March goes out like a lion as severe weather roars through area

Friday, March 31, saw tornadoes ripping through eastern Iowa but Iowa and Benton counties dodged the worst of the damage.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Particularly Dangerous Situation tornado watch for eastern Iowa that day and NWS survey teams have confirmed at least 10 tornadoes as a result of the storm system. Due to the wide scope of damage across eastern Iowa and western Illinois, the NWS is still in the process of collecting data from the event.

Iowa County Sheriff Rob Rotter issued the following statement:

“Today Iowa County was impacted by strong storms and tornadic activity that swept through the state. While there were no injuries reported, there was wide spread damage to trees, power poles and some buildings.

“There was a tornado located in the county north of the Wellman area. This tornado caused damage to agricultural buildings in the area.

“Straight line winds followed the tornadic activity causing damage in most areas of the county. Wind speeds in the county were estimated to be in the range of 70 mph.”

Trained weather spotters reported one-inch hail at Van Horne and Benton County Emergency Management reported 70 mph wind at Belle Plaine. A weather spotter in Iowa County reported damage to agricultural and commercial buildings southwest of Homestead. A tree was toppled at the Marengo Cemetery, causing damage to gravestones.

According to the National Weather Service, the weather system pulled unseasonably warm and moist conditions into the Midwest, which coupled with a very favorable wind profile created a volatile environment for severe thunderstorms. This event resulted with a tornado outbreak that this area has not seen in quite some time.

Iowa County was included in one tornado warning for a storm near Sigourney that tracked east toward Keota in Keokuk County. According to the NWS, a large violent tornado developed in southern Keokuk County and tracked to the northeast across mostly open farmland through eastern Keokuk County, northwest Washington county, into far southwest Johnson County.

The tornado produced EF-3 damage to a house northeast of Martinsburg, Iowa. It severely damaged several homes near Keota, wiping one house completely off its foundation, resulting in EF-4 level damage. A car was lofted in the air and tossed about 1000 feet into a nearby field and trees were completely debarked with only stubs of the largest branches remaining. As the tornado tracked west of Wellman, Iowa it knocked over a 325 ft cellphone tower. The tornado began to dissipate as it tracked into far southwest Johnson County.

Comments: Melinda.Wichmann@southeastiowaunion.com