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EF1 tornado in Warren County, Iowa

Tornado March 6, 2017 · Warren County, Iowa

EF1
Rating
4.8 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
$80K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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

Tornado developed southwest of Milo and moved quickly northeast. It destroyed a small outbuilding shortly after developing. It then destroyed another garage tossing it several hundred yards before settling on the other side of the road in a neighbors yard. Additional tree damage occurred before encountering another residence where significant roof and window damage occurred. The tornado then continued in mainly rural areas southeast of Milo with only tree damage prior to lifting.

The wider storm

A low pressure system developed off the Rockies in the Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota region and deepened as it moved eastward through South Dakota through the day on the March 6th. Southerly flow had already established itself and was bringing up Gulf of Mexico moisture into the Plains. A dry line also developed out ahead of the parent cold front, sparking initial storms in eastern Nebraska during the afternoon hours. Storms relatively quickly developed into a linear system, though a few isolated storms developed out ahead of the main line and proceeded to produce severe hail. As the line of storms progressed eastward through Iowa, they produced numerous severe hail and damaging wind reports. Additionally, a few tornadoes developed along the line, producing damage primarily in central and southern Iowa.

Began near Liberty Center (41.2409, -93.4915).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 676737. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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