OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Thunderstorms have loosed a barrage of hail on eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, shattering windshields, damaging roofs and shredding field crops and urban gardens.
Hailstones as big as baseballs were reported in the Omaha metropolitan area, including neighborhoods that had been clobbered by howling winds and tornadoes on June 16. Omaha Public Power District says power outages occurred overnight. At 5:15 a.m. Friday, the utility was reporting 170 Omaha customers without electricity.
Quarter-size hail damaged buildings and heavy rain flooded streets in Sioux City, Iowa.
Today: P/Cldy, cooler & less humid. High 80. NW @ 10-20.
Tonight: Fair to P/Cldy. Low 53.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High 82. Variable winds @ 5-10.
Sunday: P/Cldy w/a chance of shwrs & tstrms late. High 85.
Monday: Variable Cldy w/scattered shwrs & tstrms. High around 85.
Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 80. Our Low this morning (as of 5:30-a.m.) was 64. We received just .03” of rain Thursday night here in Atlantic at the KJAN studios. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 85 and the low was 51. The Record High in Atlantic on this date was 101 in 1933. The Record Low was 43 in 1940.
Far southwest Iowa was hit by the first of eight tornadoes that dropped out of the black clouds onto Iowa soil on Wednesday. Mike Crecelius, the emergency management coordinator for Fremont County, says he was in Sidney about 3 P-M when he first saw signs of serious trouble.”I saw two funnels try to come down at one point, but they both got sucked back up into the cloud itself,” Crecelius says. “The third time, when the funnel started coming down, it just kept coming and it kept itself attached. I could tell it was probably coming down somewhere east of Sidney, I just couldn’t tell where because there’s a hill between us and that.”
Crecelius says he saw two homes north of Farragut that received heavy damage. “Both of them had roof damage,” he says. “The one guy’s got most of his roof missing. A grain bin was blown away at one house. At the other house, the whole house was damaged. Part of his roof is gone. He’s got two of his sheds destroyed. Plus, they had an unattached garage, and had a truck in there. Part of the garage is gone. Both of them have all sorts of trees that were demolished during the storm.”
He says it’s a miracle that no one in the area was hurt, given the amount of damage. “Both houses were occupied,” Crecelius says. “They did get the warning in enough time that in both houses, they went to shelter and nobody was injured in the storm.”
Considering the number of funnel clouds and tornado sightings in the county, and the number of photos taken from various vantage points, Crecelius says it’s a wonder the county escaped further destruction. “I’m not exactly sure how many funnel clouds/tornadoes we actually had here,” he says, “but, we’re pretty lucky there wasn’t more damage done throughout Fremont County and over into Page County than what there was.”
A National Weather Service survey team will be in Fremont County today to inspect the damage and determine the storm’s path. Crecelius asks the public for continued vigilance, as more storm activity is possible this afternoon into this evening.
(Radio Iowa)
Severe storms raked across much of Iowa on Wednesday afternoon and evening, spinning off multiple tornadoes, heavy rain and large hail. National Weather Service meteorologist Craig Cogil says survey teams are out this (Thursday) morning to look over the damage to homes, businesses and crops, as at least eight tornadoes are confirmed touching down across Iowa.
“Most of them, fortunately, stayed in rural areas and overall produced not a whole lot of damage,” Cogil says. “I think we had one injury reported in the state. For some of the sizes of these tornadoes, we’re very fortunate that nothing worse occurred.” That one injury was in Prairieburg in Linn County, northeast of Cedar Rapids. The roof of a house collapsed in the twister, trapping a woman inside. It was an exceptionally rough storm that rumbled across Iowa over several hours.
“Tornadoes primarily occurred from southwest Iowa down by Bedford, up through near Stuart, near Indianola and then up to the northeast by Dubuque,” Cogil says. “Kind of diagonal from southwest to the northeast corner of the state.” The twister that appeared Wednesday afternoon near Stuart, was rated an EF-0, with estimated peak winds of 75-mph. It began at around 4:12-p.m. southwest of Stuart, and dissipated at around 4:20-p.m. southeast of Stuart. The tornado traveled an estimated 7-miles. It’s width was not immediately known. It was captured on numerous pictures and video by area residents and spotters.
And, Fremont County authorities say a tornado touched down in a rural area between Sidney and Shenandoah, flattening crops. A home near Farragut was damaged.
Tornadoes sometimes occur in groups but it’s uncommon for the state to have at least eight in a single day. “It’s not really a record for the state,” Cogil says. “The daily record is 28 tornadoes set back in April of 2001, so it’s not really close to a record but certainly, that’s plenty for any day.”
