Thunderstorm Wind — Jasper, Iowa

2002-03-09 · near Newton Muni Arpt, Jasper, Iowa

Wider weather episode

As the storm system mentioned above lifted out of the southern Plains a line of thunderstorms formed near the strong frontal boundary. Strong divergence aloft combined with increasing instability resulted in rapid development of linear thunderstorms. Several bow elements were embedded in the line as well. Most of the storms produced hail, and in some cases enough to cover the ground. The hail was small with mostly pea size being reported. High were were the main feature with the storms. Numerous reports of 60 to 80 MPH winds were received. Structural damage was reported with some of the storms. For example, high winds destroyed grain bins on one farm in Cass County at Massena. In Ringgold County, the storms damaged garage doors and walls and blew several animal shelters away. As the storms moved into Clarke County, high winds struck a rural home south of Hopeville. One man was caught outside and was lifted by the winds and thrown into the porch. He was hospitalized with 5 broken ribs. In Marshall County, corn cribs were blown away south of Marshalltown and the roof was ripped off of a house in Le Grand. Several reports of trees and power line being downed were received across the south half of the state. The storms spread northeast toward the end of the event with winds around 70 MPH pushing northeast as far as Bremer County. Plainfield reported wind damage as 70 MPH winds swept through the city around 0100. Some of the worst damage occurred in Jasper County in the town of Lambs Grove. A microburst formed at the apex of a small bow echo. Winds tore through the area with speeds near 100 MPH. Six houses sustained severe damage and several other buildings in the area were destroyed by the high winds. Countless trees were downed in the area as well. Damage was similar to that of an F1 tornado. Damage was in the millions of dollars in the community. One homestead sustained $500,000 damage as a 40 by 70 foot machine building and its contents were destroyed. Two people were injured from the storms. In Clarke County, two semi-tractortrailer rigs were overturned as the gust front hit the area. One of the drivers sustained minor injuries. In Warren County, high winds overturned a semi-tractortrailer rig on U.S. Highway 65 in Indianola. The driver of that rig also received minor injuries.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.6833, -93.1167)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5281617. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.