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EF0 tornado in Polk County, Iowa

Tornado May 24, 2024 · Polk County, Iowa

EF0

Rating

3.2 mi

Path length

100 yd

Path width

$50K

Damage as recorded

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 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

The path of this tornado started within Terra Parkin Johnston and moved northeast into a housing area before crossing over the Village Square Shopping Center. Most of the damage was done to trees with some minor damage to houses, mainly to shingles. The path continued northeast through Johnston with more tree damage before crossing the Des Moines River north of NW 66th Avenue. The tornado dissipated shortly thereafter near NW Fisher Lane.

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 Johnston (41.6607, -93.7063).

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 Dallas County EF0 Warren County EF0 Polk County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1170129. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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