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Hail — Johnson, Iowa

May 18, 1997 · NOAA Storm Events record

Direct deaths

Direct injuries

Property damage

$40.0M

Magnitude

2.75

Area

Johnson

Event narrative (NOAA)

A 15 minute "rain" of baseball sized hail caused $30 to $50 million dollars of damage. One insurance agent said "this was the worst storm since 1967." He went on to say; "everyone he insures who has a skylight now has a broken skylight." This included the skylights over the swimming pool in the downtown Iowa City Holliday Inn. The average home claim was $3500 and the average car claim was $2500. The hail caused widespread damage to individuals cars and between 300 and 500 thousand dollars worth of damage to each of four car dealerships interviewed.

Other notable hail events in Iowa

Jackson · September 18, 2002$20.0M Hardin · August 9, 2009$20.0M Lee · May 8, 2003$15.0M Des Moines · May 8, 2003$10.0M Ringgold · September 18, 2010$10.0M Adair · June 30, 2014$10.0M

Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.