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.”

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(Radio Iowa/KJAN)