…STORM SURVEY RESULTS FROM HOWARD COUNTY IOWA AND FILLMORE COUNTY MINNESOTA…

ON SUNDAY…MAY 22…A TORNADO DEVELOPED 4.2 MILES NORTHEAST OF
RICEVILLE IN HOWARD COUNTY IOWA AT 230 PM. THE FIRST DAMAGE WAS LOCATED ALONG DALE AVENUE ABOUT 3 MILES NORTH OF HIGHWAY 9. THE TORNADO IMMEDIATELY INCREASED TO EF1 STRENGTH WITH WINDS NEAR 100 MPH AND A PATH WIDTH OF 100 YARDS.

DAMAGE CONSISTENT WITH UPPER EF1 SCALE TORNADOES…WINDS 100 TO 109 MPH…OCCURRED AS THE TORNADO TRACKED NORTHEAST. SEVERAL FARMS HAD OUTBUILDINGS DESTROYED…WIDESPREAD SEVERE TREE DAMAGE OCCURRED…AND SEVERAL HOMES HAD PARTIAL OR COMPLETE ROOF DAMAGE.

AS THE TORNADO PASSED SOUTH OF CHESTER IOWA AROUND 250 PM…IT REACHED ITS MAXIMUM WIDTH AND STRENGTH. A LOCATION TWO AND A HALF MILES SOUTH OF CHESTER HAD DAMAGE CONSISTENT WITH WINDS AROUND 130 TO 135 MPH…UPPER EF2 STRENGTH…AND ANOTHER FARMSTEAD 1.6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CHESTER SAW WINDS NEAR 120 MPH…AGAIN EF2 DAMAGE. THE TORNADO WAS 250 TO 300 YARDS WIDE AT THIS POINT.

AS THE TORNADO CROSSED INTO SOUTHERN FILLMORE COUNTY…IT WEAKENED SLIGHTLY…BUT REMAINED WIDE AT 200 TO 250 YARDS. A LOCATION 7.7 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HARMONY…AS WELL AS A FARM ALONG HIGHWAY 44 ABOUT 4 MILES WEST OF HARMONY SAW UPPER EF1 DAMAGE WITH WINDS OF 105 TO 110 MPH. THE TORNADO OCCURRED IN THIS AREA BETWEEN 305 AND 315 PM.

THE TORNADO THEN WEAKENED RAPIDLY TO EF0 STRENGTH. THE PATH WIDTH NARROWED TO AROUND 50 YARDS AS IT PASSED ABOUT A MILE NORTH OF HARMONY MINNESOTA. THE LAST DAMAGE…RATED AT EF0..OCCURRED AROUND 325 PM…2 MILES NORTHEAST OF HARMONY.