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EF2 tornado in Ida County, Iowa

Tornado April 9, 2011 · Ida County, Iowa

EF2

Rating

4.1 mi

Path length

440 yd

Path width

$50K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 440 yards (0.25 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 destroyed or heavily damaged two grain bins and two outbuildings on a farmstead. The tornado also caused mainly shingle damage to a house and garage on the same farmstead. Trees, power poles, and power lines were also damaged.

The wider storm

Thunderstorms produced widespread severe weather in northwest Iowa during the evening of April 9th, beginning at the end of the afternoon. Most of the reports at the start of the event were large hail, but damaging winds and tornadoes then developed, with significant damage reported.

Began near Arthur (42.3217, -95.3969).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Sac County EF1 Ida County EF1 Cherokee County EF0 Buena Vista County EF0 Buena Vista County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 301836. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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