Large Destructive tornadoes have hit several towns and cities in IA and MN

varoius

[janetjanet998]

Details sketchy but massive tornadoes have it towns in IA this are reports from scanners and spotters..no link yet

also north suburbs of Min-ST paul MN has taken tornado hits with lots of damage

MN MIN| Washington County (Hugo)| Search & Rescue| | US-61 IAO 159th St|U/D: MSP on Fenway St w/2 kids full code, many other reports of entrapment, 5 city blocks wiped out| ILL113| 17:26

MIN| Washington County (Hugo)| Search & Rescue| | 170th St @ Manning Trail|Multiple houses struck by tornado, searches in progress, FD O/S| ILL113| 17:10 QUOTE

MIN| Washington County (Hugo)| Search & Rescue| | US-61 IAO 159th St|Many houses struck by tornado, multiple entrapments & injuries, FD O/S| ILL113| 17:11 QUOTE

MIN| Washington County (Hugo)| Search & Rescue| | US-61 IAO 159th St|U/D: FD requesting as many squads as possible, reports area is demolished

1/2 MILE WIDE TORNADO REPORTED JUST 1 MILE WEST OF FAIRBANK, IA. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SHOULD BE ON STANDBY FOR CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE.

-*URGENT* A STATE OF EMERGENCY EXISTS IN PARKERSBURG, IA *URGENT*

-*URGENT* CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE IN NORTHERN DUNKERTON, IA *URGENT*

AT 5:44 PM CDT, A MAJORITY OF THE TOWN OF PARKERSBURG, IA HAS SUSTAINED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE ACCORDING TO STORM SPOTTERS AND LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

Just talked to daughter and she made it clear home last night without incident. Thank you, Lord.

We just had the military fly-over go over our house. Impressive sight for Memorial Day.

[Brad’s Gramma]

I got your post last night when FR was going goofy so I couldn’t respond....I’m GLAD you made it out of this A-OK!!!

[Marysecretary]

I just saw what was left of Parkersburg. Horrific damage. Unbelievable.

[Marysecretary]

Only assuming it means they’re dead. I know one child,a two year old, died in Parkersburg.

[Marysecretary]

I hope all’s well with them. I visited Cedar Falls years ago when my sister’s husband was in the Air Force. Nice little place. Hope it stays that way. Sigh.

[Marysecretary]

I wonder if newer houses break up faster because they aren’t built with the same quality as older homes. Forget double wides and modulars and trailers, esp. those with no foundation or cellars. Prayers up.

[Keith in Iowa]

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
347 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2008

...PRELIMINARY DAMAGE SURVEY RESULTS FOR BUTLER AND BLACKHAWK COUNTIES...

THE STORM SURVEY INVESTIGATION IS STILL ONGOING AND WILL CONTINUE ON TUESDAY. FINAL RESULTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE RELEASED LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON.

......

THE FOLLOWING IS A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT FOR THE DAMAGE THAT OCCURRED OVER BUTLER AND BLACK HAWK COUNTIES ON MAY 25TH.

* EVENT DATE: MAY 25TH

* ESTIMATED START TIME: 4:48 PM CDT

* EVENT TYPE: POTENTIALLY GREATER THAN EF3 PENDING FURTHER ASSESSMENT ON TUESDAY.

* EVENT LOCATION: 2 MILES S APLINGTON TO PARKERSBURG TO NEW HARTFORD AND ACROSS NORTHERN BLACK HAWK COUNTY.

* PEAK WIND: POTENTIALLY GREATER THAN 165 MPH PENDING FURTHER ASSESSMENT ON TUESDAY.

* AVERAGE PATH WIDTH: PATH WIDTH RANGED FROM 0.6 TO 0.7 MILES NEAR PARKERSBURG TO JUST NORTH OF NEW HARTFORD. THE PATH CONSTRICTED TO NEAR ONE QUARTER MILE WIDE EAST OF NEW HARTFORD TO NORTH OF WATERLOO. PATH INCREASED TO NEAR 1.2 MILES WIDE NORTH OF DUNKERTON BEFORE DISSIPATING NEAR THE BLACK HAWK AND BUCHANAN COUNTY LINE.

* PATH LENGTH: 43 MILES

* INJURIES: PRELIMINARY 70

* FATALITIES: PRELIMINARY 6

* DISCUSSION/DAMAGE: SIGNIFICANT STRUCTURAL DAMAGE OCCURRED ACROSS THE SOUTHERN END OF PARKERSBURG AND ALONG A PATH TO JUST NORTH OF NEW HARTFORD. NUMEROUS STRUCTURES COMPLETELY DESTROYED FROM PARKERSBURG TO NEAR NEW HARTFORD. THE TORNADO CONTINUED EASTWARD TO JUST NORTH OF THE WATERLOO AND CEDAR FALLS AREA. SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE ALSO OCCURRED NORTH OF DUNKERTON WHERE THE TORNADO INCREASED TO ITS GREATEST PATH WIDTH. THIS STORM ALSO PRODUCED SUBSTANTIAL STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE ALONG THE SOUTHERN PERIPHERY OF THE STORM JUST SOUTH OF THE TORNADO TRACK. PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES THAT STRAIGHT LINE WINDS OF 90 TO 100 MPH OCCURRED WITH THIS STORM. AT 537 PM CDT THE WATERLOO AIRPORT RECORDED A 93 MPH WIND GUST. INITIAL SURVEY RESULTS SUGGEST THAT STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE WAS THE CAUSE OF THE SEVERE DAMAGE AT THE RECREATIONAL VEHICLE DEALERSHIP NORTH OF CEDAR FALLS.

