This Day in Weather History June 26

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

1993: Severe thunderstorms produced copious amounts of large hail across western Iowa. A swath about 2 miles wide and 20 miles long in Shelby County received golf ball to softball sized hail, with baseball sized hail completely covering the ground north of Harlan. Just northwest of Little Sioux golf ball sized hail covered the ground several inches deep and drifted in strong winds. Damage to crops, trees, cars and buildings was extensive.

1978: Thunderstorms produced severe straight-line winds across southwestern, central, and eastern Iowa along with a brief tornado in Warren County. At Des Moines winds gusting to as high as 77 mph uprooted and toppled trees onto power lines, houses, and cars and blew out windows in buildings. In Taylor County two people were injured near Athelstan when their mobile home was overturned. In Cedar Rapids winds gusting to as high as 92 mph flipped airplanes and damaged hangars at the airport.

1976: Severe weather struck western and northwestern Iowa with winds of 80 mph and hail up to tennis ball size reported. A tornado injured 6 people and severely damaged or destroyed 80 homes, churches, and businesses in Minden. At Estherville a 100 mph wind gust was recorded and several mobile homes were overturned.