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EF1 tornado in Marion County, Iowa

Tornado April 4, 2023 · Marion County, Iowa

EF1

Rating

15.3 mi

Whole path

100 yd

Path width

$100K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Warren County → Marion County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This portion of the path is in Marion county after crossing into the county from Warren county.

Damage along the tornado path occurred to several homes, outbuildings, and farm equipment. The most intense damage occurred to a home and garage which suffered significant damage to exterior walls and roofing structure. However, the home appeared to suffer a garage door failure and broken windows, which allowed the structure to pressurize and blow outward. Additionally, minor to moderate tree and shelter belt damage, along with several downed power poles occurred along the path.

The wider storm

A trough across the Rockies underwent lee cyclogenesis, pulling a warm front north into Iowa in the afternoon. While a few storms developed along the warm front, most development was along the later cold front that moved across the area in the evening. These storms were frequent hail producers, with many reports of baseball sized hail or larger. A tornado also occurred which resulted in damage to a few homes, out buildings, and trees.

Began near Nepas (41.3051, -93.3283).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1089993. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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