The National Weather Service in Des Moines confirmed that three tornadoes touched down across north central Iowa on Wednesday afternoon. While severe weather, or strong thunderstorms in general, was not expected today, conditions were favorable for funnel clouds. These occasionally reach the ground as weak landspout tornadoes.

Landspouts are not the same type of tornado that is produced from severe thunderstorms. Landspouts form as thunderstorms develop, underneath it’s updraft. Whereas with supercellular storms, tornadoes form as they peak. There have been several occasions, often times in northern Iowa especially, where landspouts will form without any rain falling. I remember multiple instances across north central Iowa especially over the last couple of years where these landspout tornadoes will spin up. Landspouts often are found along frontal boundaries, where their respective air masses will sometimes collide and produce vertical rotation. Add thunderstorms into this scenario, the rotation can become a bit better organized, and produce a tornado as we saw today.

The first tornado that was confirmed today was six miles west-northwest of Algona, in Kossuth county. This tornado lasted for about a minute from 5:15 to 5:16 p.m. with a path length of 0.36 miles. The maximum width was 15 yards. The estimated peak winds with this tornado was 60 MPH, making it a weak EF-0. There were no injuries or deaths. No damage was reported.

The second tornado reported was 4.8 miles west of Scarville, in Winnebago county. This tornado lasted for a brief minute from 6:11 to 6:12 p.m. with a path length of 0.35 miles. The maximum width was 20 yards. The estimated peak winds with this tornado was 60 MPH, making it a weak EF-0. There were no injuries or deaths. No damage was reported.

The third tornado reported was 3.1 miles west-northwest of Bode, Iowa in the northern part of Humboldt county. This tornado lasted two minutes from 6:39 to 6:41 p.m. with a path length of 0.68 miles. The maximum width was 30 yards. The estimated peak winds with this tornado was 60 MPH, making it a weak EF-0. There were no injuries or deaths. Crop damage was reported along the track.

Note: information should be considered preliminary and is subject to change pending final review into NWS Storm Data.