Tornadoes cause destruction in Iowa as 'Particularly Dangerous ...

DES MOINES, Iowa – A series of large, violent tornadoes struck the Hawkeye State on Tuesday, causing significant destruction in some rural communities.

Portions of Iowa, northwest Illinois, southeast Minnesota and western Wisconsin were placed under a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" Tornado Watch h as rounds of powerful storms raced across the area, continuing a dayslong severe weather threat for several parts of the U.S.  

Less than 5% of all severe weather watches are given the Particularly Dangerous Situation tag.

Additionally, other Tornado Watches stretched from near Minneapolis to Tulsa, a distance of more than 600 miles.

 

Widespread damaging winds and isolated significant gusts to 90 mph are also possible, along with large hail up to as large as 4 inches in diameter.

The FOX Forecast Center said a big cold front will be sweeping through the heart of the country, affecting major cities from Chicago to Dallas. Ahead of the cold front, there will be a favorable environment for supporting severe storms as the atmosphere becomes very unstable.

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The worst storms on Tuesday are expected in Iowa, northern Missouri, northwestern Illinois, southwestern Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota. Any severe storms could produce a few strong tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail.

More than 4 million people are at a Level 4 out of 5 risk of severe weather on Tuesday. This includes the cities of Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Waterloo in Iowa, St. Joseph in Missouri and Rochester in Minnesota.

Tornadoes spotted in Iowa

At least half a dozen tornadoes were spotted over western and central parts of the Hawkeye State on Tuesday afternoon.

Tornadoes were reported in Red Oak, Carbon, Corning and Greenfield, where damage was reported to power lines, wind turbines and homes.

At least one wind turbine was on fire and lying propped against the ground in Prescott, Iowa, which is southwest of Des Moines.

The FOX Forecast Center spotted debris on radar from two twisters that impacted Carbon and Corning and debris was being reported thrown at least 15 miles from a tornado that impacted Greenfield, Iowa.

Greenfield has a population of around 2,000 people and is the heart of Adair County, Iowa.

Video showed people searching through rubble from what was a large tornado. Due to the powerful display on radar, forecasters believe the twister was on the upper half of the Enhanced Fujita Scale Wind Scale.

Damage appeared to be significant on the south and east sides of Greenfield around where the region's medical center sits.

"Most of this town is gone…There's no other way to put it. Most of this town's gone," said FOX Weather Exclusive Storm Tracker Brandon Copic.

PowerOutage.us reported more than half of Adair County was without power following the severe storms.

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Roads into and out of Greenfield were blocked by first responders in the hours after the severe weather to keep nonresidents out of the community.

"So it came up pretty quickly. The storm was moving at 50 to 55 miles an hour. So they're coming in quickly. People had a decent warning…And, thankfully, 99% of the people that we had talked to had a good reaction to that warning and took shelter," said Copic.

Parts of the Des Moines metro were also put under a Tornado Warning on Tuesday afternoon.

A wind gust of 71 mph was reported east of Des Moines at the Newton Municipal Airport.

Satellite animation of supercells rolling through Iowa on 5/21/2024

More dangerous storms Wednesday-Thursday

The line of storms will continue into Wednesday, stretching from the eastern Great Lakes down to the Plains. 

The FOX Forecast Center said details are still unclear on how Wednesday plays out, but ingredients are in place for at least a day of damaging wind gusts and large hail. The highest threat of severe weather will extend from North Texas to the Missouri Bootheel.

Wednesday severe weather threat

The cold front slows down on Thursday, and a new low-pressure system will likely form much farther south, putting the bull's-eye on the central and southern Plains and the Ark-La-Tex region. These storms will stay out of Houston but will be a problem for cities like Dallas and Little Rock, Arkansas.

All severe storm threats look to be on the table, including damaging winds, large hail and a couple of tornadoes. The flash flood threat will also ramp up as waves of heavy rain move in.

Thursday severe weather threat