Severe Storms - 032820

Severe thunderstorms that rolled across northeast Iowa Saturday spawned at least six tornadoes, five of which caused damage in rural areas of four counties.

Two twisters touched down in Black Hawk County, the first of which struck about five miles south of Hudson. A National Weather Service survey didn't rate the tornado, because it briefly touched down in a field and caused no damage.

The second tornado in Black Hawk County struck just south of Waterloo around 5:49 PM and was on the ground for about two minutes. The twister hit a farm on Ansborough Ave., leaving a trail of debris in a field across the road. Officials rated the tornado an EF-0, which had winds around 85 miles per hour.

National Weather Service officials said a rain-wrapped tornado (pictured above) formed near the Fayette-Buchanan County line south of Oelwein around 6:30 PM and spun its way north-northeast into the west side of the city. The tornado uprooted trees in and around Woodlawn Cemetery and damaged two of the 12 buildings at the Buffalo Run Apartment complex. Part of a wall was torn off one building and siding was ripped from another.

An NWS survey team rated the Oelwein tornado an EF-1, with winds estimated at 107 miles per hour. The 120-yard wide tornado was on the ground about four miles, before lifting north of the city.

Officials said the same storm produced a weaker tornado near Maynard that caused damage to several rural Fayette County farms.

Two other tornadoes were also confirmed in northeast Iowa Saturday. An EF-1 with peak winds around 90 miles per hour touched down north of Jesup in Buchanan County and damaged outbuildings, a barn, and trees at a farmstead as it moved 7.4 miles northeast. The National Weather Service said the sixth twister hit Dubuque County, where at least six farms were damaged near Sherrill.

Authorities said they received no reports of injuries associated with the storms.

In addition to the tornadoes, there were also multiple reports of funnel clouds, hail and high wind during Saturday's storms. A well-defined funnel cloud formed over Evansdale around 5:30 PM.

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