ADDITIONAL DETAIL WILL BE ADDED TO THIS REPORT ON TUESDAY ALONG WITH FINAL EF SCALE RATING RESULTS.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDING IMAGES WILL BE POSTED AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES WEBSITE LATER TODAY AT:

WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DMX

[MEG33]

Prayers for those who mourn.

[Palladin]

I will join you in prayer. May all those who mourn be comforted.

I’m glad that our FReepers on this thread came away unscathed.

[MEG33]

`Amen

[justa-hairyape]

Here is an article with video of the Parkersburg Tornado from storm chasers.

article

[justa-hairyape]

Another video from the same chasers showing the initial Parkersburg wall cloud. If you stop the video and grab the button, move it left and right in the early 1/2 of the tape. You can see the initial rotation of the wall cloud. It began horizontal rotating. They had to leave the wall cloud and then caught up to it as it was leaving Parkersburg.

video

Video link from this thread

[Keith in Iowa]

Parkersburg Tornado Rated EF5

Last updated at 5:30 p.m. Tues. May 27, 2008

Summary

NWS personnel have rated the Parkersburg-New Hartford-Dunkerton tornado as   EF 5 (correlated to wind speeds up to 205 MPH) on the Enhanced Fujita Scale at the locations of maximum damage.  Additional details on path length, width, etc. will be posted on this webpage Wednesday, May 28.  This is the first EF5 tornado in Iowa since the Jordan tornado of June 13, 1976.


A large and destructive tornado moved across Butler and Black Hawk counties on Sunday May 25th.  The initial touchdown occurred near the Butler and Grundy county line, 2 miles south of Aplington at 4:48 pm CDT and quickly grew in size and intensity as it approached Parkersburg.  The tornado was nearly 3/4s of a mile wide as it moved through the southern end of Parkersburg at 4:59 pm CDT.  Significant structural damage occurred in the town of Parkersburg including 100 to 200 homes destroyed.  The tornado maintained size and intensity as it move towards New Hartford.  At 5:09 pm CDT the storm moved just north of New Hartford once again causing significant structural and tree damage.  The tornado weakened around 3 miles east of New Hartford with lesser damage as it moved east to north of the Waterloo and Cedar Falls area.  Significant straight line winds occurred along and just south of the tornado track with preliminary estimates of 90 to 100 mph.   The tornado then grew in size to near 1.2 miles wide north of Dunkerton causing substantial damage to a farmstead there.   The tornado lifted just before entering Buchanan county.

The image below depicts the approximate damage path.  The width of the green line in no way implies damage path width at this time.  The damage path map will be updated and refined this week as more information is gathered.




FINAL STORM SURVEY RESULTS

000
NOUS43 KDMX 272130
PNSDMX
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-
081>086-092>097-280930-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
430 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 2008

...FINAL DAMAGE SURVEY RESULTS FOR BUTLER AND BLACK HAWK COUNTIES...

......

THE FOLLOWING IS A FINAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE DAMAGE THAT OCCURRED OVER
BUTLER AND BLACK HAWK COUNTIES ON MAY 25TH.

* EVENT DATE: MAY 25TH

* ESTIMATED START TIME: 4:48 PM CDT

* EVENT TYPE:  EF5 IN PORTIONS OF PARKERSBURG AND NORTH OF NEW
  HARTFORD

* EVENT LOCATION: 2 MILES S APLINGTON TO PARKERSBURG TO NEW
  HARTFORD AND ACROSS NORTHERN BLACK HAWK COUNTY.

* PEAK WIND: MAXIMUM WINDS OF 205 MPH

* AVERAGE PATH WIDTH: PATH WIDTH RANGED FROM 0.6 TO 0.7 MILES NEAR
  PARKERSBURG TO JUST NORTH OF NEW HARTFORD. THE PATH WIDTH CONSTRICTED
  TO NEAR ONE QUARTER MILE WIDE EAST OF NEW HARTFORD TO NORTH OF
  WATERLOO. PATH WIDTH INCREASED TO NEAR 1.2 MILES WIDE NORTH OF
  DUNKERTON BEFORE DISSIPATING NEAR THE BLACK HAWK AND BUCHANAN
  COUNTY LINE.

