National Weather Service meteorologists from La Crosse, WI are investigating the tornado which started 4.2 miles northeast of Riceville, IA at 2:30 pm on Sunday, May 22 and ended about one mile north of Harmony, Minnesota. The greatest damage is south of Chester, IA where the tornado reached speeds of 130 to 135 mph.
National Weather Service meteorologist, Matt Davis says, “At the end of the day. After you've gone through a tornado survey you'll get home and reflect on how easily anyone can be affected by it.”
The survey begins about 4 miles northeast of Riceville, IA where the tornado quickly turned to an EF1 with winds near 100 to 109 mph. Davis explains, “A lot of what we're looking at is building damage and the construction of the building”.
The tornado tore the roof off a home in Riceville and tossed it 250 feet. At this point the tornado was about one football field wide. The amazing part is that the roof is almost completely in-tact as it lies in their backyard.
At the sight of this home, Davis says, “This is pretty typical tornado damage that you see at the start of a tornado track. If it's something like a barn or a grain bin, whether it had grain in it or hay in it or if it was empty. Those are a lot of factors that determine the intensity of the destruction”.
Meteorologists fight a never-ending battle as many believe when it comes to tornadoes, "it won't happen to me"!
Matt Davis responds to that commend with, "You're probably right, but these folks thought the same thing and it will happen eventually, everywhere given long enough and whether that's in your lifetime or not we don't know".
National Weather Service Meteorologists examine the destruction to help keep you safe from future storms by providing advanced warning, but we all need to do our part to protect our loved ones. Davis tells us, “The best thing to do is be prepared. Know how to get tornado warnings, know where to go in a tornado and if there's a Tornado Watch out or any severe weather, just pay attention, be ready for it”.
Information on how to keep your family safe can be found on kimt.com on the Weather Ready page. Weather radios are also useful tools to assist in alerting you when severe weather is in our area. KIMT Storm Team 3 will be holding a weather radio programming event at Hy-Vee East in Mason City this Friday from 4 to 7 pm and will be visiting Hy-Vee locations all across north Iowa and southern Minnesota over the next month. The weather radio programming schedule can be found on kimt.com on the Weather Radio page.
