Large hail & heavy rain pummel parts of western Iowa Wednesday night

April 20th, 2023 by Ric Hanson

(Multiple area counties) – Large hail and heavy rain pummeled parts of western and southwest Iowa, Wednesday evening through late Wednesday night. Some areas also saw street flooding as the result of heavy rain. There was photographic evidence of funnel clouds spinning their way downward. Some reached the ground, officially becoming a tornado.

National Weather Service reports and posts on social media showed the extent of the hail damage, which was most severe in Mills, Crawford and Sac Counties, where hail ranging in size from quarters to tennis balls and baseballs, fell and caused heavy damage to vehicles, siding and other property. Widespread hail damage reports came in from Ricketts, Kiron, Schleswig and Charter Oak, inc Crawford County, while just pea-size hail was observed a little after 7:30-p.m., in Atlantic.

Street flooding was reported at some locations in Mills and Pottawattamie Counties. KETV in Omaha says the Classic Café in Malvern had its roof pounded by hail the size of golf balls, and was forced to deal with severe leaking. The restaurant’s owner said water came down so hard it seemed like it was raining inside, but when the storm hit, her staff sprung into action and used everything available to them to capture the leaks and mop-up.

Tornados were observed near Macedonia, Sidney and Thurman, while multiple funnels clouds were observed elsewhere, including as far north as Kiron, in Sac County. There were no reports of injuries stemming from the recent storms. (Click on the images below to enlarge). Parts of eastern Nebraska also experienced damage from large hail.