* PATH LENGTH: 43 MILES

* INJURIES: PRELIMINARY 70

* FATALITIES: PRELIMINARY 6

* DISCUSSION/DAMAGE: SIGNIFICANT STRUCTURAL DAMAGE OCCURRED ACROSS
  THE SOUTHERN END OF PARKERSBURG AND ALONG A PATH TO JUST NORTH
  OF NEW HARTFORD. NUMEROUS STRUCTURES COMPLETELY DESTROYED FROM
  PARKERSBURG TO NEAR NEW HARTFORD. THE TORNADO CONTINUED EASTWARD
  TO JUST NORTH OF THE WATERLOO AND CEDAR FALLS AREA. SIGNIFICANT
  DAMAGE ALSO OCCURRED NORTH OF DUNKERTON WHERE THE TORNADO
  INCREASED TO ITS GREATEST PATH WIDTH. ADDITIONAL EF2 TO EF3 DAMAGE
  OCCURED NORTHEAST OF DUNKERTON BEFORE THE TORNADO LIFTED SHORTLY
  BEFORE MOVING INTO BUCHANAN COUNTY. THIS STORM ALSO PRODUCED
  SUBSTANTIAL STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE ALONG THE SOUTHERN
  PERIPHERY OF THE STORM JUST SOUTH OF THE TORNADO TRACK.
  PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES THAT STRAIGHT LINE WINDS OF 90 TO 100 MPH
  OCCURRED WITH THIS STORM. AT 537 PM CDT THE WATERLOO AIRPORT
  RECORDED A 93 MPH WIND GUST. INITIAL SURVEY RESULTS SUGGEST THAT
  STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE WAS THE CAUSE OF THE SEVERE DAMAGE AT
  THE RECREATIONAL VEHICLE DEALERSHIP NORTH OF CEDAR FALLS.

  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDING IMAGES...APPROXIMATE STORM
  TRACK...RADAR DATA...AND PRELIMINARY TIME LINE ARE AVAILABLE AT
  THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES WEBSITE AT:

  WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DMX

&&

FOR REFERENCE...THE FUJITA TORNADO SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO
THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0...WIND SPEEDS 65 TO 85 MPH.
EF1...WIND SPEEDS 86 TO 110 MPH.
EF2...WIND SPEEDS 111 TO 135 MPH.
EF3...WIND SPEEDS 136 TO 165 MPH.
EF4...WIND SPEEDS 166 TO 200 MPH.
EF5...WIND SPEEDS GREATER THAN 200 MPH.

$$

[Keith in Iowa]

Storm track pic:

[justa-hairyape]

That was a beast. Formed real fast according to spotters. Here is a map page showing all the F5 Tornadoes known to ever hit Iowa. Only 1 before this one. It hit just south of the Parkersburg.

Iowa F5 Tornado History

[justa-hairyape]

Oops. That web page shows location of Iowa F5,s since 1976. There was one. Since 1950 there has been 5 F5's.

...F5`S IN IOWA SINCE 1950...

CASS AND ADAIR COUNTIES JUNE 27, 1953 1 DEATH 2 INJURIES(SOUTHWEST OF ADAIR) 10 MILE

PATHWRIGHT COUNTY OCTOBER 14, 1966 6 DEATHS 172 INJURIES(BELMOND) 10 MILE 

PATHFRANKLIN/FLOYD/CHICKASAW MAY 15, 1968 13 DEATHS 462 INJURIESAND HOWARD COUNTIES 63 MILE PATH(CHARLES 

CITY)FAYETTE COUNTY MAY 15, 1968 5 DEATHS 156 INJURIES(OELWEIN) 13 MILE 

PATHBOONE AND STORY COUNTIES JUNE 13, 1976  NO DEATHS 9 INJURIES(JORDAN) 21 MILE PATH

[justa-hairyape]

Here is a link to a page with numerous damage photos. Judging by these images, you never ever want to be in an F5 Tornado. Amazing that so many people survived.

Parkersburg Damage Images

[justa-hairyape]

Ripped the leaves and bark off this tree. Image from NWS Des Moines.

[garandgal]

I saw an awful story on TV tonight. They were showing photos of the town’s new “junk yard.” They have been moving the ruined cars from town out into a field...several hundred were lined up....just smashed.

Anyway, they talked to a man who was getting some personal papers out of what was left of his truck. His truck was totaled, his house is gone, and he is planning his Mom’s funeral (she was one of those killed in the storm).

[Keith in Iowa]

Tornado debris found 100 miles away
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin residents have been finding debris from a tornado that struck Sunday more than 100 miles away in Iowa.

Prairie du Chien police Chief Mike King says most of what has turned up in his Crawford County community are lightweight materials, such as photographs, personal papers and check stubs.

One police sergeant found greeting cards and business records from a Walgreens pharmacy in Waterloo, Iowa, in his back yard.

Authorities have asked residents to collect and save what they can and bring the items to the county’s dispatch center. The materials will be sent back to their owners if they can be identified.