 19:16:00 to 08-MAY-06 19:16:00 (CST)
Location: POCAHONTAS
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 10K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in HUMBOLDT, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 19:17:00 to 08-MAY-06 19:17:00 (CST)
Location: GILMORE
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 10K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in ADAIR, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 17:54:00 to 08-MAY-06 17:54:00 (CST)
Location: GREENFIELD
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 2K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Hail in HUMBOLDT, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 19:06:00 to 08-MAY-06 19:06:00 (CST)
Location: GILMORE
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 3K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in ADAIR, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 17:50:00 to 08-MAY-06 17:50:00 (CST)
Location: GREENFIELD
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 5K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in ADAIR, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 17:51:00 to 08-MAY-06 17:51:00 (CST)
Location: GREENFIELD
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 5K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in GUTHRIE, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 17:26:00 to 08-MAY-06 17:26:00 (CST)
Location: CASEY
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 10K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

Hail in WORTH, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 16:16:00 to 08-MAY-06 16:16:00 (CST)
Location: NORTHWOOD
Magnitude: 0.75 
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in WORTH, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 16:25:00 to 08-MAY-06 16:25:00 (CST)
Location: NORTHWOOD
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 5K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in WORTH, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 16:05:00 to 08-MAY-06 16:05:00 (CST)
Location: NORTHWOOD
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 1K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in CRAWFORD, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 20:50:00 to 08-MAY-06 20:50:00 (CST)
Location: DENISON
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 2K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in WEBSTER, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 20:55:00 to 08-MAY-06 20:55:00 (CST)
Location: CALLENDER
Magnitude: 1.25 
Property damage: 5K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in HUMBOLDT, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 19:27:00 to 08-MAY-06 19:27:00 (CST)
Location: HUMBOLDT
Magnitude: 0.75 
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA

Hail in WRIGHT, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 20:05:00 to 08-MAY-06 20:05:00 (CST)
Location: EAGLE GROVE
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 10K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)

Hail in WEBSTER, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 20:40:00 to 08-MAY-06 20:40:00 (CST)
Location: FT DODGE
Magnitude: 0.75 
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in WEBSTER, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 20:42:00 to 08-MAY-06 20:42:00 (CST)
Location: OTHO
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 1K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in WEBSTER, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 22:15:00 to 08-MAY-06 22:15:00 (CST)
Location: DAYTON
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 3K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in AUDUBON, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 16:35:00 to 08-MAY-06 16:35:00 (CST)
Location: EXIRA
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 2K
Crop damage: 3K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in WEBSTER, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 19:50:00 to 08-MAY-06 19:50:00 (CST)
Location: FT DODGE
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 3K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

Hail in CALHOUN, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 21:25:00 to 08-MAY-06 21:25:00 (CST)
Location: LAKE CITY
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 2K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Hail in HAMILTON, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 22:10:00 to 08-MAY-06 22:10:00 (CST)
Location: STRATFORD
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 2K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Hail in CALHOUN, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 21:30:00 to 08-MAY-06 21:30:00 (CST)
Location: LAKE CITY
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 1K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in WEBSTER, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 21:37:00 to 08-MAY-06 21:37:00 (CST)
Location: LEHIGH
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 3K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in WEBSTER, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 21:52:00 to 08-MAY-06 21:52:00 (CST)
Location: LEHIGH
Magnitude: 0.75 
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in CARROLL, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 21:16:00 to 08-MAY-06 21:16:00 (CST)
Location: BREDA
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 2K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Hail in WEBSTER, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 21:31:00 to 08-MAY-06 21:31:00 (CST)
Location: LEHIGH
Magnitude: 0.75 
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Thunderstorm Wind in HAMILTON, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 22:15:00 to 08-MAY-06 22:15:00 (CST)
Location: STRATFORD
Magnitude: 70 EG
Property damage: 20K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in SAC, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 20:50:00 to 08-MAY-06 20:50:00 (CST)
Location: ODEBOLT
Magnitude: 0.88 
Property damage: 2K
Crop damage: 2K
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

Hail in ADAIR, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 16:55:00 to 08-MAY-06 16:55:00 (CST)
Location: ADAIR
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 3K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC

Hail in HUMBOLDT, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 19:10:00 to 08-MAY-06 19:10:00 (CST)
Location: RUTLAND
Magnitude: 1.50 
Property damage: 10K
Crop damage: 3K
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

Hail in WEBSTER, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 21:55:00 to 08-MAY-06 21:55:00 (CST)
Location: LEHIGH
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 3K
Crop damage: 5K
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Hail in ADAIR, IOWA
From 08-MAY-06 16:55:00 to 08-MAY-06 16:55:00 (CST)
Location: ADAIR
Magnitude: 1.00 
Property damage: 3K
Crop damage: 3K
Reported by: NEWSPAPER