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EF0 tornado in Polk County, Iowa

Tornado May 24, 2024 · Polk County, Iowa

EF0

Rating

9.2 mi

Whole path

50 yd

Path width

$60K

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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 tornado crossed from Dallas County into Polk County just west of Grimes. The tornado proceeded east northeast across portions of western and northern Grimes before dissipating near the intersection of NW Beaverbrook Blvd and NE Park Street. Most of the damage within Grimes occurred to trees and roof shingles.

The wider storm

A strong QLCS moved across central Iowa during the early morning hours of May 24 producing widespread wind damage and five tornadoes.

Began near Grimes (41.6911, -93.8144).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

5 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Hamilton County EF0 Boone County EF0 Polk County EF0 Warren County EF0 Polk County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1170128. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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