He warns, conditions appear to be shaping up for a potential repeat this afternoon and tonight. “It really looks like another day where we will see active weather primarily across the southern half of the state,” Cogil says. “The further south you go, the better threat of seeing severe weather and the potential for damaging winds, large hail and, again, isolated tornadoes.”
Keep up with the latest forecast at weather-dot-gov, and listen to kjan for updates, or follow us on our mobile app and social media sites.
(Radio Iowa/KJAN)
PRAIRIEBURG, Iowa (AP) – Thunderstorms running across Iowa have injured at least one person, mowed down crops and damaged homes and farm buildings. Tornadoes were reported Wednesday in several eastern Iowa counties. Linn County authorities say a woman was injured when her home collapsed near Prairieburg. Pieces from damaged farm structures littered the ground around Prairieburg after the storm passed.
Another tornado reported near the Linn County Fair on the southeast side of Central City sent fairgoers to shelters. Trees and tents were damaged but no fairgrounds buildings. Golf ball-size hail and heavy rain were reported in the Des Moines area.
Fremont County authorities say a tornado touched down in a rural area between Sidney and Shenandoah, flattening crops. A home near Farragut was damaged, but no injuries have been reported.
Today: Partly cloudy to cloudy w/scattered showers & thunderstorms this afternoon. High 85. S/SE @ 10-20.
Tonight: Shwrs & tstrms. Low 62. NW @ 5-10.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy. High 80. NW @ 10-20.
Saturday: P/Cldy. High 82.
Sunday: P/Cldy w/a chance of afternoon shwrs & tstrms. High 84.
Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 87. Our 24-hour Low (ending at 7-a.m. today) will be 64. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 82 and the low was 63. The Record High in Atlantic on this date was 102 in 1934. The Record Low was 46 in 1950.
8:50-p.m. Half-dollar size hail 5 miles W/NW of Maloy (Taylor County)
8:34-p.m. Golf ball size hail 3 miles E/SE of Bedford
5:30-to 5:35-p.m.: Funnel clouds 5 miles East of Creston, and near Lorimor.
5:17-p.m. 7 miles S/SE of Farragut: ping-pong ball size hail (1.5″ diameter) damaged siding on homes and stripped corn and bean crop leaves.
5:10-p.m. 3 miles E/SE of Bedford: Baseball size hail (2.75″).
5:08-p.m. 2.5- 2.75″ hail (tennis to baseball size) in Bedford; Tornado 7 miles sw of Bedford.
5:05-p.m. 2 miles s. of Desoto: 1.75″ diameter hail (golf ball size).
4:58-p.m. 1″ hail (quarter size) in Hamburg
4:50-p.m. 1″ hail 4 miles SE of New Market.
4:46-p.m. Baseball size hail in Van Meter.
4:35-p.m. media reports of baseball & teacup size hail 2 miles N. of Shenandoah
4:34-p.m. Tornado near Braddyville reported by authorities across the border in Nodaway County, MO.; 2.5″ hail E/NE of Essex.
4:30-p.m outbuilding and tree down 4 miles W/NW of Yorktown; Outbuilding destroyed 8 miles W/NW of Clarinda.
4:28-p.m. Tornado 3 miles SW of Dexter (3 miles S of I-80)
4:25-p.m. 5 miles NW of Yorktown, 2.5″ hail
4:22-p.m. Funnel cloud 3 miles S of Fontanelle
4:21-p.m. Stove pipe style Tornado on the ground for 5 minutes, W/SW of Yorktown.
4:14-p.m. Tornado 4 miles S of Earlham
4:12-p.m. Tornado on the ground S/SW of Stuart (rated as an EF-0 w/75 mph winds)
3:57-p.m. Tornado touchdown E/NE of Sidney
3:44-p.m. Tornado touchdown 3 miles W. of Shenandoah.
Today: P/Cldy to Cldy w/scattered shwrs & tstrms this afternoon. High 85. SW @ 10-20.
Tonight: Shwrs & tstrms ending. Becoming P/Cldy. Low 68. SW @ 5-10.
Tomorrow: P/Cldy to Cldy w/scatt. Afternoon shwrs & tstrms. High 85. S @ 10-15.
Friday: Shwrs & tstrms ending early. Becoming P/Cldy. High 81.
Saturday: P/Cldy. High 81.
Tuesday’s High in Atlantic was 79. Our 24-hour Low (ending at 7-a.m. today) was 47. We received .16” rain here at the KJAN studios early this morning. Last year on this date, the High in Atlantic was 83 and the low was 60. The Record High in Atlantic on this date was 103 in 1936. The Record Low was 50 in 1896 & 2006.
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