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EF1 tornado in Lee County, Iowa

Tornado March 10, 2026 · Lee County, Iowa

EF1
Rating
1.5 mi
Path length
50 yd
Path width
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 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

An EF1 tornado with peak winds of 95 to 100 mph began its 1.5 mile long path by downing some tree branches. The tornado increased in strength causing damage to the door of a farm outbuilding along with damage to additional farm out buildings. The tornado continued east along 230th street, causing sporadic tree damage for around 1 mile. The tornado then strengthened even more near 230th street and 160th avenue, where it destroyed two farm outbuildings and snapped numerous tree trunks. This is where the tornado was the strongest. Shortly after crossing 160th street, the tornado weakened and eventually dissipated. The tornado had a max width of 50 yards.

The wider storm

Numerous severe thunderstorms developed during the afternoon on Tuesday producing hail that ranged in size from penny (0.88) to baseball (2.75) in diameter. There was a total of 10 reports with hail over 2.00 inches in diameter. During the early evening hours, one storm produced three different EF-1 tornadoes in Lee County near Donnellson.

Began near Croton (40.6200, -91.6300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1322011. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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