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EF2 tornado in Buena Vista County, Iowa

Tornado April 9, 2011 · Buena Vista County, Iowa

EF2

Rating

32.1 mi

Whole path

1,320 yd

Path width

$13.5M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Sac County → Sac County → Buena Vista County → Buena Vista County → Buena Vista County → Pocahontas County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,320 yards (0.75 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 affected several farmsteads, damaging several homes, some beyond repair. The tornado destroyed or damaged numerous outbuildings, several silos, farm equipment, and livestock shelters. Numerous power lines, power poles, and trees were blown down. The tornado crossed into Buena Vista County from Sac County, then crossed out of Buena Vista County into Pocahontas County.

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 Newell (42.5608, -94.9736).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Ida County EF1 Ida County EF1 Cherokee County EF0 Buena Vista County EF0 Buena Vista County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 302245. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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