EF1 tornado in Johnson County, Iowa

Tornado May 24, 2024 · Johnson County, Iowa

EF1

Rating

22.5 mi

Whole path

150 yd

Path width

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 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

A tornado developed south of Riverside in Washington County, and moved rapidly northeast, following an intermittent path through southeast Johnson County, to near West Branch in Cedar County. The tornado destroyed an outbuilding southeast of Riverside, and caused tree and other outbuilding damage. The tornado was rated EF1 with maximum winds around 100 mph. Thanks to emergency management for assistance with this survey.

The wider storm

A long-lasting complex of severe thunderstorms, known as a derecho, tracked from central Nebraska through northwest Illinois during the late night hours May 23rd, to the morning of May 24th. This resulted in frequent wind damage reports and embedded tornadoes. There were 16 tornadoes confirmed in the NWS Quad Cities warning area. The four strongest tornadoes all had maximum winds near 110 mph (EF1), and those were the Delta, IA; Wellman to Frytown, IA; Bennett to Lowden, IA; and Coyne Center, IL tornadoes. This was the most tornadoes in a single event for the NWS Quad Cities warning area since the March 31, 2023 outbreak.

Began near River Jct (41.4930, -91.5090).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Scott County EF1 Clinton County EF1 Cedar County EF1 Johnson County EF1 Washington County EF1 Keokuk County EF0 Johnson County EFU Scott County EFU Scott County EFU Linn County EFU Clinton County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1177496. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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